Vice-Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral.
Australia
In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...
Sir Norman Egbert Denning, (19 November 1904 – 27 December 1979) was a
Royal Naval and
Intelligence Officer
An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...
at the
Admiralty and
Defence Intelligence Staff
Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies ( MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is a ...
who served as Director of Naval Planning from 1945 to 1956,
Director of Naval Intelligence from 1960 to 1964, and
Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff for Intelligence from 1964 to 1965. Denning was a prominent and pioneering figure in
naval
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
and
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
and established a successful career during and after the Second World War, holding many senior ranking staff positions.
Early life
He was born to Charles and Clara Denning in 1904, in Whitchurch (Hampshire) in the accommodation above his parents shop. He had 4 older brothers and 1 sister. His four older brothers joined the
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...
during the
Great War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, although only two returned,
Alfred Thompson 'Tom' Denning and
Reginald Denning
Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Francis Stewart Denning, (12 June 1894 – 23 May 1990) was a British Army staff officer and administrator.
Military career
Reginald Denning was born in Whitchurch, Hampshire, in 1894 to Charles and Clara Denning ...
.
Educated at
Andover Grammar School and like his brothers he joined up. Norman joined the forces, choosing the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
shortly after the end of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
; despite his bad eyesight
[Heward (1990) p. 9] he was accepted into the Paymaster Branch. He served as secretary to various senior figures and also worked in supplying naval vessels, but quickly became an expert on naval intelligence. For several years in the early 1930s he served in Singapore and while there was surprised by the number of Japanese fishing and research boats around Singapore, and from his research concluded that the Japanese were in a position where they were able to attack Singapore by land, rather than sea as the British defence plans assumed. He wrote a report and submitted it to the
Director of Naval Intelligence, but it was dismissed as him 'over-exercising his imagination'.
In 1937 was appointed to the
Naval Intelligence Division and attempted to reform the division using lessons learnt from World War I. He was assisted in this by his discovery of a room of old Naval Intelligence papers from World War I and its aftermath, including studies by staff members as to how the unit could be used more effectively and what lessons should be learnt from the use of intelligence-gathering in the war.
Wartime career
In 1939, with the permission of James Troup, Director of Naval Intelligence from 1935 to 1939, and
John Henry Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence from 1939 to 1943, the then Lieutenant Commander Denning formulated and established the
Operational Intelligence Centre (OIC) for the Navy based at the
Admiralty Citadel in London.
The OIC became a key and vital element for the British intelligence services, coordinating efforts between decryption units such as the
Government Code and Cypher School
The Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) was a British signals intelligence agency set up in 1919. During the First World War, the British Army and Royal Navy had separate signals intelligence agencies, MI1b and NID25 (initially known as R ...
and the staff and command officers planning operations.
Furthermore, Denning was one of the first intelligence officers to recognise the potential of photographic
reconnaissance
In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
as a worthwhile intelligence source. Consequently, Denning helped persuade the heads of the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
to allow the Australian officer
Sidney Cotton's pioneering unit, the RAF Photographic Development Unit and then
No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF to be used for intelligence-gathering.
Later career
Denning was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) for his work in 1945, and after the war was made Director of Planning for the Admiralty. He became Director of the
Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...
in 1956 and in 1958 became
Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel, (Training). In 1959 he became Director of Manpower and in 1960 he was made
Director of the Naval Intelligence Division, becoming the first non-executive officer to be promoted to that position.
He was appointed
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion may refer to:
Relationships Currently
* Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance
* A domestic partner, akin to a spouse
* Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach
* Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...
(CB) in the 1961
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
, and promoted
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(KBE) in the 1963 New Year Honours. In 1964 he was made
Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff for Intelligence.
He retired from the Navy in September 1965,
and later became head of the
Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee
The Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee is a British government liaison advisory body established in 2015 which oversees a voluntary code which operates between the government departments which have responsibility for national se ...
. After his retirement he spent most of his time at his home in Micheldever, and occasionally gave lectures at institutions both in the United Kingdom and overseas. He died on 27 December 1979; after separating a pair of fighting dogs he was bitten on the hand, and the resulting tetanus jab caused a reaction which set off a heart attack.
[Denning (1981) p. 121]
Personal life
He married Iris Curtis in 1933, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
Both his sons, John and James, followed him into the navy and joined the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
The RF ...
. John died in 1975 after a fall,
and James died in 2024 from Mesothelioma. He was buried next to his eldest sons ashes within the Micheldever churchyard.
Some Family records have been donated to the Winchester museum and are available for public access.
References
Bibliography
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Denning, Norman
1904 births
1979 deaths
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Directors of Naval Intelligence
Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Navy vice admirals
Royal Navy officers of World War II
People from Whitchurch, Hampshire
Military personnel from Hampshire
Royal Navy logistics officers