Major-General Robert Dyer Houghton, (7 March 1912 – 17 January 2011), commonly known as "Titch", was a

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

officer of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and post-war period.

Early life

Houghton was born in

Dawlish Dawlish is a seaside resort town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Teignbridge district in Devon, England. It is located on the south coast of England at a distance of from the city of Exeter and a similar distance from the to ...

, Devon, the son of John Mayo Houghton and Lucy Evelyn Trotman. He was educated at

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...

, before entering the Royal Marines in 1930.

Military career

Houghton received his commission on 1 September 1930. He served on HMS ''Malaya'', before becoming the commander of an anti-aircraft battery of the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation in Egypt and Crete in 1935. At the start of the Second World War, Houghton was serving as Adjutant of the 1st Battalion, 101 Royal Marines Brigade. He held the role until February 1942, when he became Adjutant of the 15th (S) Battalion, 101 Royal Marines Brigade.'Houghton, Robert Dyer' i
''Royal Marine (RM) Officers 1939–1945''
at unithistories.com, retrieved 2 February 2016 In January 1942, Houghton became second-in-command of

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the operational command of the Fleet Commander. Their barracks are at Norton Manor ...

, and participated in the Allies' failed

raid on Dieppe Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was a disastrous Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a ...

on 19 August 1942. Like the majority of his unit, he was captured by the Germans in the fiasco. As a prisoner of war, Houghton was shackled for 411 days, and remained in captivity for the rest of the war. He was subsequently awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for his bravery at Dieppe and for his endurance as a prisoner of war. After his release at the end of the war, Houghton became Commanding Officer of

45 Commando 45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of the Fleet Comman ...

and attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

. He then served as the Commanding Officer of 40 Commando during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Houghton was tasked with keeping the port of

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

open during the conflict, so that British forces could withdraw from Palestine. His unit was the last to leave. For his services, he was made

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 ...

in the

1949 Birthday Honours The 1949 King's Birthday Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those count ...

. He was subsequently appointed to the Joint Services Staff College, before working as

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

(Intelligence) to the Commander in Chief South Atlantic and commandant of the Commando School. Between October 1954 and April 1955 he was Commanding Officer of

42 Commando 42 Commando is a unit within the UK Commando Force. Based at Norton Manor, Royal Marines Condor and 42 Commando are based at Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. All Roya ...

, before serving as director of the

Royal Marines Reserve The Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) is the volunteer reserve force used to augment the regular Royal Marines. The RMR consists of some 600 trained ranks distributed among the four units within the UK. About 10 percent of the force are working with ...

. In August 1957, Houghton was appointed Commander 3rd Commando Brigade, which was based in Malta. In 1959 he was appointed commanding officer of the Royal Marines in Deal and commandant of the Royal Marines School of Music. Promoted to major general on 4 September 1961, his last two appointments were as Director Joint Warfare Staff at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and Major-General Royal Marines in Portsmouth. 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 ...

and retired in 1964.

Retirement

Houghton fulfilled the ceremonial role of Colonel Commandant, Royal Marines between January 1973 and December 1976. He was General Secretary, Royal UK Beneficent Association from 1968 to 1978, and was Deputy Lieutenant of

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Robert 1912 births 2011 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy lieutenants of East Sussex Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Marines major generals Royal Marines personnel of World War II People from Dawlish People from Chiddingly Military personnel from Devon Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley