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 Ronald Vernon Brockman (8 March 1909 – 3 September 1999) was a British senior officer of 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 ...

. He served under

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

and participated in accepting the surrender of the Japanese Fleet in 1945. Sir Ronald was the elder son of Engineer Rear-Admiral Henry Stafford Brockman CB. He was descendant of the English Brockman family, and was

Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers. Gen ...

to the Queen from 1967 to 1979.

Military service

Sir Ronald was educated at

Weymouth College Weymouth College is a further education college located in Weymouth, England. The college has over 4,000 students, studying on a wide range of practical and academic courses in many subjects. The college is part of The University of Plymouth ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and joined the

in 1927Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> as a

paymaster A paymaster is someone appointed by a group of buyers, sellers, investors or lenders to receive, hold, and dispense funds, commissions, fees, salaries (remuneration) or other trade, loan, or sales proceeds within the private sector or public secto ...

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

(later

Supply Officer Supply officer was a specialisation in the British Royal Navy which was superseded by the Logistics Officer in 2004, recognising the need to align with the nomenclature and function of similar cadres in the British Army and Royal Air Force. T ...

). He was promoted to paymaster sub-lieutenant on 16 April 1930 (seniority from 1 September 1929) and to paymaster

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 1 October 1931. He served as the Assistant Secretary to the

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

Sir Roger Backhouse from 1938 to 1939 and was promoted to paymaster lieutenant commander on 1 October 1939. He was the Admiral's Secretary to

Sir Dudley Pound during

World War II 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 ...

from 1939 to 1943. Promoted to paymaster

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

on 31 December 1943, he served as Admiral's Secretary to

Lord Louis (Francis Albert Victor) Mountbatten (Lord Mountbatten of Burma from 1946) from 1943 to 1959 and as an acting

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

was the Private Secretary to Mountbatten as

Governor General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

from 1947 to 1948. Finally, he served as the Senior Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff within 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 ...

from 1959 to 1965. He was promoted to the substantive rank of captain (S) on 30 June 1953. He was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

on 7 July 1960, and to

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 ...

on 6 April 1963. He retired from the

on 6 December 1965. He was appointed a KCB in the 1965 New Year Honours, CSI 1947, CIE 1946, CVO 1979 and

CBE 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 ...

1943. He was made a

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

in 1985 and among his foreign awards were the Special Rosette of Cloud and Banner (China) 1948, Chevalier Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre with Palm (France) 1950 and Bronze Star Medal (USA) 1947.

Personal life and death

In 1932 Brockman married Marjorie Jean Butt; they had one son and three daughters. He died on 3 September 1999, aged 90.Obituary: Sir Ronald Brockman
The Independent, 23 September 1999 He was the last surviving Companion of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

. At his death, the Queen was represented by Sir Carron Grieg and the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

was represented by Rear-Admiral Sir

Robert Woodard Robert Woodard may refer to: * Sir Robert Woodard (Royal Navy officer) (born 1939), commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia ** Sir Robert Woodard Academy, Lancing, West Sussex, England * Robert Woodard II (born 1999), American basketball player * ...

at a service of thanksgiving for Sir Ronald's life and service. The Prince of Wales was represented by Vice-Admiral Sir Christopher Morgan.

References

Sources

*National Army Museum, London: The papers of Gen Sir Roy Bucher include correspondence with Brockman 1961-1972 *Times Newspapers Limited, Edition 1FWED 17 November 1999, Page 24 Vice-Admiral Sir Ronald Brockman;Memorial services;Court & Social *

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

1998

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brockman, Ronald 1909 births 1999 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy vice admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of the Star of India Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Weymouth College (public school) Royal Navy logistics officers