Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sir Ronald Stephen Forrest, (11 January 1923 – 25 March 2005) was a senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer who served as

Defence Services Secretary The Defence Services Secretary is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Responsibilities The Defence Services Secretary is the senior member of the Royal Household responsible for liaison between the Sover ...

from 1972 to 1975.

Naval career

Educated at

Belhaven Hill School Belhaven Hill School is an independent, co-educational preparatory school for boarding and day pupils aged 5 to 13 in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. The current headmaster is Olly Langton. Notable former pupils * Hugh Buchanan (artist), Sc ...

and the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, Forrest joined the

in 1940 and saw action in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He became Director of Seaman Officer Appointments at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1968, Commanding Officer of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in 1970 and

in 1972 before retiring in 1975. In retirement he became Commander of the

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Subsequently, he led the effort to purchase land for the

Westpoint Arena Westpoint Exeter (formerly Westpoint Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena and showground, at Clyst St Mary, near Exeter, England. The capacity of the venue is 7,500 people. It hosts local concerts, fairs and exhibitions. Westpoint is the large ...

near Exeter, in order to host the

Devon County Show The Devon County Show is an agricultural show held annually from Thursday to Saturday in the third week of May at the Westpoint Arena and Showground in Clyst St Mary near Exeter. It is one of a number of county shows in the United Kingdom. The ...

. He escorted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Show in 1995, by which time the main ring had been named the Forrest Ring.

Family

In 1947 he married Patricia Russell; they had two sons and one daughter. Following the death of his first wife, he married June Perks (née Weaver). Lady Forrest died in 2012.Family notices
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Ronald 1923 births 2005 deaths People educated at Belhaven Hill School Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy rear admirals Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order