Simon George Warrender

DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

(11 August 1922 – 8 May 2011) was a

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 ...

officer and businessman. He was decorated for his actions in World War II, and immigrated to Australia after the war's end, when he was involved in the aviation industry. He married into the

Myer family The Myer family is an Australian retailing dynasty of Jewish origin. It was founded in Australia by Sidney Myer, who started the department store Myer, and Merlyn Myer, his wife. Following the death of Sidney Myer in 1934, his nephew, Norman Mye ...

, and he and his wife Pamela were prominent on the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

social scene.

Early life and education

Warrender was the second son of Victor Warrender and the former Dorothy Rawson (daughter of

Richard Rawson Richard Rawson (born 5 February 1987), better known by his stage name Fazer, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and DJ. He is popularly known as a member of hip hop trio N-Dubz, with whom he released four studio albums an ...

). He was born at his parents' house in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

; his father was a Conservative Party politician, and in 1942 was raised to the peerage as Baron Bruntisfield. His godfather was

Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969), was a senior and highly decorated British Army officer who served in both of the world wars. ...

. Warrender grew up at Exton Hall in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, and attended

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent school, independent boys' Preparatory school (UK), preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed ...

and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, where he displayed a talent for

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

.Obituary: Simon Warrender
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', 15 August 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2017.

Naval career

In 1939, Warrender joined the

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

on a whim, despite his parents' objections. After training at , he was posted to the

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

. He commanded a

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

of boats in the

Battle of Madagascar The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was an Allied campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...

, and later took part in relieving the Siege of Malta. In 1943, Warrender transferred to the destroyer , which formed part of an

Arctic convoy The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

for the following two years. He was ''Savage'''s torpedo control officer during the

Battle of the North Cape The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic convoys of war materiel from the western Allies to the Soviet Union, ...

, and helped sink the German battleship ''Scharnhorst'', for which he was awarded the Distinguish Service Cross (DSC). In 1944, Warrender was posted to

, Australia, as a flag lieutenant to help prepare for the arrival of the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...

. Towards the end of the war he was stationed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, where he helped relieve the POW camp at

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po () is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...

and re-establish British administration.

Life in Australia

Warrender took to flying after returning to civilian life, and in 1949 resolved to fly to Australia. His flight, in a single-engine

Percival Proctor The Percival Proctor is a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor is a single-engined, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model. Design and development The Proctor ...

, took 34 days and was widely reported upon by Australian newspapers. It was a marketing stunt for his aircraft company, Sponson Developments. In June 1950, Warrender married Pamela Myer, the daughter of Australian businessman Sir Norman Myer, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The wedding was attended by many leading members of the aristocracy, as well as three members of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. They decided to settle in

, where Warrender set up as an

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negoti ...

. The couple also imported four

toy poodle The Poodle, called the in German () and the in French, is a Dog breed, breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Po ...

s from London, making them among the first breeders in Australia. Warrender and his wife became a fixture on the Melbourne social scene, and counted several other noteworthies among their friends, including future prime minister

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...

.Family mourns an honourable man
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 17 May 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2017. He became an Australian citizen in 1967. He was a member of the exclusive

Melbourne Club The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne. The club is a symbol of Australia's British social heritage and was established at a gathering of 23 gentlemen on Saturday, 17 Decembe ...

, but resigned his membership in 1971 to protest the alleged exclusion of Jewish members of his wife's family; he was the first person to resign in the club's history. He returned to the aviation industry in later life, helping

Freddie Laker Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to ...

in his unsuccessful attempt to break into the Australian market in the 1970s, and later chaired Australia World Airways, which purported to be a competitor for

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

but never went into operation.

Death and legacy

Warrender died on 8 May 2011. He and his wife had divorced in 1986, but remained close and were lifelong partners. Pamela M. Warrender, who was the daughter of Sir Norman Myer, founded the

Committee for Melbourne The Committee for Melbourne is an apolitical, non-profit, member-based organisation based in Melbourne, Australia, that works to benefit the city's long-term future. History The committee was founded in 1985 by Pamela M. Warrender, daughter of S ...

, an apolitical member-based organisation that seeks to have a positive impact on the long-term development of

Greater Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. One son, Alexander, predeceased his father. Another son, Simon H. Warrender, founded the

Melbourne Prize Trust The Melbourne Prize Trust is a charitable foundation in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 2004 by Simon H. Warrender for the specific purpose of awarding three arts awards on a rotating three-year basis: the Melbourne Prize for Ur ...

in 2004, dedicated to awarding arts prizes for urban sculpture, literature, and music created by Melbourne creatives.

Publications

In 1973, Warrender published an autobiography, ''Scores of Years'' with a foreword written by politician

Jim Cairns James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and the fourth deputy prime minister of Australia, both in the Whitl ...

.WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE
''The Canberra Times'', 28 December 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrender, Simon 1922 births 2011 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) British emigrants to Australia People educated at Eton College Younger sons of barons Businesspeople in aviation Naturalised citizens of Australia Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II People educated at Ludgrove School