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 ...

Ian Jaffery "Tim" Lees-Spalding, (16 June 1920 – 1 July 2001) was a senior marine engineer in 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 ...

before becoming Administrator of the London International Film School and co-founder of the Macmillan and Silk Cut Nautical Almanac.

Early life

Lees-Spalding, always known as Tim, was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, London, on 16 June 1920, and educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...

in Tiverton and the

Royal Naval Engineering College The Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon, Devon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham close ...

Naval career

Lees-Spalding had joined the

in 1938 and in 1941, while still under training, was awarded a

King's Commendation for Brave Conduct The Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct, formerly the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, acknowledged brave acts by both civilians and members of the armed services in both war and peace, for gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. Est ...

for digging out with his bare hands a woman trapped beneath a pile of rubble after a German night air raid on

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. A year later, he was awarded a Royal Lifesaving Institution Medal for rescuing a drowning man from the sea off

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

. In 1943 Lees-Spalding went to sea in the anti-aircraft cruiser , which saw action in the Mediterranean, and he was present at

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the invasion of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in July. Following the

Italian Armistice The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

in September 1943, the 12th Cruiser Squadron, of which ''Sirius'' was part, landed troops of the British 1st Airborne Division at

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

. The ship suffered bomb damage off the Greek island of

Leros Leros (), also called Lero (from the Italian language), is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by a nine-hour ferry ride or by a 45-min ...

in October and Lees-Spalding was still serving when Sirius took part in the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in June 1944 before returning to the Mediterranean for the invasion of southern France in August. In January 1945, Sirius helped to host the Anglo-American talks prior to the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

, providing accommodation for the Foreign Secretary

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

and the US Secretary of State Edward Stettinius. Lees-Spalding later served in submarines, before being promoted to

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 ...

in 1952; this was followed by service in (a sister-ship to ''Sirius'') and the new destroyer . As the Commander (Executive Officer) of the

, by now located at

Manadon Manadon is a predominantly post-war suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. Roughly geographically situated in the centre of the city, it has a primary school, St Boniface's Catholic College (secondary comprehensive), a sports and ...

near

, Lees-Spalding was the first non-Gunnery Officer to preside over the Queen's Birthday Parade on Plymouth Hoe in 1959. He subsequently returned to sea as the Commander (E) of the new cruiser in the Far East. Promoted to

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 ...

in 1962, Lees-Spalding undertook a variety of engineering staff jobs ashore. Towards the end of his naval career 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 ...

in June 1969 he was appointed Chief of Staff, Naval Home Command, a post he held until June 1971. He was next appointed as Chief Staff Officer (Technical) to the

Commander-in-Chief Fleet The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional h ...

. He was appointed a

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 ...

in 1973.

Later career

After leaving the Royal Navy in 1974, Lees-Spalding was appointed Administrator of the London International Film School. Despite no previous experience in the field, he quickly sorted out the school's financial problems. In 1981 Lees-Spalding co-founded the Macmillan and Silk Cut Nautical Almanac, which became a handbook for Britain's yachtsmen, and Lees-Spalding remained editor until 1992.

Sources

* Obituary of Rear-Adml Tim Lees-Spalding, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 28 August 2001

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees-Spalding, Tim 1920 births 2001 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Blundell's School Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Recipients of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct