(Redirected from Peter John Hill-Norton)
'Peter John Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton'
GCB (
8 February 1915-
16 May 2004) was an
Admiral of the Fleet, former
Chief of the Defence Staff of the
United Kingdom and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
He was known as an outspoken advocate on the importance of sea power and a strong defence for Britain. Though a traditionalist by nature, he also believed in modernization, taking the brave decision to abolish the
Royal Navy's traditional daily
rum ration. In later years he took an interest in
UFOs , which included writing about them and asking questions in Parliament.
Naval career
Hill-Norton was the son of a
Royal Flying Corps pilot, but came from a naval family on his mother's side, and became a cadet at
Dartmouth at the age of 14. He served through the
Second World War as a gunnery officer and at the
Admiralty and rose swiftly through the ranks, becoming a
captain and naval
attaché in
1952, then commanding
HMS ''Decoy'' during the
Suez Crisis in
1956. He was later given the prestigious command of
HMS ''Ark Royal'', before becoming a rear admiral in
1962. It was as Second Sea Lord in
1967 that he proposed the abolition of the rum ration. In
1970 and
1971 he was swiftly propelled into the posts of First Sea Lord and then Chief of the Defence Staff by the unexpected early retirement of Sir
Michael LeFanu. In
1974 he became head of
NATO's military committee, a post he held until his retirement in
1977.
Later career
He was made a
life peer as ' Baron Hill-Norton', of South Nutfield in the County of
Surrey in 1979, and took an active role at the
House of Lords as a
crossbencher. He was also coincidentally, a distant relative in the direct male line of
Joshua Norton, self-proclaimed
Emperor of the United States and all-round eccentric.
External links
★
''Guardian'' obituary
★
''Independent'' obituary
Further reading
★ ''The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995'', Heathcote T. A., Pen & Sword Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0 85052 835 6
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