Arthur William La Touche Bisset

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La Touche Bisset (left) with Thomas Halsey, Flag Captain of HMS King George V, July 1943.
La Touche Bisset (left) with Guy Russell, Captain of HMS Duke of York, Rosyth, 7 November 1943

Arthur William La Touche Bisset (6 April 1892-23 June 1956[1]) was a Royal Navy officer.

Life

The son of Colonel Sir William Sinclair Smith Bisset (1843-1916) of the Royal Engineers,[2] and his wife Henrietta Mary La Touche (1875-1945),[3] he was thus grandson to James Bisset. He joined the Navy as a Midshipman on 15 January 1905[4] and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 15 October 1912[5] and Lieutenant on 15 August 1913, spending the majority of the First World War at shore establishments Excellent and Vivid, though he also served aboard HMS Devonshire (1916-1917) and HMS Iron Duke (1917 onwards).[4]

Promotion to Lieutenant Commander came on 15 August 1921, to Commander on 31 December 1926 and Captain on 31 December 1932.[4] His first command (of HMS Ark Royal) lasted from 1934 to 1935, followed by HMS Shropshire from 1937 to 1939 and HMS Formidable from 1940 to 1942.[4] 1942 brought a mention in despatches on 3 February for his command of Formidable at the Battle of Cape Matapan,[6] promotion to Rear Admiral on 28 July [4] and a month in command of HMS Illustrious from 23 August.

He flew his flag on HMS Warspite during 1943 as part of Force H, then the following year commanded Force Two in Operation Tungsten, consisting of four aircraft carriers and fourteen other ships.[7] On 18 January 1944 he was mentioned in despatches again to mark the dissolution of Force H and that July he was made an Additional Member of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire for "distinguished service in command of operations against enemy shipping in Northern Waters successfully carried out by Carrier borne aircraft", referring to Operation Potluck[8] rising to a Commander in that Order on 1 January 1945.

He was placed on the retired list on health grounds in 1945 and promoted to his final rank of Vice Admiral the following year.[4] In 1949 his third daughter Mary Elizabeth Bisset married Oliver William Lough, a demobbed Indian Army Temporary Major.[9] Arthur William died in Gerrards Cross in 1956.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Life story: Arthur William La Touche Bisset | Lives of the First World War". livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk.
  2. ^ "BISSET, SIR WILLIAM SINCLAIR SMITH (1843–⁠), in Charles Edward Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography, 1906".
  3. ^ "Henrietta Mary (née La Touche), Lady Bisset". National Portrait Gallery.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Service record (ADM 196/54/61)". The National Archives.
  5. ^ "London Gazette, 18 October 1912, page 7685" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette, 3 February 1942, page 554" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Official History of HMCS ALGONQUIN (I)". July 24, 2019.
  8. ^ "Admiralty Fleet Orders, 27 July 1944, page 7" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Officers of the Indian Army". Unit Histories.
  10. ^ "RN Officers". Unit Histories.

External links

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