Terence Lewin

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Terence "Terry" Thornton Lewin, Baron Lewin KG GCB LVO DSC (* 19th November 1920 in Dover , † 23. January 1999 in Woodbridge , Suffolk ) was a British Commodore ( Admiral of the Fleet ) of the Royal Navy , the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff ( First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff ) and Chief of the Defense Staff and became a member of the House of Lords in 1982 as Life Peer under the Life Peerages Act 1958 . As chief of the defense staff , he was the closest military advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 and the liaison between the war cabinet and the troops deployed. He was also a respected amateur historian , particularly concerned with James Cook .

Life

Training as a naval officer and World War II

Lewin joined the Royal Navy in 1939 after attending Judd School in Tonbridge and was a midshipman on the warship HMS Belfast (C35) at the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 . The light cruiser - which is now part of the Imperial War Museum - ran into a magnetic mine of the German Navy shortly after the outbreak of war in November 1939 , so that it was transferred to the battleship HMS Valiant . After the operation against the German company Weserübungen , the HMS Valiant took part in the operation against the French Navy off the coast of North Africa . The Royal Navy took the ships of their future ally under fire so that they would not fall into the possession of the Axis powers .

During his subsequent three-year service from January 1942 to spring 1945 on the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Ashanti (F51) , Lewin, who in the meantime served on the destroyer HMS Highlander (H44) in October 1941 , was awarded three times for his military services in war report mentioned ( mentioned in dispatches ). On the HMS Ashanti he took part in the northern sea convoys to the Soviet Union , then in August 1942 in Operation Pedestal to liberate the besieged Malta and finally in other northern sea convoys and operations in the English Channel to liberate Europe.

For his "high personal role model function, leadership quality, outstanding perseverance and steadfastness" he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) as the HMS Somali (F33) , the sister ship of the Ashanti, on September 20, 1942 from the German submarine U 703 was hit by a torpedo during convoy QP 14 from Arkhangelsk to Loch Ewe , causing the HMS Somali to break up and begin to sink. Lewin saved the lives of several crew members of the HMS Somali while accepting his own risk.

Post-war period and promotion to sea captain

The Royal Yacht HM Yacht Britannia , of which Lewin was Vice-Commander between 1957 and 1958

After the end of the war, Lewin completed additional training at the artillery school HMS Excellent and then served as a gun officer on the light cruiser HMS Bellona (63) from April 1946 , before he became an instructor after further training as an artillery officer at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich in December 1947 returned to the artillery school HMS Excellent . After his promotion to Lieutenant Commander ( Lieutenant Commander ) on 1 July 1949, he was artillery officer of the First Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean fleet . In January 1952 he was again an instructor at the artillery school HMS Excellent and there on December 31, 1952 promoted to frigate captain ( commander ). A year later, in December 1952, he became an officer on the staff of the Admiralty's Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel .

After finishing his work in the Admiralty, Lewin first became Commanding Officer of the destroyer HMS Corunna (D97) in October 1955 , before he was Executive Officer Vice-Commander of HM Yacht Britannia , the yacht of, between April 1957 and 1958 Queen Elisabeth II. on June 30, 1958, he became a sea captain ( captain ) transported and member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO). He then returned to the Admiralty, where he became Vice Director of the Tactical Ship Requirements and Staff Duties Division in November 1958 . Then Lewin, who became Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the context of the New Year Honors on January 1, 1960, became Vice-Director of the Tactical and Weapons Policy Department of the Admiralty.

After visiting the Imperial Defense College Lewin was established in December 1961 Commander ( Captain (F) ) of the 17 training squadron in Dartmouth belonging destroyer HMS Urchin (R99) or 1962-1963 of antisubmarine warfare - frigate HMS Tenby (F65) .

He then took over in December 1963 in the Ministry of Defense as Director of the Department of Naval Tactics and Weapons Policy Division ( Tactical and Weapons Policy Division ) and was involved in the definition of the problems published in the Defense Review ( Defense Review ). In May 1966 he was appointed commander of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (R12) .

Admiral and Chief of Naval Staff

On January 7, 1968 Lewin was appointed Rear Admiral ( Rear Admiral promoted) and took over as such Deputy Chief of Naval Staff for the area Policy ( Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy) ). On July 7, 1967, he also became Queen Elizabeth II's naval aide de camp .

In 1969 Lewin took over as the successor to Rear Admiral Anthony Griffin his last sea assignment as a flag officer and deputy commander of the Eastern Fleet , the naval unit of the Royal Navy used in the Indian and Pacific Oceans . Shortly afterwards, the Singapore naval base was handed over to the government of the island republic and he himself was replaced in 1970 by Rear Admiral David Williams .

On October 7, 1970 Lewin was promoted to Vice Admiral ( Vice Admiral ) and at the same time successor to Vice Admiral Edward Ashmore as Vice-Chief of Naval Staff. In 1973 he was replaced in this capacity by Vice Admiral John Treacher , while he himself was promoted to Admiral on December 1, 1973 and again in December 1973 as the successor to Edward Ashmore CINCFLEET and thus Commander-in-Chief Fleet . As early as January 1, 1973 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

After almost two years in this function, Lewin succeeded Admiral Derek Empson as Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command in Portsmouth and retained this post of command until he was replaced by Admiral David Williams. On June 4, 1976 he was also raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).

In 1977 Lewin became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, succeeding Admiral Edward Ashmore for the third time. At the same time, he followed Ashmore on March 1, 1976 as First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp of the Queen. He held these functions until he was replaced by Admiral Henry Leach in 1979.

His tenure as Chief of the Royal Navy was fraught with problems. On the one hand, the salaries were below the private sector and the falling morale also led to an increase in navy personnel who asked for early dismissal from service. Lewin saw himself as a shop steward for the members of the Navy and achieved a salary increase of 32 percent.

Chief of Defense and Falklands War 1982

The sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano during the Falklands War on May 2, 1982, in which 368 seamen were killed, which was advocated by Lewin , sparked a heated domestic political controversy

On July 6, 1979 Levin was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet . A few months later he followed on September 1, 1979 Marshal of the Royal Air Force Neil Cameron as Chief of the Defense Staff and thus held the highest military post within the armed forces of the United Kingdom .

During his tenure as chief of the defense staff, the Falklands War fell . When the Falklands crisis escalated, Lewin was in New Zealand , but flew back to London immediately after his flag lieutenant woke him at two o'clock on the morning of April 4, 1982 with the words "They've invaded". Upon arrival, he met immediately with the newly formed War Cabinet, which included Prime Minister Thatcher, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary William Whitelaw , Foreign Secretary Francis Pym , Defense Secretary John Nott and Conservative Party Executive Chairman and Paymaster General Cecil Parkinson . He informed the war cabinet:

“We have to be prepared to suffer losses. But we won't lose. The only thing that could make us lose is if you lose your nerve. "
('We must be prepared to take losses. But we are not going to lose. The only thing which will make us lose is if you lose your nerve.')

The first ships of the deployed formations left five days after the invasion of Argentina to drop amphibious landing units after around 14,800 kilometers (8,000 nautical miles ) under fire from defending Argentine formations and coastal guns. The British units were neither prepared nor equipped for this operation .

Despite the tense situation and the possible losses, Lewin tried to be the contact person for the concerns of the soldiers deployed and to show understanding for their concerns. When two helicopters , which had previously dropped troops in the area of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which were also claimed by Argentina, disappeared in a blizzard at the beginning of the war , a young radio operator of the destroyer HMS Antrim wrote a letter to his family with details contained the lost helicopter. The soldier's mother showed the letter to the local newspaper , distributing information that the government had classified as secret. The Ministry of Defense then discussed whether the soldier should be brought to court martial . The soldier's father then wrote a letter to Defense Secretary John Nott apologizing for his son's behavior and asking for his son to be lenient. After seeing a copy of the Minister's reply, Lewin asked his flag lieutenant to send his mother flowers; at the same time he wrote a cover letter with the words “Don't worry. They acted like any mother would have done, and I can understand that. With best wishes, Terry Lewin “('Please do not worry. You acted as any mother would and I fully understand. With best wishes, Terry Lewin.').

On May 2, 1982 Lewin asked the War Cabinet to change the rules for military interventions so that the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano could be attacked outside the declared total exclusion zone . Thatcher immediately authorized this change. Immediately thereafter, the General Belgrano was sunk by the Conqueror nuclear submarine , killing 368 Argentine sailors. The sinking of General Belgrano was not only a turning point in the Falklands War, but also in the Thatcher government. During the controversial discussions that followed, Lewin adamantly insisted that he had made the right decision and later said:

"I regret the heavy loss of life and the worldwide concern this has caused, but otherwise I have no regrets about the sinking of the Belgrano."
('I regret the heavy loss of life and the world-wide concern it caused but I have no regrets at all about sinking the Belgrano.')

As head of the defense staff, he was ultimately not only the highest military person, but also the closest military advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her first term in office until his replacement by Field Marshal Edwin Bramall on October 1, 1982. The UK named Antarctic for his services in the Falklands War Place-Names Committee the Lewin Peninsula on South Georgia after him.

House of Lords and other awards

Shortly after his retirement, Lewin was raised to a Life Peer by a letters patent dated November 19, 1982 entitled Baron Lewin , of Greenwich in Greater London, and was a member of the House of Lords until his death.

Baron Lewin, the 1983 Knight on April 22 of the Order of the Garter ( Knight of the Garter ) was engaged from 1984 to 1995 as president of the Royal Society of shipwrecked sailors and fishermen ( Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Association ) and at the same time from 1987 until 1995 Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich .

Baron Lewin also received an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from City University London and an Honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Greenwich in 1993 . In addition, he was awarded the honorary title of Colonel Commandant for life by the Royal Marines in 1995 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 3719, HMSO, London, August 21, 1942, p. 8344 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36676, HMSO, London, August 25, 1944, p. 4010 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36794, HMSO, London, November 10, 1944, p. 5224 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 38681, HMSO, London, August 2, 1949, p. 3760 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 39749, HMSO, London, January 9, 1953, p. 220 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  6. ↑ London Gazette . No. 41450, HMSO, London, July 18, 1958, p. 4514 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41589, HMSO, London, December 30, 1958, p. 5 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44405, HMSO, London, September 8, 1967, p. 9891 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44365, HMSO, London, July 14, 1967, p. 7881 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 11458, HMSO, London, October 16, 1970, p. 9891 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  11. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46138, HMSO, London, November 26, 1973, p. 14081 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  12. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45860, HMSO, London, December 29, 1972, p. 2 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  13. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46919, HMSO, London, June 12, 1976, p. 8016 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  14. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 47173, HMSO, London, March 14, 1977, p. 3571 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  15. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 47904, HMSO, London, July 16, 1979, p. 8998 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  16. ↑ Terence Lewin and the Falkland Islands ( memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / doverhistorian.wordpress.com
  17. ^ Gordon Smith: Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 by Land, Sea and Air , 2006, ISBN 1-84753-950-5 , p. 24
  18. ^ Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins: The Battle for the Falklands , 2012, ISBN 0-33053-676-1 , p. 499 with additional references
  19. ↑ Colin Brown: Real Britannia: A Partial, Proud History of the Glory and the Spin , 2012, ISBN 1-78074-112-X , p. 264
  20. ↑ Jonathan Aitken: Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality , 2013, ISBN 1-40883-186-4 , p. 755 with additional references
  21. ↑ London Gazette . No. 49176, HMSO, London, November 24, 1982, p. 15347 ( PDF , accessed October 28, 2013, English).
  22. ↑ Knights of the Garter, 1694-present
predecessor Office successor
Sir Neil Cameron Chief of the Defense Staff
1979-1982 		Sir Edwin Bramall
personal data
SURNAME Lewin, Terence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lewin, Terence Thornton, Baron Lewin (full name); Lewin, Terry (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British naval admiral
DATE OF BIRTH November 19, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Dover
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1999
Place of death Woodbridge , Suffolk