Sir Albert Thomas "Archie" Lamb

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

CMG DFC (23 October 1921 – 19 October 2021) was a British diplomat, writer and RAF

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

. He served as British ambassador to Kuwait from 1974 to 1977, and to Norway from 1978 to 1980.

Career

Albert Thomas Lamb was born in Britain on 23 October 1921, the son of R. S. Lamb and Violet Lamb (née Haynes). He was educated in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

at the Bishop Gore School. He joined the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1938. On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939 he volunteered for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, but was not called for service until 1941. He did pilot training in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

; on his way back to Britain in SS ''Oronsay'' his ship was torpedoed and he spent nine days in a lifeboat before being rescued. Commissioned in 1941, he was promoted to flying officer (war-substantive) on 12 March 1943, and to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

(war-substantive) on 12 September 1944. He flew combat missions in

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s and

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

s and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in January 1945. After the war Lamb returned to the Foreign Office and served at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He then studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

at the

Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947� ...

1955–57 and subsequently served in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and as

political agent Political Agent or political agent may refer to: *Political Resident, a representative with consular duties and political contacts with local chiefs *Political officer (British Empire), an officer of the British imperial civil administration, also ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

in 1965-68, during which time he oversaw the 1966 Abu Dhabi coup d'etat. He served at the Foreign Office (later the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

) 1965–74, rising to assistant

under-secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

, before being appointed

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Kuwait 1974–77 and to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

1978–80. Lamb found the Norwegian political establishment insular and unsympathetic to their

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

partners, who at the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, were concerned about Norway's vulnerable border with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In his last diplomatic dispatch, Lamb says of the Norwegians "...you demand your allies' full support but restrict their ability to give it... 'All for Norway' is the Royal motto of the

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...

; it sums up the Norwegian interpretation of the North Atlantic Alliance". After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, he became a director of the nationalised companies British National Oil Corporation, later privatised as Britoil, and

British Shipbuilders British Shipbuilders (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. Its head office was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The corporation was ...

Personal life

His daughter

Kathryn Lamb Kathryn Lamb (born 1959) is a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer. Lamb is the daughter of Sir Archie Lamb, a former British Ambassador to Kuwait and Norway. She was educated at St Hugh's College, Oxford where she received a bachelor's d ...

is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer. He died on 19 October 2021, four days before his 100th birthday.

Publications

''A Long Way from Swansea: a memoir''
2003. Starborn Books.
''Abu Dhabi 1965–1968''
2003 Teapot Press.
''The Last Voyage of SS Oronsay: A Questionable Venture''
2004 Starborn Books.

Honours

Lamb was appointed

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in 1953, CMG in 1974 and knighted KBE in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

of 1979. He was made an honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Swansea Metropolitan University , students = 5,765 , undergrad = 4,520 , postgrad = 1,075 , other = 175 FE , city = Swansea , country = Wales, UK , campus = Urban , address = Mount PleasantSwansea SA1 6ED , we ...

in 2004.Honorary Fellows and Awards
, Swansea Metropolitan University

References

LAMB, Sir Albert Thomas, (Sir Archie)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013
Interview with Sir Archie Lamb
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge
Sir Archie Lamb
Starborn Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Archie 1921 births 2021 deaths People educated at Bishop Gore School Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Kuwait Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Norway Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) British writers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force pilots of World War II People associated with Swansea Metropolitan University Royal Air Force officers People from Swansea Military personnel from Swansea