Sir Clive Loehnis

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(24 August 1902 – 23 May 1992)D. R. Nicoll, "Loehnis, Sir Clive (1902–1992), naval officer and civil servant", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004
/ref> was a director of the British signals intelligence agency,

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

, a post he held from 1960 to 1964.

Career

Loehnis was born in 1902 in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. His father, Herman Loehnis, was born in New York, but had become a naturalised British citizen and became a barrister. Clive Loehnis attended

Lockers Park School Lockers Park School is a day and boarding preparatory and pre-preparatory school for boys, situated in 23 acres of countryside in Boxmoor, Hertfordshire. Its headmaster is Gavin Taylor. History Lockers Park was founded in 1874 by Henry Montagu ...

and then became a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Ai ...

, training at the

Royal Naval College, Osborne The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921. Boys were admitted at about the age of thirteen to follow a course lasting ...

, and graduating from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

. He became qualified in signals in 1928 and left the Navy in 1935. In 1938 he returned to the Signals Division of the Admiralty, where he earned the silver oak leaves of a commander before retiring in 1942 and going into the Naval Intelligence Division. When he was demobilised after the war, he joined GCHQ, at that time a semi-covert division of the Foreign Office.James Bamford, ''The Puzzle Palace'' Loehnis was appointed deputy to Sir Eric Jones in 1954. When Jones retired in 1960, Loehis was promoted to the directorship, which he held until 1964. He was knighted in 1962. Loehnis married Rosemary Ryder in 1929, and the marriage produced a son and a daughter. After leaving GCHQ Loehnis retired to

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...

, where he died in May 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loehnis, Clive 1902 births 1992 deaths Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters People educated at Lockers Park School People from Chelsea, London Royal Navy officers