Vice Admiral Sir Hilary Worthington Biggs, (15 January 1905 – 2 January 1976) was a senior

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 F ...

officer.

Naval career

Hilary Worthington Biggs was born on 15 January 1905, the son of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

C. W. Biggs. After attending the Royal Naval Colleges at

Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...

and Dartmouth, Biggs was commissioned into the

in 1923,"Biggs, Vice-Adm. Sir Hilary Worthington"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 5 April 2018. as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

to ."Sir Hilary Biggs", ''The Times'' (London), 3 January 1976, p. 14. After several promotions in the 1920s, Biggs became a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1934 and a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

four years later. After the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

, Biggs was posted as commander of in 1940; he received the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) that year for his services in the

Second Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

, and was awarded a

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to the DSO for his role in the evacuation of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

the following year. He was also awarded the War Cross, 3rd Class from Greece and Poland's Cross of Valour in 1942. Biggs then served in the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

, before being posted to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

as Deputy Naval Assistant to the

Second Sea Lord The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establish ...

(1942–44). He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1943, and commanded from 1944 (he was also Captain (D),

11th Destroyer Flotilla The British 11th Destroyer Flotilla, or Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1915 to September 1945. History World War One The 11th Destroyer Flotilla was formed in August 1915 and was assigned to the ...

of the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

), serving in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. With the Second World War over, Biggs commanded (1946–48) and served as Assistant Chief of Supplies at the Admiralty. He was Captain of the Fleet on the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

from 1950 to 1952, and the next year became

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel (Personal Services). In 1955, he became Flag Officer of the Home Fleet Training Squadron and then, from 1956 to 1958 was posted as the last Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station. Biggs was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in 1955 and, three years later, he was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. He died on 2 January 1976, leaving a widow (Florence, daughter of

Sir Roger Backhouse Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Roland Charles Backhouse, (24 November 1878 – 15 July 1939) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as a cruiser commander and after the war became a battle squadron commander and later Com ...

) and four children. One of his sons was Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Biggs (1938–2002)."Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Biggs"
''The Telegraph'', 3 July 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

References

External links

''Sir Hilary Worthington Biggs''
by Elliott & Fry (bromide print, 4 July 1956);

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

(Photographs Collection, NPG x86358). {{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Hilary 1905 births 1976 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the War Cross (Greece) Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of World War II