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 regarded ...

Ian Gerald Aylen (12 October 1910 – 5 November 2003), known as Jan Aylen, was an officer of the

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 ...

during 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 ...

, eventually rising to flag rank.

Early life

Aylen was born in

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the tim ...

and the

Royal Naval Engineering College The Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon, Devon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham close ...

, Keyham, and Greenwich. He was a keen rugby player, representing

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

at rugby, and captained the Devonport Services R.F.C. in 1938–39. He married Alice Maltby in 1937 and with her had a son and two daughters.

Naval career

Aylen served at sea, at first aboard the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

HMS ''Rodney'' under future Admiral of the Fleet Captain Jack Tovey. Aylen then became engineer officer of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

HMS ''Kelvin'', which formed part of the

5th Destroyer Flotilla The British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the 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 ...

under Captain the Lord Louis Mountbatten. On one occasion, while the ''Kelvin'' was in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

for repairs, Aylen and a party of sailors visited the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

. Aylen and the ''Kelvin'' then went on to see action at the

Second Battle of Sirte The Second Battle of Sirte (on 22 March 1942) was a naval engagement in the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Gulf of Sidra and southeast of Malta, during the Second World War. The escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta held off a much ...

on 22 March 1942. He received the

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

for his efforts during the action.

Germany

He briefly left front-line service towards the end of the war and was based at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. Desiring to return to a more active role he volunteered for the

30th Assault Unit No. 30 Commando, from 1943 to 1946 known as 30 Assault Unit, was a British Commando unit during the Second World War, originally formed to gather intelligence. History Formation In a 2012 documentary Dieppe Uncovered, Canadian Professor David ...

, under the intelligence officer Cdr Ian Fleming, RNVR. He advanced with General Patton's troops across the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and headed for the

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

research establishments on the Baltic coast as the German army collapsed. Aylen then moved to

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

with orders to gather evidence on technical aid supplied by Germany to Japan, and was involved in the questioning of the remaining senior member of the German Admiralty. After the end of the war and between May and November 1945 he took over the Walterwerke and questioned scientist

Hellmuth Walter Hellmuth Walter (26 August 1900 – 16 December 1980) was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines. His most noteworthy contributions were rocket motors for the Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 intercept ...

about his work with

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

. He was instrumental in persuading Walter to bring their equipment to Vickers' shipyard at Barrow. Aylen was appointed OBE for his work in Germany.

Post war

Aylen spent two years aboard the destroyer HMS ''Cossack'' at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and then at the training establishment, HMS ''Caledonia''. Two years were spent on the

Admiralty Interview Board The Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) is an assessment centre, tracing its roots to 1903, that is used by the Naval Service as part of the officer selection process for the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve, a ...

, followed by a posting as the Home Fleet Engineering Officer, and then

Admiral Superintendent The admiral-superintendent was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Royal Navy Dockyard, Naval Dockyard. HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, HMNB Devonport, Devonport and Chatham Dockyard, Chatham all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other ...

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was fo ...

. He was first appointed Commander of the

from 7 August 1958 to 7 July 1960 when he held the rank of Captain upon promotion to Rear-Admiral he continued as commander from 7 July 1960 to 30 July 1960. Aylen, by now appointed CB, worked for the

Institute of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

after his retirement from the navy in 1962 and lived at

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

, though he remained an active commentator on naval affairs. He died on 5 November 2003, survived by his son and daughters.

Sources

*Extracted fro
Obituary - Rear-Admiral Jan Aylen, The Daily Telegraph, 24 November 2003Obituary - Rear-Admiral Jan Aylen, The Times, 25 November 2003

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylen, Jan 1910 births 2003 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy Commando officers People from Saltash Devonport Services R.F.C. players Military personnel from Cornwall