Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Julian Robertson Oswald (11 August 1933 – 19 July 2011) 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 ...
officer. After training as a gunnery specialist, Oswald commanded a frigate and then a destroyer before achieving higher command in the navy. He served as
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
and Chief of Naval Staff in the early 1990s. In that capacity he advised the British Government on the reduction in the size of the fleet under the
Options for Change
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...
restructuring programme and on the deployment of Naval Support for the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
in 1991: he also made the decision that members of the
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...
should be allowed to serve in Royal Navy ships.
Naval career
![HMSNewcastle2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/HMSNewcastle2003.jpg)
Oswald was born to Captain George Hamilton Oswald, RN and his wife Margaret Elliott Oswald (née Robertson). The Oswalds were a landed gentry family of Cavens,
Dumfries and
Auchincruive (now named "Oswald Hall"),
South Ayrshire,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, descending from merchant
George Oswald
George Oswald of Scotstoun (1735–1819) was a Scottish merchant of Glasgow. In 1797 he was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow.
Life
He was the son of the Rev. James Oswald (1703–1793), and nephew of the merchant Richard Oswald (170 ...
,
Rector of the University of Glasgow
The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...
from 1797 to 1799, Oswald was educated at
Beaudesert Park School
Box is a small village in Gloucestershire, England. It is in the civil parish of Minchinhampton, and is located south of Stroud and west of Cirencester. Minchinhampton is about away and Nailsworth is about away. Box has a population of a ...
and the
Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
.
['' Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, ] He joined 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 ...
as a
cadet on 1 May 1947.
[Heathcote, p. 203] During his early career he served in the
cruiser HMS ''Devonshire'' and was commissioned as a
midshipman on 1 January 1952.
[ He then served in the battleship HMS ''Vanguard'' and then the frigate HMS ''Verulam''.][ Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 May 1953, he was posted to the aircraft carrier in February 1955.][ Promoted to ]lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
on 1 June 1955, he subsequently served in the cruiser HMS ''Newfoundland'' and then the minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
.[
After qualifying in gunnery Oswald joined the aircraft carrier in 1960.][ He was given command of the minesweeper in April 1962 and was promoted to ]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 ran ...
on 1 June 1963. After attending the Royal Navy Staff College in 1964, he was posted to the shore establishment HMS ''Excellent'' at Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
as Air Weapons Officer in 1965.[Heathcote, p. 204] HMS ''Excellent'' maintains the gun carriage used for state funerals, and Oswald was the Funeral Gun Carriage Officer for the Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
on 30 January 1965. He was posted to the frigate HMS ''Naiad'' in September 1966 and promoted to commander on 31 December 1968 on his appointment to the Directorate of Naval Plans at the Ministry of Defence.[
Oswald was given command of the frigate HMS ''Bacchante'' in January 1971 and then joined the staff of the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence in 1972.][ Promoted to captain on 31 December 1973, he attended the ]Royal College of Defence Studies
The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...
in 1976 before being given command of the destroyer HMS ''Newcastle'' in January 1977 and joining the Royal Navy Presentation Team in 1979.[ He went on to be Captain of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in June 1980.][ He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to ]the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
on 7 July 1982 and was promoted to rear admiral on 2 September 1982 on his appointment as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Programmes).[
Oswald became Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Policy and Nuclear) in January 1985][ and went on to become Flag Officer, Third Flotilla and Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Fleet in October 1985.][ Promoted to vice-admiral on 3 January 1986, he was appointed a ]Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...
in the 1987 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
. He was promoted to full admiral on 29 May 1987, on appointment as Commander-in-Chief Fleet
The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional he ...
and 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 ...
Commander-in-Chief, Channel and Commander-in-Chief Eastern Atlantic.[
Advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1989 ]New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
, Oswald became First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
and Chief of the Naval Staff in May 1989.[ In that capacity he advised the British Government on the reduction in the size of the fleet under the ]Options for Change
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...
restructuring programme and on the deployment of Naval Support for the Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
in 1991: he also made the decision that members of the Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...
should be allowed to serve in Royal Navy ships.[ He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on his retirement in March 1993.][
]
Later career
In retirement Oswald became Chairman of Aerosystems International[ and of ]Sema Group
Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.
History
The Company was founded in 1988 by the merger of th ...
plc, an Information Technology business, until the latter was acquired in 2001. He was also President of the Sea Cadet Association, Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...
and a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
.[ His interests included walking, stamp-collecting, family and fishing.][ He died at his home at Shedfield in ]Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
on 19 July 2011.
Family
In 1958 he married Veronica ('Roni') Thompson; they had two sons and three daughters.[ His nephew is the playwright ]Peter Oswald
Peter Charles Patrick Oswald (born 1965) is an English playwright specialising in verse drama, resident at Shakespeare's Globe from 1998 to 2009.
Early life
Oswald was born the second of four children (eldest of three sons) of farmer and sto ...
.[Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 1987]
References
Sources
*
External links
Imperial War Museum Interview
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, Julian
1933 births
2011 deaths
Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies
Scottish military personnel
Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College
Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
People educated at Beaudesert Park School
People from the Scottish Borders
Royal Navy admirals of the fleet