Vice Admiral Sir John Michael Villiers, (22 June 1907 – 1 January 1990) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Fourth Sea Lord.

Early life

Villiers was the third son of Rear Admiral Edward Cecil Villiers (grandson of Thomas Hyde Villiers), and Anne Gordon Haynes-Smith, daughter of Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith, governor of Cyprus. He was and educated at Oundle School and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

Naval career

Villiers joined the Royal Navy in 1935.Sir John Michael Villiers
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives and then went onto the staff of the Experimental Signal School at Portsmouth in 1936. He served in the Second World War as Squadron Signal Officer and Flag Lieutenant to the Admiral commanding the Battle Cruiser Squadron and then transferred to 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 ...

in which he took part in the Norwegian campaign. He joined the staff of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay for the planning of the invasion of Sicily in 1943 and then commanded 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 ...

in 1945. After the war he commanded on the

West Indies Station The Jamaica Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at Port Royal in Jamaica from 1655 to 1830. History The station was formed, following the capture of Jamaica, by assembling about a dozen frigates in 165 ...

from 1946 and then joined the Directing Staff at the Joint Services Staff College from 1948. He was appointed Assistant Director of Plans at the Admiralty in 1950 and Queen's Harbourmaster at Malta in 1952. He commanded the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

from 1954 and then became Chief of the Naval Staff for the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1958. His last appointment was as Fourth Sea Lord and Vice Controller of the Navy in 1960 before he retired in 1964.

Later life

After retiring from the Navy, he succeeded Sir George Erskine to become Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. He served three years until he was succeeded by

Sir John Davis } Sir John Henry Harris Davis (10 November 1906 – 27 May 1993) was an English businessman and accountant. He was the managing director, later chairman, of The Rank Organisation Early life John Davis was born in the City of London in 1906 to Si ...

in 1969.

Personal life

On 3 November 1936, Sir Michael married Rosemary Salwey Grissell, daughter of Lt.-Col. Bernard Salwey Grissell, who was killed in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in the First World War, and the former Olive Mary Wood. Rosemary's sister, Veronica, a historian, was the wife of Lt-Col W. H. "Tich" Bamfield. Together, they had two daughters: * Valerie Anne Villiers (b. 1940), who married Vice Admiral Sir John Morrison Webster. * Camilla Rosemary Villiers (b. 1943), who married Richard Weston Warner, son of John Weston Warner. Sir Michael died on 1 January 1990 in Melton, Suffolk."Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Villiers", ''The Times'' (London), 10 January 1990, p. 14.

References

External links

Sir (John) Michael Villiers (1907-1990), Vice-Admiral
at the

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 ...

The Papers of Vice Admiral Sir (John) Michael Villiers
held at Churchill Archives Centre , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Villiers, Michael 1907 births 1990 deaths Michael People educated at Oundle School Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Lords of the Admiralty Governors of Jersey