General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Norman Hastings Tailyour, (12 December 1914 – 28 December 1979) was a Royal Marines officer who served as

Commandant General Royal Marines The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier. This position is not t ...

from 1965 to 1968.

Military career

Tailyour was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1933.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He served in 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 opposi ...

as commander of the Royal Marines on the Landing Craft Base HMS ''Robertson'' from 1943, as executive officer on the Land Craft Base HMS ''St Mathew'' from later that year and then as commander of 27th Battalion Royal Marines in North West Europe from 1945. He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1945 and awarded 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, ty ...

(DSO) for his command of the battalion. Tailyour was appointed commanding officer of

45 Commando 45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of the ...

in 1954. As lieutenant colonel, he was the commanding officer of 45 Commando, flown off by helicopter to land at the Port Said during the Suez Crisis in 1956, when he was also wounded by a Fleet Air Arm Wyvern – friendly fire. This was the first helicopter-borne, opposed assault from the sea in history. He was again Mentioned in Despatches for his services in the Suez in 1956, and awarded a Bar to his DSO for his command of 45 Commando in Cyprus later that year. Tailyour became commander of the Royal Marine Barracks at Plymouth in 1957, chief of staff to the Amphibious Warfare Representative in Washington D. C. in 1958 and commander of

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...

in 1960. He went on to be Commander Plymouth Group of the Royal Marines in 1962. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1963, and promoted to Knight Commander in the

1966 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1966 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

. He became

in 1965 before retiring in 1968.

Retirement

In retirement Tailyour was

Captain of Deal Castle 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 ...

from 1972 to 1980. He was an Honorary Admiral in the Texan Navy and an Honorary Lance Corporal in the French Zuaves. He was the Commodore of the Royal Marines Sailing Club and the first Honorary Flag Officer. He was also a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Royal Naval Sailing Association (Rear Commodore) and the Royal Cruising Club.

Personal life

Tailyour's son,

Ewen Southby-Tailyour Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour, (born 18 January 1942) is a British author, sailor, and retired Royal Marine. He served for 32 years in the Royal Marines and, after retiring, he concentrated on his sailing and writing careers and has w ...

, was also a Royal Marines officer, who served with distinction in

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah G ...

and the Falklands War: Norman Tailyour was also a yachtsman. His brother-in-law was a Royal Marines major, one nephew was a Royal Marines brigadier, a step-son was a Royal Marines captain and another nephew was a captain in the Royal Marines Reserve. His wife June (née Southby), whom he married in 1941 and who predeceased him in 1971, had trained as a doctor at Göttingen University (Germany) before the Second World War. Prior to her marriage June Southby was a nurse at St George's Hospital, London, then, being bilingual in German, she joined the WRNS as a 'decoder' of German signals at Chatham Naval Base, a sub-station of Station X, aka

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tailyour, Norman 1914 births 1979 deaths Captains of Deal Castle Royal Marines personnel of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Suez Crisis Royal Marines generals British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency