Major General Patrick Richard Kay, (1 August 1921 – 19 September 2013) was a senior

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

officer and

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. He served as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

43 Commando The 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (43 Cdo FP Gp RM), formerly Comacchio Company Royal Marines (1980–1983), Comacchio Group Royal Marines (1983–2001) and Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (2001–2012), is a 550-man un ...

, Commanding Officer of the Amphibious Training Unit and

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, Royal Marines. Following retirement from the military, he became Director of Naval Security and then Secretary of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee.

Early life

Kay was born on 1 August 1921 in Blakeney, Norfolk, England. He was educated at

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Over ...

, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Military career

Kay was commissioned into the

in January 1940. From 1941, he served at sea on the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

in the Mediterranean and in the Arctic. On 10 March 1942, he was confirmed in the rank of lieutenant and given seniority from 14 June 1941. He left HMS ''Renown'' and joined the

4th Special Service Brigade The 4th Special Service Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the British Commandos formed during the Second World War in March 1944 from battalion-sized units of the Royal Marines. Due to the success of the British Army Commandos' operations ...

on its creation in early 1944. As the brigade liaison officer attached to

41 Commando 41 Commando or No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando was a unit of the Royal Marines trained as Commandos during the Second World War. They were part of the all Royal Marine 4th Special Service Brigade that took part in the Normandy landings in June 1 ...

, he took part in the Normandy landings. In August 1944, he was sent to

46 Commando No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando was a battalion size formation of the Royal Marines, part of the British Commandos, formed in August 1943 during the Second World War. The Commando was assigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade and served in North- ...

as brigade liaison officer but was made a troop commander because of the loss of many of the battalion's officers. He was made an

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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 ...

on 25 August 1944. In November 1944, he was the

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captain in charge of supplies during Operation Infatuate, the battle for the island of

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

, the Netherlands. The navy could not reach the island to re-supply the Allied troops, but his careful organisation allowed the attack to continue. Kay was severely wounded during the operation when his vehicle hit a mine and was evacuated. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1945. Following the end of the Second World War, Kay joined Combined Operations Headquarters. In 1948, he joined the staff of the Commandant General Royal Marines for two years. On 27 September 1948, he relinquished the rank of acting

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and reverted to acting captain with seniority from 25 August 1944. On 14 June 1949, he was promoted to captain. He attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

before returning to the Commandant's staff for a further two years. In 1954, he joined

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton ...

who were based in Malta. Kay was made local major on 29 April 1957, and promoted to that rank on 29 December 1957. He was promoted to

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 ...

on 31 December 1962. He was made local colonel on 5 July 1966. He was made local major general on 15 June 1970 and acting major general on 27 July 1970. On 8 October 1970, he was promoted to major general. Kay 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 the

1972 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1972 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

. He retired from the Royal Marines on 1 May 1974.

Later life

Kay became Director of Naval Security in 1974. This followed his retirement from the military and the death of Colonel Jack MacAfee, the previous incumbent of the post. During his time in the post, he reviewed and improved the Royal Navy's internal security. Kay died on 19 September 2013, aged 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Patrick 1921 births 2013 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eastbourne College People from Blakeney, Norfolk Royal Marines generals Royal Marines personnel of World War II Military personnel from Norfolk Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley