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 regarde ...

Ian Jaffery "Tim" Lees-Spalding, (16 June 1920 – 1 July 2001) was a senior marine engineer in 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 ...

before becoming Administrator of the London International Film School and co-founder of the Macmillan and Silk Cut Nautical Almanac.

Early life

Lees-Spalding, always known as Tim, was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, London, on 16 June 1920, and educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton 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 ...

Naval career

Lees-Spalding had joined the

in 1938 and in 1941, while still under training, was awarded a

King's Commendation for Brave Conduct The Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct, formerly the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, acknowledged brave acts by both civilians and members of the armed services in both war and peace, for gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. Est ...

for digging out with his bare hands a woman trapped beneath a pile of rubble after a German night air raid on

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. A year later, he was awarded a Royal Lifesaving Institution Medal for rescuing a drowning man from the sea off

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the ...

. In 1943 Lees-Spalding went to sea in the anti-aircraft cruiser , which saw action in the Mediterranean, and he was present at Operation Husky, the invasion of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in July. Following the Italian Armistice in September 1943, the 12th Cruiser Squadron, of which ''Sirius'' was part, landed troops of the British 1st Airborne Division at

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

. The ship suffered bomb damage off the Greek island of

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...

in October and Lees-Spalding was still serving when Sirius took part in the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

in June 1944 before returning to the Mediterranean for the invasion of southern France in August. In January 1945, Sirius helped to host the Anglo-American talks prior to the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

, providing accommodation for the Foreign Secretary

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

and the US Secretary of State

Edward Stettinius Edward Reilly Stettinius Jr. (October 22, 1900 – October 31, 1949) was an American businessman who served as United States Secretary of State under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from 1944 to 1945, and as U.S. Ambassador ...

. Lees-Spalding later served in submarines, before being promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

in 1952; this was followed by service in (a sister-ship to ''Sirius'') and the new destroyer . As the Commander (Executive Officer) of the

, by now located at

Manadon Manadon is a suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. It has two primary schools, St Boniface's Catholic College (secondary comprehensive), and is home to the Manadon interchange, on the A38 road. Manadon Park, a development of varyi ...

near

, Lees-Spalding was the first non-Gunnery Officer to preside over the Queen's Birthday Parade on Plymouth Hoe in 1959. He subsequently returned to sea as the Commander (E) of the new cruiser in the Far East. Promoted to

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 ...

in 1962, Lees-Spalding undertook a variety of engineering staff jobs ashore. Towards the end of his naval career he was promoted to

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 regarde ...

in June 1969 he was appointed Chief of Staff, Naval Home Command, a post he held until June 1971. He was next appointed as Chief Staff Officer (Technical) to the

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 ...

. He 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 1973.

Later career

After leaving the Royal Navy in 1974, Lees-Spalding was appointed Administrator of the

London International Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

. Despite no previous experience in the field, he quickly sorted out the school's financial problems. In 1981 Lees-Spalding co-founded the Macmillan and Silk Cut Nautical Almanac, which became a handbook for Britain's yachtsmen, and Lees-Spalding remained editor until 1992.

Sources

* Obituary of Rear-Adml Tim Lees-Spalding, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 28 August 2001

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees-Spalding, Tim 1920 births 2001 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Blundell's School Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Recipients of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct