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 ...

Guy Waterhouse Hallifax (21 June 188428 March 1941) was a South African military commander, who was recruited by the South African government to organise a navy.

Naval career

Hallifax joined HMS ''Britannia'' in 1899 and served as a Naval Advisor in Turkey, for which he was awarded the Order of the Medjideh (3rd class). During the First World War served as first lieutenant and torpedo lieutenant on board . After being attached to the Inter-Allied Commission in Berlin he served in HMS ''Valiant'', Home Fleet, from 1921 to 1923. He then attended various disarmarmament meetings at Geneva and was promoted captain in 1924. Two years later he commanded the cruiser , of the

China Squadron The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

, remaining there until 1928. He was later appointed naval attaché in Paris and also served in that capacity in Madrid, Brussels and The Hague. He returned to active naval duties when he was appointed in command of from 1932 to 1934. In 1935 he became Director of the Signal Division of the Admiralty, and was promoted Rear-Admiral, retired, in the same year. Rear-Admiral Hallifax went out to South Africa as secretary to

Lord Clarendon Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire. First creation of the title The title was created for the first time in the Peera ...

, who was then Governor-General in South Africa, in 1936, and continued in this capacity for the first four months of the governor-generalship of Sir Patrick Duncan. On the outbreak of

World War II 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 opposing ...

in 1939, he was recruited by the South African government to organise a navy, which was named the

Seaward Defence Force Seaward may refer to: People: * Carolyn Seaward (born 1960), former beauty queen who appeared in the 1983 Bond film ''Octopussy'' *John Seaward (1786–1858), British civil engineer and mechanical engineer * Kevin Seaward (born 1983), Northern Iri ...

South African Navy

As Director of the

, he established a small fleet of minesweepers and anti-submarine vessels for coastal defence, and organised naval detachments in the major ports.

Promotions

* Confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant 15 July 1903. * Sub-Lieutenant to Lieutenant 15 January 1905. * Commander to Captain 30 June 1924. * Captain to Rear-Admiral 3 October 1935. * Placed on the Retired List 4 October 1935.

Death

He was killed in an aeroplane crash at Baboon Point, north of

Saldanha Saldanha may refer to: Places South Africa * Saldanha Bay, a bay in Western Cape * Saldanha, Western Cape, a town on the bay * Saldanha Bay Local Municipality, the unit of government that administers the Saldanha Bay region Other countries * Sal ...

while returning from a tour of inspection to the newly established naval detachment in

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

Naval career

South African Navy

Promotions

Death

References

External links

See also