Admiral Sir Harold Martin Burrough (4 July 1889 – 22 October 1977) was a senior

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 ...

officer and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff to the

during

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 ...

Early career

Born the tenth son of Rev. Charles Burrough and his wife Georgina Long, Burrough began his career as a naval cadet in 1903 after being educated at

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...

. He first saw action during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a gunnery officer aboard HMS ''Southampton'',Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> later taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. In 1930 he was given command of HMS ''London''. He was made Commander of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in 1935 and of HMS ''Excellent'' in 1937. He was made Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in 1939.

World War II

In September 1940 he was appointed Rear-Admiral Commanding

10th Cruiser Squadron The 10th Cruiser Squadron, also known as Cruiser Force B was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1913 to 1917 and then again from 1940 to 1946. First formation The squadron was established in July 1913 and allocated to the T ...

. During the Second World War he was awarded the DSO after

Operation Archery Operation Archery, also known as the Måløy Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on the island of Vågsøy, Norway, on 27 December 1941. British Commandos of No. 3 Commando, two troops of ...

a raid on the Norwegian islands of

Vågsøy Vågsøy is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality's administrative center was the town Måløy. Other population centers in Vågsøy included ...

and

Måløy Måløy () is a town in the municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. Måløy is located on the southeastern side of the island of Vågsøy, about northeast of the village of Holvika and about south of the village of Raudeberg. The M� ...

on 27 December 1941 in which nine enemy ships were sunk by the Navy and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and the garrisons were wiped out by the raiding force. Burrough would serve on the Naval Staff for two years until 1942. In July of that year he was given command of the close escort force for Operation Pedestal, and subsequently placed in command of Allied naval forces in the assault on Algiers during Operation Torch, as well as directing the

Northwest Africa The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

landings. After becoming Flag Officer Commanding Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches in September 1943, Burrough succeeded Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay as Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief, Expeditionary Force (ANXF), following Ramsay's death after an aircraft accident in January 1945. Planning the Allied naval strategy and operations, working closely with U.S. General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

during the final years of the war, Burrough was one of the signatories to the German Surrender Documents on 7 May 1945 at

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He remained as naval commander occupying post-war Germany, where among his duties he authorised the formation of the

German Mine Sweeping Administration The German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA) was an organisation formed by the Allies from former crews and vessels of the Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' for the purpose of mine sweeping after the Second World War, predominantly in the North Sea ...

. He then became

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the T ...

in 1946. He retired in 1949, being created Knight Grand Cross of the order of the Bath (GCB) that year. He died on 22 October 1977 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at the Moorhouse Nursing Home,

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in Surrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 253 metres above sea level. It is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scienti ...

, Surrey.

Family

Burrough married in 1914, Nellie Wills, daughter of C.W Outhit of Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and had two sons and three daughters. His wife died in 1972.

References

External links

King's College London: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives - Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975

German Surrender Documents of World War II
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrough, Harold 1889 births 1977 deaths Royal Navy admirals Military personnel from Herefordshire People from Herefordshire Royal Navy admirals of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from pneumonia in England Royal Navy officers of World War I Lords of the Admiralty Admiralty personnel of World War II

Early career

World War II

Family

References

Further reading

External links