Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Sir William Milbourne James, (22 December 1881 – 17 August 1973) was a British naval commander, politician and author. He served 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 Fr ...

from the early 20th century to 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 ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he was an integral part of the Naval Intelligence Division in its early years.

Family

James was the son of Major W. C. James of the

16th Lancers The 16th The Queen's Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922. History Early wars ...

and his wife Effie, daughter of the painter

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

. He was educated at

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. ...

, and HMS ''Britannia''.

Bubbles

As a child, James sat as a subject for several paintings by his grandfather, Millais. The most well-known of these is '' Bubbles'', in which the five-year-old William is shown gazing enraptured at a soap bubble he has just blown. When the painting was used in an advertisement for

Pears soap Pears transparent soap is a British brand of soap first produced and sold in 1807 by Andrew Pears, at a factory just off Oxford Street in London. It was the world's first mass-market translucent soap. Under the stewardship of advertising pionee ...

, it became famous. The image dogged James throughout his life, and he was regularly nicknamed "Bubbles".

Naval career

James pursued a career in the Royal Navy, rising to hold a number of important positions. Following early service on the training ship HMS ''Britannia'', he was confirmed in the rank of

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

on 15 April 1901. He was posted to the destroyer HMS ''Skate'' on 7 October 1902, and promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

later the same year, when in November he was posted to the

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

HMS ''Venerable'', on her first commission, to the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

. He achieved the rank of

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 1913. During the First World War he served as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

aboard the battlecruiser HMS ''Queen Mary'', leaving the ship a day before it sailed to its doom at the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He was flag-commander to Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, commanding the

4th Battle Squadron The 4th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 4th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet (1912–14) and then the Grand Fleet after the outbreak of the First World War ...

of the Grand Fleet in HMS ''Benbow'' from 1916 to 1917. Later in the war he assisted

William Reginald Hall Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall (28 June 1870 – 22 October 1943), known as Blinker Hall, was the British Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) from 1914 to 1919. Together with Sir Alfred Ewing he was responsible for the establishment ...

, the Director of Naval Intelligence, eventually becoming deputy director. Hall and James worked together in " Room 40" which decrypted a number of crucial enemy signals relating to the

, the plans of Roger Casement and the Zimmermann Telegram. At one point James ran Room 40 on Hall's behalf. James related some of the events in his biography of Hall, published in 1955. In the inter-war years, James first served in the

China Station 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 ...

as commander of HMS ''Curlew'' and local chief of staff from 1921 to 1922. From 1923, he was Deputy Director at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, and Director in 1925. In 1926 he returned as flag captain of HMS ''Royal Sovereign''. He went on to be Naval Assistant to the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

in 1927, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, in 1929 and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, in 1930. In 1932 he took command of the Battlecruiser Squadron, which he controlled from . He was made vice admiral in 1933 and from 1935 to 1938 he was Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. He was honoured with a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

. From 1938 James was a full

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

. During the Second World War, James served as

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...

, from 1939. In 1940 he commanded

Operation Aerial Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied forces and civilians from ports in western France from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The evacuation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germ ...

, the evacuation of British troops from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, a parallel operation to the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

. In 1942 he was appointed as Chief of Naval Information, in charge of coordinating naval publicity. James was elected in 1943 as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the constituency of

Portsmouth North Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP. Boundaries 19 ...

, which he held until 1945. He retired from the Navy in 1944.

Retirement

Following his retirement from public life, James was active in support for ventures relating to seafaring, supporting clubs such as the Elie and Earlsferry Sailing Club, which named their dinghy ''Bubbles'' in his honour. Most of his retirement was dedicated to his writings on aspects of British naval history.

Writings

In addition to his biography of Hall, he published books and articles on other aspects of his wartime experiences, including an account of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's attitudes to naval affairs in ''Churchill by His Contemporaries''. Other publications on naval matters included: *''New battleship organisations and notes for Executive Officers'' (1916) *''Songs of the sailor men'' (1916) *''The British Navy in adversity: a study of the American War of Independence'' (1926) *''Blue water and green fields'' (1939) *''Admiral Sir William Fisher'' (1943) *''The Portsmouth letters'' (1946) *''The British Navies in the Second World War'' (1946) *''The durable monument: Horatio Nelson'' (1948) *''The influence of sea power on the history of the British people'' (1948) *''Old oak : the life of Sir John Jervis, Earl of Vincent'' (1950) *''The sky was always blue'' (1951) *''The eyes of the navy: a biographical study of Admiral Sir Reginald Hall'' (1955) *''A great seaman: the life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Oliver'' (1956) His most notable non-Naval publication was ''The Order of Release, the story of John Ruskin, Effie Gray and John Everett Millais told for the first time in their unpublished letters'' (1947), a collection of family letters detailing the romance between his grandparents. His grandmother

Effie Gray Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais (''née'' Gray; 7 May 1828 – 23 December 1897) was a Scottish artists' model and the wife of Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. She had previously been married to the art critic John Ruskin ...

had been married to

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

when she fell in love with Millais. Her first marriage was annulled, due to non-consummation. James was the first to publish the full details of these events and to vindicate his grandmother, whose victimisation by the Ruskin family he documented. James's book has been the inspiration for at least two plays.''The Order of Release''
.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:James, William Milbourne 1881 births 1974 deaths Royal Navy admirals of World War II UK MPs 1935–1945 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Legion of Honour People from Hartley Wintney Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Glenalmond College Royal Navy officers of World War I People from Elie and Earlsferry Lords of the Admiralty Military personnel from Hampshire