Irvine Glennie

Educated as an officer cadet at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Glennie joined the Royal Navy in 1905 and served in the First World War in the Home Fleet and in the Grand Fleet.[1] He joined the Staff at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1922 and then commanded Destroyers from 1925.[1] He was appointed Flag Captain commanding HMNZS Achilles and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Division in 1936[1] before becoming Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Division in 1938.[2]

Rear Admiral Glennie, far left, meets King George VI aboard HMS Duke of York at Scapa Flow, August 1943

He also served in the Second World War as Flag Captain commanding HMS Hood and Chief of Staff of the Battle Cruiser Squadron from 1939; it was in this capacity that he took part in the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940.[3] He then served as Commander of Destroyers in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1941, taking part in the Battle of Crete and preventing Axis troops from landing on that island in May 1941, before becoming Commander of Destroyers in the Home Fleet from 1943.[1] He was made Senior Naval Officer, Western Atlantic from 1944; this role evolved into Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station in 1945.[1] He welcomed President Harry S. Truman to Bermuda after the War[4] and retired in 1947.[1]

He died in 1980 at Lymington in Hampshire.[3]