Harold Burrough

Sir Harold Martin Burrough GCB, KBE, DSO (4 July 1889 - 22 October 1977) was a British Admiral and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff to the Royal Navy during World War II.

Born in Herefordshire, he was the tenth son of Rev. Charles Burrough and his wife Georgina Long.

Early career

Burrough began his career as a naval cadet in 1903. A lifelong member of the Admiralty, he first saw action during World War I as a gunnery officer aboard HMS "Southampton", later taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. By the early 1930s, Burrough had held several commands including HMS "London", the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, and HMS "Excellent" before becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.

World War II

During WWII he was awarded the DSO after a successful raid on the Norwegian islands of Vågsøy and Måløy on 27 December 1941 [Obituary The Times 25 October 1977, issue 60143] in which nine enemy ships were sunk by the Navy and RAF and the garrisons were wiped out by the military forces. 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 landings.

After his appointment as Flag Officer Commanding Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches, Burrough succeeded Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay as Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief, Expeditionary Force (ANXF), following Ramsay’s death after an aircraft accident. Planning the Allied naval strategy and operations, working closely with General Eisenhower during the final years of the war, Burrough was one of the signatories to the German Surrender Documents on 7 May 1945 at Rheims, France. He remained as naval commander occupying post-war Germany, where among his duties he authorised the formation of the German Mine Sweeping Administration. He then became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. He retired in 1949, being created Knight Grand Cross of the order of the Bath (GCB) that year. [LondonGazette |issue=38493 |date=1 January 1949 |startpage=2 |supp=x |accessdate=2008-09-19] He died on 22 October 1977 from pneumonia at the Moorhouse Nursing Home, Hindhead, Surrey.

Family

Burrough married in 1914, Nellie Wills, daughter of C.W Outhit of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and had two sons and three daughters. His wife died in 1972.

References

*Parrish, Thomas and S. L. A. Marshall, ed. "The Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II", New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.

External links

* [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/BURROUGH.shtml King's College London: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives - Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975]
* [http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/germsurr.shtml German Surrender Documents of WWII]