John Horace Ragnar Colvin

John Colvin, born Tokyo, Japan June 18 1922, died London, October 4 2003.

John Horace Ragnar Colvin, CMG, was the son of Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, KBE, CB, the architect of the Royal Australian Navy. He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and passed into the Royal Navy in the early part of the Second World War.

During the War he served mostly in the Far East. Among other exploits, he survived the sinking of HMS "Repulse" off Singapore and joined combined operations in Colombo,Fact|date=June 2008 serving behind Japanese lines in Vietnam. He emerged from undercover work to accept the surrender of the Japanese command in Saigon on Japan's capitulation, and remained in the South Vietnamese capital for a year.

After leaving the Royal Navy, Colvin began a degree at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) in London and joined the Secret Intelligence Service. He was posted to a number of Cold War hotspots including Oslo, Vienna and Kuala Lumpur. His most high-profile postings, however, were Consul-General in Hanoi from 1966-67 at the height of the American bombing campaign in the Vietnam War; HM Ambassador to Mongolia from 1971-74; and Head of SIS in Washington 1977-1980. He was appointed CMG in 1968 following his return from Hanoi.

On retirement from SIS, Colvin advised David Rockefeller for eight years in Hong Kong as a vice-president of the Chase Manhattan Bank. He retired to London in 1988 and wrote several well-regarded books of mostly military history. His best-selling works were "Not Ordinary Men" which examined the battle of Kohima, and "Decisive Battles", which looked at twenty crucial battles throughout history. He also published a memoir of his time in Hanoi and Ulan Bator called "Twice Around the World".

Colvin married twice. First, Anne Manifold in 1948. Second, Moranna Cazenove in 1967. Each marriage produced a daughter and a son.

He was a member of Brooks's Club and the Beefsteak Club.

References

* von Bulow, Claus, " [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-colvin-548920.html John Colvin] ". "Independent", 16 October 2003.
* " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1443501/John-Colvin.html John Colvin] ". "Telegraph", 8 October, 2003.