Varyl Begg

Infobox Military Person
name= Sir Varyl Begg
lived= 1 October 1908 – 13 July 1995
placeofbirth= Kensington, London
placeofdeath=


caption= Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg
Crown Copyright
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1926 - 1973
rank= Admiral of the Fleet
branch=
branch
commands= First Sea Lord
unit=
battles= Second World War
*Norwegian campaign
*Suda Bay
Korean War
*Battle of Inchon
awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Cross
laterwork=

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Cargill Begg GCB, DSO, DSC (1 October 1908 - 13 July 1995) was the British First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy from 1966 to 1968. He saw action in both the Second World War and the Korean War and served as the governor and commander-in-chief of Gibraltar [ [http://www.fotw.net/flags/gi%5Eregt.html Royal Gibraltar Regiment (Gibraltar, United Kingdom) ] ] in 1968 until the mid 1970s. He also opened the Gibraltar House of Assembly on 28th August 1969. [ [http://www.gibraltar.gov.uk/int/Government/assembly.asp Official Government of Gibraltar London website ] ]

Early life

He was born in Kensington, London, on 1 October 1908, the son of Francis Cargill Begg, and his wife, Muriel Clare Robinson. He was educated at St Andrews School, Eastbourne, and Malvern College, before joining the navy as a special entry cadet in September 1926. He served onboard HMS "Durban", HMS "Marlborough", and HMS "Shropshire", before being transferred to HMS "Excellent", the gunnery school at Whale Island, Portsmouth.

econd World War

In 1934 he qualified as a gunnery specialist. He was then made second gunnery officer of the Battleship HMS "Nelson", flagship of the Home Fleet, before returning to Whale Island on the experimental staff in 1936. He was appointed flotilla gunnery officer in the destroyer HMS "Cossack" in 1937, and two years later was gunnery officer of the convert|6|in|mm|0|sing=on gun cruiser HMS "Glasgow". It was onboard the "Glasgow" that Begg saw action in the Second World War. The "Glasgow" participated in north Atlantic convoys, the Norwegian campaign, and the occupation of Iceland, before being badly damaged in a torpedo attack by Italian aircraft in Suda Bay, Crete.

In 1940 Begg was appointed gunnery officer of the battleship HMS "Warspite" in the Mediterranean when it was flagship of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham (soon to be First Sea Lord himself). Begg was in charge of Warspite's main convert|15|in|mm|0|sing=on guns during the battle off Cape Matapan on the night of 28 March 1941. It was an engagement in which the ships "Warspite", "Barham" and "Valiant" caught the Italian heavy cruisers Fiume and Zara by surprise, with their guns still trained fore and aft, and sank them both in a brutally short action of less than two minutes. A third heavy cruiser, Pola, and two Italian destroyers were also sunk in the engagement. Begg was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (UK) for his part in the action. He was promoted commander in December 1942 and then went to the gunnery division in the Admiralty, where he was involved in the development of gun design and tactics until after the war. On 7 August 1943 he married Rosemary Cowan. They had two sons, Timothy (b. 1944) and Peter (b. 1948).

Captain and Korea

Begg was promoted captain in 1947 and was staff officer (operations) to a rear-admiral in the Mediterranean. From 1948 to 1950 he was captain in charge of the gunnery school at Chatham. In the latter year he joined the destroyer HMS "Cossack" again, this time in command and as captain of the 8th destroyer flotilla. The Cossack served in the first two years of the Korean War, and with other Commonwealth ships carried out blockading patrols of the west coast of Korea as far north as the Yalu River; it was also in the bombarding force of cruisers and destroyers for the crucial Inchon landings in September 1950, which turned the tide of the war in the United Nations' favour, and went on to make many bombardments in support of UN forces ashore. For his service in Korea, Begg was mentioned in dispatches in 1951 and appointed a DSO in 1952. From 1952 to 1955 he was captain of HMS "Excellent".

Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral

He commanded the aircraft carrier HMS "Triumph" from 1954 to 1956, when it was a cadet training ship. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1957, he was chief of staff to the commander-in-chief, Portsmouth, from 1957 to 1958, and then flag officer, second in command, Far East Fleet, from 1958 to 1960. [http://www.regiments.org/formations/uk-cmdarmy/os-fare.htm]

Begg was promoted vice-admiral in 1960 and went to the Admiralty in 1961 as a lord commissioner of the Admiralty and vice-chief of naval staff. At this time the first sea lord was Caspar John, the first naval aviator to hold the office. They both worked together in the reduction of the three fleet system in the Royal Navy as well as the difficult decision to disband the fleet in the Mediterranean.

In 1963 Begg went out to the Far East again as a full Admiral, commander-in-chief of British forces in the Far East, and British military adviser to the South East Asia Treaty Organization, at a time of undeclared war between Malaysia, a newly independent state, and Indonesia.

First Sea Lord

He was First Sea Lord from 1966 to 1968. In 1966 he was the official prizegiver at the Henley Royal Regatta [http://www.hrr.co.uk/history/prizegivers.asp]

Legacy

His name is given to a large official government housing estate in Gibraltar ("Varyl Begg Estate"). [ [http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/gibraltar/map/m1771155/varyl_begg_estate.html Varyl Begg Estate, Gibraltar on world map, coordinates and short facts ] ]

References

Further reading

* "The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995", Heathcote T. A., Pen & Sword Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0 85052 835 6

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