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Admiral Sir Horace Rochfort Law, GCB, OBE, DSC (23 June 1911 – 30 January 2005) was Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command.
Sir Horace Law | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 June 1911 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 30 January 2005 (aged 93) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Centaur Britannia Royal Naval College Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command |
| Battles / wars | World War II Korean War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross |
Educated at Sherborne School and the Royal Naval College Dartmouth,[1] Law joined the Royal Navy in 1929.[2] He became a Gunnery specialist in 1937.[2]
War service
Law served in World War II in the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo in 1939, the cruiser HMS Coventry in 1940 and the cruiser HMS Nigeria in 1942.[2] He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the British landings in Greece and the subsequent evacuations from Greece and Crete.[1]
He served in the Korean War arranging naval gunfire support for the Korean Army.[1]
Post-war service
He was appointed commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Duchess in 1951[1] and the carrier HMS Centaur in 1958[2] and then made Commander of Britannia Royal Naval College in 1960.[2]
He went on to be Flag Officer Sea Training in 1961, Flag Officer Submarines in 1963 and Controller of the Navy in 1965.[2] He was made Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command and Flag Officer, Portsmouth Area in 1970.[2] He was also First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp to the Queen from 1970 to 1972.[2] He retired in 1972.[2]
In retirement he became Chairman of Hawthorn Leslie and Company[1] and was a member of Security Commission from 1973 to 1982.[2]
In 1979 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "Belief and Discipline in a Free Society".[3]
In 1941 he married Heather Coryton: they went on to have two sons and two daughters.[1] Law was a resident of South Harting, West Sussex, where he was a lay preacher at the parish church; a room at the church is named after him. He was president of the Officers' Christian Union and chairman of the Church Army Board during the 1970s and 1980s.[4]
He was a Governor of Monkton Combe School from 1969 to 1994.[5]
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