St Edward's Rhubarb Issue 5

26 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

OSE Obituaries

Ashore during the Falklands War, Abbott was the Chief of the Defence Staff ’s personal briefer. He served twice in the Directorate of Naval Plans, the Royal Navy’s “think tank”, spending two years as its director in the mid-1980s, before attending the Royal College of Defence Studies. Abbott’s second career, as he called it, was in the higher echelons of the Ministry of Defence, fighting for money. “If you have no money,” he said, “you have no men and no equipment. If you fail, history is going to hold you responsible … and will say that the Navy should have got its act together.” Nevertheless, as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (1991-1993) he was obliged to implement the Conservative government’s “Options for Change”, which saw a 20 per cent reduction in naval manpower to 60,000 men and in ships from 50 to 40 frigates and destroyers, aimed at delivering a “peace dividend” as the Cold War drew to a close. On promotion to Vice- Admiral, Abbott was appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, based in Norfolk, Virginia, where in 1995 he was awarded the US Legion of Merit. Promoted to admiral in the same year, he was Commander-in-Chief Fleet (1995–1997) and for an unusually long period, 1997- 2001, he was Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, during wars in the Balkans and in Sierra Leone. While government departments bickered over the British role in Sierra Leone (which started as an evacuation of British civilians and ended in an operation to terminate the 10-year long civil war), Abbott gave clear, calm video-briefings to commanders in the field. He was knighted

of the outstanding officers of his generation. Extremely polite, he did not overawe lesser men with his intellect, but spoke his mind even to considerably senior officers when necessary. Within three years he was navigating officer of the frigate Minerva. “I frightened myself silly,” he said, “but I got by, and got good reports.” He had safely navigated Minerva on deployments to the West Indies, the Norwegian Sea, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and on Cold War operations including shadowing the Soviet aircraft carrier Moskva and the blockade of Beira. Next he specialised in communications and electronic warfare, becoming signals officer of the guided missile-armed destroyer London. In 1972, aged 29, Abbott was given command of the minesweeper Chawton and her 30-strong crew. “I discovered that if you care for your people and showed them loyalty, they would do anything for you, and that meant that you could become the best ship in the squadron, or even the fleet,” he recalled. Abbott’s first shore appointment was to the staff of the Senior Naval Officer West Indies based in Bermuda, where he helped to direct the Navy’s commitment to policing the Caribbean. On promotion to Commander he was given the frigate Ambuscade in 1976. It was the start of 15 years spent alternately at sea or in the Ministry of Defence. In 1980 he was second in command of the aircraft carrier Bulwark and in 1983 he commanded the frigate Ajax and the First Frigate Squadron. Promoted to rear-admiral, in 1989 his time as Flag Officer Second Flotilla included a fleet deployment to the Far East and a visit to Tokyo in the carrier Ark Royal.

V A L E T E O B I T U A R I E S

Peter Abbott

ABBOTT – On 28th September 2015, Admiral Sir Peter Abbott (C, 1955-1960), son of Dennis Abbott (E, 1922- 1927) and brother of Ronald Abbott (G, 1959-1964). The following obituary has been taken from the Telegraph ; Admiral Sir Peter Abbott, who has died aged 73, had a career that epitomised the range of challenges facing the British Armed Forces in the late 20th century. Born in New Delhi on 12th February 1942, Peter Charles Abbott was the son of a Lieutenant- Colonel in the Royal Garhwal Rifles. He was educated at St Edward’s, Oxford, before reading Chemistry at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Abbott turned down the opportunity to undertake further research and instead became an articled clerk to a firm of accountants

in the city. In his spare time he joined the Royal Marines Forces Volunteer Reserve and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Soon, however, he decided that accountancy was “a dreadful life”, and when the Navy introduced a graduate entry scheme he was one of the first volunteers. Nine months later, in 1969, he was at Dartmouth. “My parents were a bit fed up,” he recalled, “because they had scraped and saved to get me to university. My dad went into the Indian Army at 18, and had considered it good luck that his son had broken free from the thrall of the services.” Abbott found that his chemistry studies had taught him to write, to be numerate and self-disciplined, and “to finish his practicals” – all skills he applied to being a naval officer. He was soon recognised as one