Admiral, World War Two Naval Commander. He played a leading role in organising the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 and for planning the naval part of the D-Day landings in 1944. Son of a naval captain, he joined the Royal Navy in 1899 and after serving in World War One, was promoted to Rear-Admiral, and in 1938 he again took control of the Dover Command in readiness for the outbreak of World War Two. He was responsible for the defence of the English Channel which, for the early part of the War saw little action. This all changed in May 1940 when the German offensive began, and soon German forces reached the French coast. On 20th May he held the first planning meeting for what would become Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk. His attention to detail allowed him to keep a grip on the ever-changing situation, and to keep control of the fleet of perhaps as many as 1,000 ships that would take part in the operation. His willingness to delegate and to give subordinates independent authority meant that he was not overwhelmed by the task, and allowed the men at Dunkirk to make important decisions. At the start of the evacuation, it had been hoped to rescue 45,000 men but in the end 338,226 British and Allied soldiers were rescued. He was knighted by King George VI for his role in the evacuation. He remained on the frontline at Dover for two years, with German troops only a few miles away across the Channel. The threat of invasion was at its highest during Autumn 1940 but by 1942 this was fading, as Germany turned it's attentions to Russia, while the entry of the United States into the War saw US troops begin to arrive in Britain. Attention then turned to the Allied invasion of Europe, and in May 1942 he was appointed with the role of planning the naval aspects of the invasion, working directly with General Eisenhower. Over the next two years he would play a major part in planning for D-Day and the invasions of Sicily and North Africa. Operation Overlord would be the most complex naval operation in history, involving 3,000 ships ranging from the smallest landing vessels up to some of the largest battleships in the Allied fleets. His style of command was ideally suited to planning an operation on this scale, maintaining that the key to success would be to put in place a detailed plan, so that every Captain in the fleet knew their exact role, and then to let them get on with it. The Operation was ultimately successful, and, despite stormy weather the Allied build up progressed fast enough to defeat any German counterattacks, allowing the Allies to break out of the Normandy bridgehead. After Overlord, he was suddenly killed in an air crash while flying to a conference at Twenty-First Army group. He is remembered for his planning ability, effective delegation, modest style and dedicated devotion to duty.