Peter Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton
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Peter John Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton GCB (8 February 1915-16 May 2004) was an Admiral of the Fleet, former Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
He was known as an outspoken advocate on the importance of sea power and a strong defence for Britain. Though a traditionalist by nature, he also believed in modernization, taking the brave decision to abolish the Royal Navy's traditional daily rum ration. In later years he took an interest in UFOs, which included writing about them and asking questions in Parliament.
Hill-Norton was the son of a Royal Flying Corps pilot, but came from a naval family on his mother's side, and became a cadet at Dartmouth at the age of 14. He served through the Second World War as a gunnery officer and at the Admiralty and rose swiftly through the ranks, becoming a captain and naval attaché in 1952, then commanding HMS Decoy during the Suez Crisis in 1956. He was later given the prestigious command of HMS Ark Royal, before becoming a rear admiral in 1962. It was as Second Sea Lord in 1967 that he proposed the abolition of the rum ration. In 1970 and 1971 he was swiftly propelled into the posts of First Sea Lord and then Chief of the Defence Staff by the unexpected early retirement of Sir Michael LeFanu. In 1974 he became head of NATO's military committee, a post he held until his retirement in 1977. He was made a life peer as Baron Hill-Norton, of South Nutfield in the County of Surrey in 1979, and took an active role at the House of Lords as a crossbencher. He was also coincidentally, a distant relative in the direct male line of Joshua Norton, self-proclaimed 'Emperor of The United States' and all-round eccentric.
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| Military Offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Michael LeFanu |
First Sea Lord 1970–1971 |
Succeeded by Sir Michael Pollock |
| Preceded by Sir Charles Elworthy |
Chief of the Defence Staff 1971–1973 |
Succeeded by Sir Michael Carver |
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe • Sir Peter Parker • Prince William, Duke of Clarence • Sir George Cockburn • Sir Thomas Hardy • The Hon. George Heneage Dundas • Charles Adam • Sir Charles Adam • Sir William Parker • Sir Charles Adam • James Whitley Deans Dundas • Hyde Parker • The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley • William Fanshawe Martin • The Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Dundas • The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey • Sir Sydney Dacres • Sir Alexander Milne • Sir Hastings Yelverton • George Wellesley • Sir Astley Cooper Key • Sir Arthur Acland Hood • Lord John Hay • Sir R. Vesey Hamilton • Sir Anthony Hoskins • Sir Frederick Richards • Lord Walter Kerr • Sir Jackie Fisher • Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson • Sir Francis Bridgeman • Prince Louis of Battenberg • Sir Henry Jackson • Sir John Jellicoe • Sir Rosslyn Wemyss • The Earl Beatty • Sir Charles Madden, Bt • Sir Frederick Field • The Lord Chatfield • Sir Roger Backhouse • Sir Dudley Pound • The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope • Sir John Cunningham • The Lord Fraser of North Cape • Sir Rhoderick McGrigor • The Earl Mountbatten of Burma • Sir Charles Lambe • Sir Caspar John • Sir David Luce • Sir Varyl Begg • Sir Michael Le Fanu • Sir Peter Hill-Norton • Sir Michael Pollock • Sir Edward Ashmore • Sir Terence Lewin • Sir Henry Leach • Sir John Fieldhouse • Sir William Staveley • Sir Julian Oswald • Sir Benjamin Bathurst • Sir Jock Slater • Sir Michael Boyce • Sir Nigel Essenhigh • Sir Alan West • Sir Jonathon Band •
