Gerard Muirhead-Gould
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Rear Admiral Gerard Charles Muirhead-Gould (29 May 1889-26 April 1945) was an officer of the Royal Navy.
Muirhead-Gould joined the Royal Naval Cadets in January 1904.[1] During World War I, he earned a Distinguished Service Order, and was recognised as a Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur and a Chevalier of the Order of the Redeemer.[1] Between 1933 and 1936 Muirhead-Gould was a member of the Naval Intelligence Division, assigned to the British Embassy in Berlin.[1] During this time he kept Winston Churchill informed of the German military buildup, particularly in relation to the Treaty of Versailles and the later Anglo-German Naval Agreement.[1]
During the war, a heart condition prevented Muirhead-Gould from going to sea.[2] The sinking of British battleship HMS Royal Oak on 14 October 1939, while at anchor in Scapa Flow by German submarine U-47 resulted in an Admiralty Board of Inquiry into how a submarine could have penetrated the harbour's defences, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence.[3] Muirhead-Gould, then a Commander, was one of the three senior officers on the Board.[3]
In February 1940, Muirhead-Gould became the Naval Officer In Command of Sydney Harbour, a posting that lasted until September 1944, although he was not popular among the officers and sailors of the Royal Australian Navy under his command.[4] He was the senior Allied officer during the relatively unsuccessful Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour. At some point Churchill considered Muirhead-Gould for the position of the Chief Director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), although nothing came of this.[4]
Muirhead-Gould's previous experience in Germany resulted in his transfer in September 1944 to the captured German naval base at Wilhelmshaven.[2] There he suffered a fatal heart attack on 26 April 1945.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Grose, Peter (2007). A Very Rude Awakening. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-219-9.
