Bernard Rawlings (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings GBE KCB
Vice Admiral Rawlings during World War
Born	1889 St Erth, Cornwall, England
Died	1962 (aged 72–73)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1904 - 1946
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Active HMS Curacoa HMS Delhi HMS Valiant 1st Battle Squadron 7th Cruiser Squadron West Africa Eastern Mediterranean
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir (Henry) Bernard (Hughes) Rawlings GBE KCB (1889–1962) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Flag Officer, Eastern Mediterranean during World War II.

Naval career

Bernard Rawlings was born in St Erth, Cornwall. Following education at Stubbington House School Rawlings joined the Royal Navy in 1904 and served in World War I.^[1] After the War he worked for the Foreign Office and undertook Military Missions in Poland.^[1] He then commanded the destroyer HMS Active and then the cruisers HMS Curacoa and HMS Delhi before becoming Naval Attaché in Tokyo in 1936.^[1]

He served in World War II initially commanding the battleship HMS Valiant, then commanding the 1st Battle Squadron from 1940 before commanding the 7th Cruiser Squadron from 1941 and becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Staff in 1942.^[1] He became Flag Officer, West Africa in 1943 and Flag Officer, Eastern Mediterranean in 1943.^[1] He went on to be Second in Command of the British Pacific Fleet with his flag in HMS King George V.^[2] He commanded British Task Force 57 in the Pacific from 1944 through the Battle of Okinawa in Spring 1945^[3] and retired in 1946.^[1]

References