Gerard Mansfield


Sir Edward Gerard "Ged" Napier Mansfield was Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic. After leaving the Royal Navy became a fund-raiser for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Trust.

Early life

Edward Gerard Napier Mansfield was the son of Vice-Admiral Sir Jack Mansfield, KCB, DSO, DSC, and a descendant of the 19th-century Admiral Sir Charles "Black" Napier.

Education

He was educated at Durnford School an independent school near Swanage, Dorset, before going to Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1935.

War service in the Royal Navy

In May 1939 Midshipman Mansfield joined the destroyer and then the heavy cruiser at Alexandria. At the start of the war, Sussex joined Force H hunting for the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. He then escorted the first troop convoy from Australia and New Zealand across the Indian Ocean, and took part in the campaign against Italian Somaliland.
He spent a short period in the battlecruiser followed by professional courses at Portsmouth during the Blitz - "not conducive to diligent study," he recalled. Promoted to sub-lieutenant, he first served in the J-class destroyer in the North Sea and Mediterranean. On 26 March 1942 he was in when she was hit by two torpedoes from the submarine U-652, catching fire and sinking quickly. Three officers and 190 ratings were lost, and Mansfield, though wounded in the head, was one of 53 men rescued. He telegraphed his mother: "March passed, with major wetting."
He joined combined operations, and was mentioned in dispatches for his work as a beachmaster during the landings in North Africa and Sicily. He then became first lieutenant of a submarine, but this proved to be a dead-end in his career as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He returned to good health and rose rapidly in his career. He became commanding officer of the frigate in 1956 and went on to become commanding officer of the frigate HMS Yarmouth as well as captain of the 20th Frigate Squadron in 1963. He was appointed Commodore, Amphibious Forces, Far East Fleet from July 1967 to November 1968. He was next appointed Flag Officer Sea Training from March 1971 to October 1972. Appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, based at Norfolk, Virginia in 1973. He retired in 1975.

Personal life

He married, in 1943, Joan Worship Byron, twin daughter of Commander John Byron, RNVR, DSC and Bar, and Frances. Joan survived him with their two daughters, one of whom is Didy Grahame, until recently Secretary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. Lady Mansfield died in 2020.