Augustus Agar
Encyclopedia
Captain
Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, VC
, DSO
, RN
(4 January 1890 – 30 December 1968) was a noted Royal Navy
officer in both World War I
and World War II
and a recipient of the Victoria Cross
, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British
and Commonwealth
forces.
In his naval biography, Footprints in the Sea, published in 1961, Agar described himself as "...highly strung and imaginative...". The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that Agar "... epitomizes the 'sea dog' of British naval tradition: honourable, extremely brave and totally dedicated to King, country and the Royal Navy."
, Ceylon
, on 4 January 1890. He was the thirteenth child of John Shelton Agar, an Irishman from County Kerry
, who had left his native land in 1860 to become a successful tea planter in Ceylon, taking a pack of foxhounds with him. Agar was brought up in comfortable circumstances in a fine house with servants. Agar's mother, who was Austria
n, died shortly after his birth and at the age of eight he was sent with one of his brothers to school in England
. All his brothers were educated in English public schools, and all his sisters were educated in Austrian or German schools. His father died in 1902 of cholera
which he had caught during a visit to China
.
Augustus ("Gus") Agar attended Framlingham College
in Suffolk
, England
. He was now without parents or a fixed home and his oldest brother, Shelton, determined that he should go into the Navy. Gus, who idolized his older brother, willingly agreed. To prepare, he attended Eastman's Royal Naval Academy in Southsea
.
A friend of the family, Sir Henry Jackson
, later an admiral
and First Sea Lord
, nominated Agar for a spot in the annual intake of naval cadets. After time spent with a "crammer", he passed the entrance exams and in 1904 joined the naval cadet school, HMS Britannia
, at Dartmouth
, England. The Britannia was a wooden man of war, obsolete when launched in 1860, and soon tied up and used as a stationary training ship.
As a part of his training, Agar went to sea in the 5,650 ton second class cruiser
, HMS Highflyer
, and afterwards on the slightly older HMS Isis. These ships were stationed at Bermuda
and many classes were held ashore when the ships were in port. Agar had many pleasant memories of sports, swimming, boating and picnics during this period.
Agar served at sea in a number of ships in the prewar period, including the battleships HMS Prince of Wales
attached to the Mediterranean Fleet, and HMS Queen
, commanded by Captain (later Admiral) David Beatty
. He greatly admired Beatty's dash and style.
Agar's early training gave him a thorough grounding in basic naval matters, especially in handling small boats. This was to prove a great asset later in his career. In 1910 Agar passed his seamanship examination with flying colours and was made an acting sub-Lieutenant
. During 1911, he served aboard a destroyer
, HMS Ruby. He spent the next period on course at Portsmouth
and studying at the Royal Naval College
in Greenwich
, England. He was promoted Lieutenant
on 30 June 1912.
After his courses were complete, Agar was assigned to small ships, his first being Torpedo Boat No. 23. In April 1913 he was sent to learn to fly. It was not entirely his metier, though he obtained his licence after enduring three crashes in the very primitive aircraft of the time. He joined the pre-dreadnought
battleship, HMS Hibernia
, in September 1913, attached to the Home Fleet.
During this period, Agar became a gunnery expert.
broke out and soon sailed with her to Britain's wartime base at Scapa Flow
. He was a part of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
's Grand Fleet.
As newer and faster dreadnought
s joined the fleet, the pre-dreadnoughts became increasingly obsolete, being slower, with much less firepower and poor design features.
to provide gunnery support to the Allied landings on the Gallipoli peninsula
. She arrived in September 1915 at the Royal Navy base at Mudros, on the Greek island of Lemnos
, at the entrance to the straits leading to the Black Sea
.
The sheltered waters of the Aegean Sea
and the straits enabled Hibernia to use all her guns and she was employed in firing at Turkish
targets on Gallipoli and the nearby Asia Minor
shore. She was hit once by a Turkish shell, but not seriously damaged.
Hibernia returned to Britain when the Allies evacuated Gallipoli and was stationed at Rosyth
with others of her class to guard against raids on the British coast by German ships. Because of their slow speed and weak offensive power, the pre-dreadnought battleships were not ordered to join the Grand Fleet for the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May 1916, though they got up steam pending the outcome of the engagement.
and submarines grew. Especially vulnerable were the two ports of Murmansk
and Archangel
in North Russia
used by British merchant ships bringing materiel
to their ally. Mine sweeping naval trawler
s were sent out to counter this threat and two old cruisers were modified to act as repair workshops and headquarters for this flotilla
. Agar joined one of them, HMS Iphigenia, in December 1916, as executive officer
. The Iphigenia dated from 1892, displaced 3,400 tons and in her early days could make 20 knots.
Iphigenia arrived at Murmansk in March 1917, just as the Russian Revolution
was beginning. She operated out of Archangel in the summer when the White Sea
was clear, and from the ice free Murmansk in the winter. Although it was apparent to local Allied commanders that the materiel landed after the spring of 1917 was not being put to good use, their advice to stop the flow was ignored by Whitehall
. Indeed much of the materiel was either destroyed or ended up being used by the Bolsheviks or the Germans.
While at Murmansk, Agar had the opportunity to renew acquaintance with Russian officer friends from the cruiser Askold
, which was berthed alongside. He had served with them in the Dardanelles, when he was on HMS Hibernia. He met them again at Devonport dockyard
. But, mutiny soon broke out on the Askold, and Agar was shocked to see his officer friends arrested one by one and taken ashore, not to be seen again. Discipline aboard the ship broke down completely, and after the last of the food and supplies were consumed, she was abandoned to rust away.
This difficult and occasionally dangerous mission occupied the Iphigenia until the end of February 1918, when worsening conditions and a hostile Bolshevik government prompted a withdrawal. The British were able to take away with them a number of Russians fleeing the Bolsheviks.
The Russian experience was of value to Agar later in his career.
. Their main offensive weapon was a torpedo
. They were of shallow draught and could operate close inshore.
The CMBs carried one or two torpedoes, depending on whether they were "forty footers" or "fifty-five footers". Mines could be substituted for torpedoes and they also carried depth charge
s and Lewis gun
s. It was planned that they be either towed or carried into battle on the German controlled coast by the light cruiser
s and destroyers of Commodore Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt
's Harwich Force
. With their shallow draught they could skim over the mines and attack the German patrol craft around Heligoland
. As 1918 wore on a more ambitious scheme matured, to send the CMBs in over the shallow coastal waters to attack the German fleet at its anchorage. But the Armistice
occurred on 11 November 1918 before these plans could be put into effect.
It was as torpedo and mining officer that Augustus Agar was selected for this service. He participated in the famous raid on Zeebrugge
led by Commodore Roger Keyes, CMBs being used to lay smoke screens outside the mole
to cover the escape of the crews of the blockships. During the summer of 1918, he was stationed at Dover
and at Dunkirk, the CMBs leading an exciting life attacking German patrol craft along the Belgian coast.
in Essex
, England. He was asked in late 1918 by Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming
, head of the foreign section of the British Secret Intelligence Service
, to volunteer for a mission in the Baltic Sea
, where Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) were to be used to ferry British agents back and forth from Bolshevik
Russia. The shallow draught and high speed of the CMB made it ideal for landing on enemy occupied shores and making a quick getaway. Agar and his two boats were technically under the command of the Foreign Office.
Agar set up a small base at Terijoki just inside Finland, close to the Soviet frontier. From here he undertook a top secret and dangerous mission to retrieve Paul Dukes
, a man he knew only by the MI6 codename ST-25, from the coast of the Bay of Petrograd. The last British agent left in Russia, Dukes had been infiltrating the Bolshevik government for some time and had made copies of top secret documents. A master of disguise, he was known as "The Man with A Hundred Faces", but his resources had run out by this time. In order to spirit Dukes away, Agar's boats had to cross Bolshevik minefields and pass by a number of forts and ships guarding the entrance to the Bolshevik naval base at Kronstadt
and to Petrograd, now St. Petersburg.
Also operating in the eastern Baltic Sea was a Royal Navy
detachment of light cruisers and destroyers under Admiral Sir Walter Cowan
. Though technically not connected, Agar regularly reported to Cowan and received assistance from him. Cowan's mission was to keep the sea lanes open to the new republics of Finland
, Latvia
, Estonia
and Lithuania
which were under threat of being overrun by Soviet Russia.
On their missions Agar and his crews dressed in civilian clothes, to maintain the fiction that Britain was not involved. They had a uniform on board in case they were in danger of capture. Without the uniform, they could be shot as spies, though it probably would not have made much difference to the Cheka
, the Bolshevik secret police.
Agar felt that his small force should be doing more than acting as a shuttle service. The Bolsheviks had seized much of the Russian fleet at Kronstadt, and Agar considered these vessels a menace to British operations and took it upon himself to attack the enemy battleships.
He set out with his two boats, HM Coastal Motor Boat 4 and another, on 17 June 1919. One had to turn back before completing its mission but Agar continued into the bay. The battleships were not in the harbour though. CMB4 penetrated a destroyer
screen and was closing on a larger warship further inshore when CMB4, whose hull had been damaged by gunfire, broke down. She had to be taken alongside a breakwater for repairs and for twenty minutes was in full view of the enemy. The attack was then resumed and a Russian cruiser
, the 6,645 ton Oleg
was sunk, after which Lieutenant Agar retired to the safety of the open bay under heavy fire. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross
and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander
on 30 June 1919.
Realizing the utility of the CMBs, Cowan ordered more to be sent out from England to add to his fleet.
On 18 August 1919, Agar took his remaining boat against the Soviets, acting as guide-ship to a flotilla of six others, leading them through the minefields and past the forts. Agar's boat was ordered to stay outside the harbour, and the attack was led by Commander Claude Dobson. They entered Kronstadt harbour, this time damaging two battleships, 17,400 ton pre-dreadnought Andrei Pervozvanny
and dreadnought
Petropavlovsk and sinking a submarine depot ship, the 6,734 ton Pamiat Azova.
Dukes, meanwhile, thinking Agar dead because of his failure to appear at their rendezvous point, resolved to leave Petrograd by land, and was forced to jump from tram to tram in the city to shake off Cheka agents. After a series of extraordinary adventures through war-torn Latvia under a variety of disguises, he got back to London, with his secret documents copied onto tissue paper. He was subsequently knighted by King George VI, and remains the only man to be knighted based entirely on his exploits as a spy.
For his part in the Kronstadt action Agar was awarded the DSO
. Dobson and another RNB officer Gordon Steele received Victoria Crosses.
The British naval presence in the Baltic Sea was crucial to securing the independence of Estonia and Latvia.
Agar held a number of sea going commands between the wars. His first, in June 1920 was as executive officer
aboard HMS Chatham
, a 5,400 ton light cruiser
assigned to the newly formed New Zealand Naval Forces
, later known as the New Zealand Division (then still part of the Royal Navy). In 1922 he was given command of HMS Philomel
, an obsolete cruiser of 2,575 tons used as a training ship for the New Zealand Division. These were very happy years for Agar, in a friendly country with interesting work and regular cruises through the South Seas.
On 1 January 1924, at the request of King George V
, Agar was appointed captain of the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert
, another pleasant duty. He served until January, 1925.
A great professional assignment in April, 1926 was command of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. The commander in chief, Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, specifically asked for Agar. Keyes was an outstanding leader and brought the fleet to the height of its efficiency. The Flotilla consisted of four ships, and Agar commanded the flotilla leader HMS Witch until July 1927.
By the late 1920s Agar and his wife were living apart - they divorced in 1931. This probably had an adverse effect on his chances for promotion, keeping him from reaching flag rank.
After these assignments, Agar was sent on courses and on shore duty for several years, including a stint as naval advisor to the New Zealand Delegation to the London Naval Conference
of 1930.
On 30 September 1930, Agar was placed in command of the sloop
HMS Scarborough
attached to the North America and West Indies Squadron. During this time he married Ina Margaret Lindner in Bermuda
, a union which lasted the rest of his life. He served aboard the Scarborough until September 1932.
Other seagoing commands followed, first in early 1936 aboard the 4,190 ton anti aircraft cruiser HMS Curlew
, part of the reserve fleet at the Nore
. Then, from 15 January 1937 he commanded his favourite ship, the 7,300 ton light cruiser HMS Emerald
, at 35 knots, with her sister, HMS Enterprise
, the fastest ships in the Royal Navy.
Emerald was attached to the East India Station
from January 1937 to July 1938. Agar then served as Captain of the Royal Naval College
at Greenwich
, England, but with war in the offing he was returned to command of the Emerald in the summer of 1939.
. His ship was soon ordered onto the "Northern Patrol", between the Faroe Islands
and Iceland
to intercept any German merchant ships trying to return to their homeland. A second duty was to stop neutral ships and check for contraband
headed for Germany. Emerald had just returned to Scapa on 1 October 1939 when Agar received "Top Secret" orders to proceed "with all despatch" to Plymouth, England.
At 23.18 on 3 October, Emerald dropped anchor in Plymouth. A short time later Agar was being briefed by Rear Admiral
Lancelot Holland
on his mission. The written instructions are below.
On 7 October 1939 Emerald sailed from Plymouth
, England for Halifax, Nova Scotia
with the gold bullion from the Bank of England
, bound for Montreal, Canada to be used to pay for American war materials. As this voyage was under the strictest secrecy, the crew were outfitted with tropical whites, to confuse German agents. In the company of the two old battleships, HMS Revenge
and HMS Resolution and her sister ship, HMS Enterprise
, as well as the old cruiser HMS Caradoc
, she ran into some of the heaviest seas that Agar encountered. By the time they reached Halifax the Emerald had lost her ships boats,rafts and various depth charges, wires, shackles and other valuable equipment, not to mention her spotter plane, a Fairey Seafox.
Upon arrival in Halifax, Emerald was assigned to North Atlantic convoy
escort duty for the return voyage. The large convoy was filled with American munitions for the war effort. Since the Emerald had been designed and equipped for work in gentler climates this was very uncomfortable as well as dangerous duty. The Canadian Red Cross
provided a large supply of warm gloves, woolen scarves, sea boot stockings, leather headgear lined with wool and fur, and woolen underwear, for the crew were ill equipped to face winter storms with their tropical gear. The convoy lost two merchant ships to U boats on the trip to the United Kingdom.
Among the convoys Emerald escorted was the first Canadian Troop Convoy, in November, 1939, when 7,500 troops reached Britain without incident. Convoy duty continued through the bitter winter of 1939/40. Agar's tour of duty as captain of the Emerald was completed in June 1940 after escorting a contingent of Canadian soldiers in the SS Empress of Australia to occupy Iceland
. In the Clyde
he handed over command of his beloved ship and departed with the cheers of his officers and crew ringing in his ears (Draper, p 51). He was then assigned to command the destroyer leader
HMS Malcolm
as head of the 16th Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich
. It was the first assignment in six months on temporary duty.
in September 1940, an attempt to hit the German wooden invasion barges at Boulogne
and Calais
, France, with incendiary material and set them alight. It was a desperate time and any measure, however risky, that could frustrate the German invasion plans
was welcome. The plan had the personal backing of Winston Churchill
.
Accompanied by various auxiliary vessels, Agar set off for Boulogne several times in September and October 1940 with four small ancient oil tankers filled with a special incendiary fuel (called Agar's special mixture). The wartime need for oil tankers was so great that only vessels unfit for convoy work were available to Agar. The very poor mechanical condition of these ships hampered the enterprise. Bad weather or mechanical breakdowns forced cancellation on the first attempts.
The last attempt seemed set to be successful until the command ship with Agar aboard, HMS Hambledon, a Hunt class destroyer
, hit an acoustic mine
mid-Channel and was severely damaged. She had to be towed back to England, being shelled by German coastal batteries on the French coast on the way back, but without receiving a hit.
The season was now too late for another attempt and, in any case, the threat of invasion had receded.
and up and down the east coast from Scotland
to the northeast of England down to London
. The threats were from aircraft, mines and fast German motor torpedo boats, called E boats. Britain had let her coastal forces deteriorate since the days when Agar had himself commanded CMBs.
One coastal convoy in the fall of 1940 lost fourteen of twenty-five ships between London and Bristol
. The toll on the East Coast convoys was just as great, with E-Boats a threat here, making a quick dash from ports in the Low Countries
. The problem was that if coastal convoys were discontinued, the British rail network could not handle the extra traffic and factories would be idle for lack of raw materials. The vessels used in the coastal trade were small and specially designed for the service, and of limited utility on ocean convoys. The traffic in coal from the northeast of England to London was especially important.
Agar worked hard in this role from November 1940 to July 1941 when he was given a new seagoing command.
HMS Dorsetshire
in August 1941. The ship carried a catapult operated reconnaissance aircraft (a Supermarine Walrus
), had a great range and was designed for finding and destroying enemy commerce raiders. She was assigned to convoy protection duty in the South Atlantic and left Scotland on her first mission escorting a slow convoy to South Africa
with a stop en route at Freetown
, Sierra Leone
.
Based at Freetown, Dorsetshire worked with the cruisers HMS Newcastle
and later HMS Dunedin
and HMS Devonshire
. For a while they were joined by the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle
. Their task was to protect Allied commerce in the South Atlantic from German surface raiders and submarines. Particular targets of the British cruisers were the supply ships which replenished German submarines and surface raiders. Without them the submarines would have to withdraw. The Devonshire sank the German commerce raider Atlantis
on 22 November 1941.
On 1 December 1941 Dorsetshire came upon the German supply ship Python, which immediately attempted to flee. Since the area was one where merchant ships seldom ventured Agar fired two salvos at the ship, one before and one behind as a warning to stand to. At this the Python scuttled herself. Dorsetshire did not stop to pick up survivors as she knew that submarines were likely to be near.
One of the German U Boats heading to the Python to be refuelled spotted HMS Dunedin and sank her with a loss of 350 of her 500 man crew.
ese attacked Pearl Harbor
and, soon after, British positions at Hong Kong
, Shanghai
and Malaya
. She was immediately assigned to escort a convoy of British troops just arriving from Halifax in American transports, originally destined for the Middle East
, but now diverted to Singapore
. She guided them to Bombay and then returned to Durban
to escort another convoy to Aden
and Bombay. This was essential duty as these convoys were now vulnerable to attack by both German and Japanese raiders, passing by the less than friendly Vichy French island of Madagascar
. Dorsetshire then was assigned to escort a convoy to withdraw as many civilians from Singapore as possible before the island was overrun by the Japanese. She got them safely to Colombo
, Ceylon
.
Agar then was assigned a mission to transport and land a party of 100 Royal Marines
in Burma
to harass invading Japanese forces, giving the main forces time to evacuate Rangoon
. Dorsetshire then escorted the last convoy to get out of Rangoon before it fell on 8 March 1942.
Dorsetshire was not equipped to operate in an area with enemy aircraft and Agar was attempting to add antiaircraft guns in Colombo and to dismantle and refit her engines and boilers to meet the challenges ahead when word arrived that an enemy fleet had entered the Indian Ocean
. For an account of the Japanese attack on British positions in the Bay of Bengal
see Indian Ocean Raid
. He stopped his refit, reassembled his machinery and put to sea as fast as he could. Acting on information that the Japanese fleet had turned back, Admiral Somerville ordered Dorsetshire back into Colombo to finish the refit. Agar again began to dismantle his machinery and clean his boilers. He was told by the port admiral that anti aircraft guns would arrive in two days for his ship. It was a Saturday, 4 April, the day before Easter.
The Dorsetshire was part of a scratch fleet of obsolete British battleships with two small obsolete aircraft carriers and attached cruisers hurriedly put together to stem the Japanese naval advance into the Indian Ocean
. Admiral James Somerville had moved the main part of the fleet to a secret base at Addu Atoll
in the Maldives
, as he knew that his fleet was no match for the Japanese. His main duty was to keep the sea lanes open to India
, to the Persian Gulf
oilfields and to the Eighth Army
in Egypt
, at that time attempting to stop the German and Italian armies under General Erwin Rommel
.
On Saturday afternoon, 4 April 1942 an urgent message summoned Agar to the base Operations Room in Colombo. A Consolidated Catalina flying boat
had just reported that it was shadowing a large force of enemy carriers accompanied by battleships steering west from the Malacca Straits, directly for Ceylon. This was the fleet of Admiral Nagumo.
Admiral Somerville was in the Maldives beyond the immediate reach of the advancing Japanese. Upon receiving the news he moved further out of Nagumo's way and ordered the Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall
, which was also in Colombo, to join him with all speed. He left the choosing of a rendezvous point to the admiral commanding in Colombo. It took six long hours to reassemble the ships machinery and get her ready for sea. The two cruisers left Colombo harbour at 10pm on 4 April. The rendezvous point was approved by Admiral Somerville. It was a fatal error as a more westerly rendezvous point would have saved the two ships. The ships could steam at only 28 knots, the top speed that Cornwall could make.
At daybreak, Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, Agar received a signal that the Japanese Fleet was only 120 miles south of Colombo. They began an attack on the port at 8 am. No further communication was received from Colombo (their radio tower was hit).
At this point, lacking further direction, as Somerville was maintaining radio silence and Colombo was out of action, Agar made a fatal decision. He saw his first duty as rejoining the fleet in the hopes of launching a night attack on the Japanese and opted to continue on southwards to the rendezvous point instead of heading due west out of the danger zone. At 11:30 am a Japanese patrol aircraft spotted them. There were six hours of daylight left. Agar continued on to the rendezvous point. He broke radio silence to tell Somerville of his decision. The rendezvous point was 90 miles away.
The two ships were caught by Japanese dive bombers at 1pm on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942 and the Dorsetshire sank eight minutes after the first bomb hit. She went down at 13:50 after being struck by 10 bombs. 234 men were killed and 500 including the Captain survived in the water until rescue 32 hours later. Only 16 of the men who went into the water died, a testament to crew discipline and the leadership of Agar and the other officers and petty officer
s. The Cornwall was sunk as well.
Agar worked hard to save his crew, picking up the wounded in a whaler
, gathering up stragglers and giving good advice. He was reported by survivors as speaking calmly.
A Fairey Swordfish
found the men in the water the next afternoon and an hour later the light cruiser
HMS Enterprise
and the destroyers HMS Paladin
and HMS Panther
arrived to rescue the survivors. Agar was taken aboard the Paladin.
During the engagement Agar had been wounded in the leg by shrapnel. This wound turned septic
as a result of being left unattended after the sinking. When the Dorsetshire sank, Agar had been dragged down deep and suffered the bends
while coming up, with serious damage to his lungs. On the surface he swallowed oil. These injuries affected his fitness for further seagoing duty. He was 52 and had completed thirty-seven years of active duty. After a short stay in Bombay where his health took a turn for the worse, he was sent to hospital in South Africa
. The leg healed, but lung trouble from the bends and oil he swallowed stayed with him for the rest of his life. He arrived in Britain on 28 May 1942.
, the loss of HMS Repulse
and Prince of Wales
and the fall of Singapore one might have expected greater caution. Augustus Agar's seafaring days ended close to where he was born 52 years before.
It is easy to assess blame afterwards, but it did seem unwise to send Dorsetshire back to Colombo for a second time to finish her refit with a huge Japanese Fleet threatening. This was Somerville's decision. But, of course we do not know what other viable choices he had. Certainly, South Africa was a safe place for a refit, but it was so far away that Dorsetshire could not get back in time to assist him. He needed every ship. Was Bombay too crowded? Did the ship really need the refit at this critical juncture? It must be remembered that Somerville had to choose his time for battle carefully. If he was caught in the open, he would surely lose to the larger Japanese Fleet with all its dive bombers and torpedo bombers. He had divided his fleet into a fast part and a slow part, with the latter in reserve. Dorsetshire was assigned to the fast division where speed was essential for a fast night attack, in and out before aircraft could reach them. Hence Somerville's insistence on a refit to increase her speed.
The rendezvous point for the cruisers with the main British fleet was set too far east, too close to the Japanese. This was the port admiral's decision. Agar should have fled due west at dawn when he heard how close the Japanese were. But this is hindsight. He had no reason to believe that Somerville would not show up at the rendezvous point, expecting the help of two cruisers for a night attack on the Japanese aircraft carriers. He knew he was taking a great risk.
to supervise the building and completion of the new aircraft carrier
, HMS Unicorn
. He worked on this assignment for a period and was placed on the retired list in 1943.
Agar was appointed Commodore
in 1943 when he once again served as President and Captain of the Royal Naval College
at Greenwich
. He served in this capacity until 1946 and reverted to his substantive rank of Captain.
Agar wrote two noteworthy books about his naval career. In his retirement he farmed at Alton, Hampshire
, England. His farm produced strawberries. His clubs were the Athenaeum
and the Royal Yacht Squadron
.
Augustus Agar died on 30 December 1968 and was buried at Alton. His will was probated at 9,580 pounds sterling on 28 March 1969.
His second wife, Ina, attended HMS Dorsetshire reunions after his death.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum
, London, along with his telescope. His other medals and various papers are in storage there, including a receipt for gold bullion delivered to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1939.
HM Coastal Motor Boat 4, his boat in the Baltic, is on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum
, Duxford
.
Agar also wrote "Showing the flag", 1962 Evans Brothers Ltd, London
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, VC
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(4 January 1890 – 30 December 1968) was a noted Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer in both World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and a recipient of the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
forces.
In his naval biography, Footprints in the Sea, published in 1961, Agar described himself as "...highly strung and imaginative...". The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that Agar "... epitomizes the 'sea dog' of British naval tradition: honourable, extremely brave and totally dedicated to King, country and the Royal Navy."
Early life
Augustus Agar was born in KandyKandy
Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...
, Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, on 4 January 1890. He was the thirteenth child of John Shelton Agar, an Irishman from County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, who had left his native land in 1860 to become a successful tea planter in Ceylon, taking a pack of foxhounds with him. Agar was brought up in comfortable circumstances in a fine house with servants. Agar's mother, who was Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n, died shortly after his birth and at the age of eight he was sent with one of his brothers to school in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. All his brothers were educated in English public schools, and all his sisters were educated in Austrian or German schools. His father died in 1902 of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
which he had caught during a visit to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Augustus ("Gus") Agar attended Framlingham College
Framlingham College
Framlingham College is an independent, coeducational boarding and day school in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school, Brandeston Hall and Little Bears Nursery it serves pupils from 2 1/2 to eighteen years of age.-History of Framlingham...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was now without parents or a fixed home and his oldest brother, Shelton, determined that he should go into the Navy. Gus, who idolized his older brother, willingly agreed. To prepare, he attended Eastman's Royal Naval Academy in Southsea
Southsea
Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....
.
A friend of the family, Sir Henry Jackson
Henry Bradwardine Jackson
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson GCB, KCVO, FRS was British First Sea Lord during much of the First World War...
, later an admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
and First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
, nominated Agar for a spot in the annual intake of naval cadets. After time spent with a "crammer", he passed the entrance exams and in 1904 joined the naval cadet school, HMS Britannia
HMS Prince of Wales (1860)
HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860...
, at Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
, England. The Britannia was a wooden man of war, obsolete when launched in 1860, and soon tied up and used as a stationary training ship.
As a part of his training, Agar went to sea in the 5,650 ton second class cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
, HMS Highflyer
HMS Highflyer (1898)
HMS Highflyer was the lead ship of the Highflyer class cruiser which served with the Royal Navy. She was built at the yards of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, being laid down in June 1897, launched on 4 June 1898 and commissioned on 7 December 1899.-Pre-1914:Like her sisters...
, and afterwards on the slightly older HMS Isis. These ships were stationed at Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and many classes were held ashore when the ships were in port. Agar had many pleasant memories of sports, swimming, boating and picnics during this period.
Agar served at sea in a number of ships in the prewar period, including the battleships HMS Prince of Wales
HMS Prince of Wales (1902)
HMS Prince of Wales was a London- or Queen-class predreadnought battleship, a sub-class of the Formidable-class battleships of the British Royal Navy...
attached to the Mediterranean Fleet, and HMS Queen
HMS Queen (1902)
HMS Queen was a London or Queen class battleship, a sub-class of the Formidable class battleships of the British Royal Navy, and the tenth Royal Navy ship to bear the name.-Construction and design:...
, commanded by Captain (later Admiral) David Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
. He greatly admired Beatty's dash and style.
Agar's early training gave him a thorough grounding in basic naval matters, especially in handling small boats. This was to prove a great asset later in his career. In 1910 Agar passed his seamanship examination with flying colours and was made an acting sub-Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
. During 1911, he served aboard a destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, HMS Ruby. He spent the next period on course at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and studying at the Royal Naval College
Old Royal Naval College
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, England. He was promoted Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
on 30 June 1912.
After his courses were complete, Agar was assigned to small ships, his first being Torpedo Boat No. 23. In April 1913 he was sent to learn to fly. It was not entirely his metier, though he obtained his licence after enduring three crashes in the very primitive aircraft of the time. He joined the pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleship, HMS Hibernia
HMS Hibernia (1905)
HMS Hibernia was a King Edward VII-class predreadnought battleship of Britain's Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely Ireland....
, in September 1913, attached to the Home Fleet.
During this period, Agar became a gunnery expert.
The Grand Fleet
Agar was aboard the Hibernia when World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out and soon sailed with her to Britain's wartime base at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
. He was a part of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
's Grand Fleet.
As newer and faster dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
s joined the fleet, the pre-dreadnoughts became increasingly obsolete, being slower, with much less firepower and poor design features.
The Dardanelles and guard duty
In the summer of 1915 it was decided to send Hibernia out to the DardanellesDardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
to provide gunnery support to the Allied landings on the Gallipoli peninsula
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
. She arrived in September 1915 at the Royal Navy base at Mudros, on the Greek island of Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
, at the entrance to the straits leading to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
.
The sheltered waters of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and the straits enabled Hibernia to use all her guns and she was employed in firing at Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
targets on Gallipoli and the nearby Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
shore. She was hit once by a Turkish shell, but not seriously damaged.
Hibernia returned to Britain when the Allies evacuated Gallipoli and was stationed at Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
with others of her class to guard against raids on the British coast by German ships. Because of their slow speed and weak offensive power, the pre-dreadnought battleships were not ordered to join the Grand Fleet for the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
on 31 May 1916, though they got up steam pending the outcome of the engagement.
North Russia
After Jutland the battleship threat from Germany receded somewhat and the danger from minesNaval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and submarines grew. Especially vulnerable were the two ports of Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
and Archangel
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
in North Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
used by British merchant ships bringing materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
to their ally. Mine sweeping naval trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
s were sent out to counter this threat and two old cruisers were modified to act as repair workshops and headquarters for this flotilla
Flotilla
A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...
. Agar joined one of them, HMS Iphigenia, in December 1916, as executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
. The Iphigenia dated from 1892, displaced 3,400 tons and in her early days could make 20 knots.
Iphigenia arrived at Murmansk in March 1917, just as the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
was beginning. She operated out of Archangel in the summer when the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
was clear, and from the ice free Murmansk in the winter. Although it was apparent to local Allied commanders that the materiel landed after the spring of 1917 was not being put to good use, their advice to stop the flow was ignored by Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
. Indeed much of the materiel was either destroyed or ended up being used by the Bolsheviks or the Germans.
While at Murmansk, Agar had the opportunity to renew acquaintance with Russian officer friends from the cruiser Askold
Russian cruiser Askold (1900)
Askold was a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was named after the legendary Varangian Askold. Her thin, narrow hull and maximum speed of were considered impressive for the time....
, which was berthed alongside. He had served with them in the Dardanelles, when he was on HMS Hibernia. He met them again at Devonport dockyard
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
. But, mutiny soon broke out on the Askold, and Agar was shocked to see his officer friends arrested one by one and taken ashore, not to be seen again. Discipline aboard the ship broke down completely, and after the last of the food and supplies were consumed, she was abandoned to rust away.
This difficult and occasionally dangerous mission occupied the Iphigenia until the end of February 1918, when worsening conditions and a hostile Bolshevik government prompted a withdrawal. The British were able to take away with them a number of Russians fleeing the Bolsheviks.
The Russian experience was of value to Agar later in his career.
Coastal motor boats
Agar served in Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) in home waters during the latter part of the war. These small vessels displaced just 5 tons compared to the 1,110 tons of a World War I era destroyerDestroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. Their main offensive weapon was a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
. They were of shallow draught and could operate close inshore.
The CMBs carried one or two torpedoes, depending on whether they were "forty footers" or "fifty-five footers". Mines could be substituted for torpedoes and they also carried depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s and Lewis gun
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
s. It was planned that they be either towed or carried into battle on the German controlled coast by the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s and destroyers of Commodore Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt
Reginald Tyrwhitt
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO was a senior officer of the Royal Navy in World War I who commanded light forces stationed at Harwich on the east coast of England during the first part of the war.-Naval career:Tyrwhitt entered the Navy as a cadet in July, 1885...
's Harwich Force
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. With their shallow draught they could skim over the mines and attack the German patrol craft around Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
. As 1918 wore on a more ambitious scheme matured, to send the CMBs in over the shallow coastal waters to attack the German fleet at its anchorage. But the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
occurred on 11 November 1918 before these plans could be put into effect.
It was as torpedo and mining officer that Augustus Agar was selected for this service. He participated in the famous raid on Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge Raid
The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge...
led by Commodore Roger Keyes, CMBs being used to lay smoke screens outside the mole
Mole (architecture)
A mole is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway between places separated by water. The word comes from Middle French mole and ultimately Latin mōlēs meaning a large mass, especially of rock and has the same root as molecule.Historically, the term "mole"...
to cover the escape of the crews of the blockships. During the summer of 1918, he was stationed at Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and at Dunkirk, the CMBs leading an exciting life attacking German patrol craft along the Belgian coast.
The Baltic and the Bolsheviks
The end of the war found him at the CMB base at Osea IslandOsea Island
Osea Island is an inhabited island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, Essex, East England. It is approximately in size and is connected to the north bank of the river by a causeway, covered at high water....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England. He was asked in late 1918 by Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming
Mansfield Smith-Cumming
Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, KCMG, CB was the first director of what would become the Secret Intelligence Service , also known as MI6...
, head of the foreign section of the British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
, to volunteer for a mission in the Baltic Sea
British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19
The British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19 was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia but failed to secure the control of Petrograd by Russian White forces, one of...
, where Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) were to be used to ferry British agents back and forth from Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
Russia. The shallow draught and high speed of the CMB made it ideal for landing on enemy occupied shores and making a quick getaway. Agar and his two boats were technically under the command of the Foreign Office.
Agar set up a small base at Terijoki just inside Finland, close to the Soviet frontier. From here he undertook a top secret and dangerous mission to retrieve Paul Dukes
Paul Dukes
Sir Paul Dukes KBE was a British author and MI6 officer.Born in Bridgwater, Somerset, the son of an Anglican clergyman, he was educated at Caterham School in England, and Petrograd Conservatoire in Russia....
, a man he knew only by the MI6 codename ST-25, from the coast of the Bay of Petrograd. The last British agent left in Russia, Dukes had been infiltrating the Bolshevik government for some time and had made copies of top secret documents. A master of disguise, he was known as "The Man with A Hundred Faces", but his resources had run out by this time. In order to spirit Dukes away, Agar's boats had to cross Bolshevik minefields and pass by a number of forts and ships guarding the entrance to the Bolshevik naval base at Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
and to Petrograd, now St. Petersburg.
Also operating in the eastern Baltic Sea was a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
detachment of light cruisers and destroyers under Admiral Sir Walter Cowan
Walter Cowan
Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan, 1st Baronet, KCB, MVO, DSO & & Bar , known as Tich Cowan, was a British Royal Navy admiral who saw service in both World War I and World War II; in the latter he was one of the oldest British servicemen on active duty.-Early days:Cowan was born in Crickhowell,...
. Though technically not connected, Agar regularly reported to Cowan and received assistance from him. Cowan's mission was to keep the sea lanes open to the new republics of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
which were under threat of being overrun by Soviet Russia.
On their missions Agar and his crews dressed in civilian clothes, to maintain the fiction that Britain was not involved. They had a uniform on board in case they were in danger of capture. Without the uniform, they could be shot as spies, though it probably would not have made much difference to the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, the Bolshevik secret police.
Agar felt that his small force should be doing more than acting as a shuttle service. The Bolsheviks had seized much of the Russian fleet at Kronstadt, and Agar considered these vessels a menace to British operations and took it upon himself to attack the enemy battleships.
He set out with his two boats, HM Coastal Motor Boat 4 and another, on 17 June 1919. One had to turn back before completing its mission but Agar continued into the bay. The battleships were not in the harbour though. CMB4 penetrated a destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
screen and was closing on a larger warship further inshore when CMB4, whose hull had been damaged by gunfire, broke down. She had to be taken alongside a breakwater for repairs and for twenty minutes was in full view of the enemy. The attack was then resumed and a Russian cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
, the 6,645 ton Oleg
Bogatyr class cruiser
The Bogatyr-class were a group of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the Baltic Fleet and two ships for the Black Sea Fleet.- Ships :...
was sunk, after which Lieutenant Agar retired to the safety of the open bay under heavy fire. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
on 30 June 1919.
Realizing the utility of the CMBs, Cowan ordered more to be sent out from England to add to his fleet.
On 18 August 1919, Agar took his remaining boat against the Soviets, acting as guide-ship to a flotilla of six others, leading them through the minefields and past the forts. Agar's boat was ordered to stay outside the harbour, and the attack was led by Commander Claude Dobson. They entered Kronstadt harbour, this time damaging two battleships, 17,400 ton pre-dreadnought Andrei Pervozvanny
Russian battleship Andrei Pervozvanny
Andrei Pervozvanny was a predreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the mid-1900s. The ship's construction was seriously extended by design changes as a result of the Russo-Japanese War and labor unrest after the 1905 Revolution, and she took nearly six years to build...
and dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
Petropavlovsk and sinking a submarine depot ship, the 6,734 ton Pamiat Azova.
Dukes, meanwhile, thinking Agar dead because of his failure to appear at their rendezvous point, resolved to leave Petrograd by land, and was forced to jump from tram to tram in the city to shake off Cheka agents. After a series of extraordinary adventures through war-torn Latvia under a variety of disguises, he got back to London, with his secret documents copied onto tissue paper. He was subsequently knighted by King George VI, and remains the only man to be knighted based entirely on his exploits as a spy.
For his part in the Kronstadt action Agar was awarded the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
. Dobson and another RNB officer Gordon Steele received Victoria Crosses.
The British naval presence in the Baltic Sea was crucial to securing the independence of Estonia and Latvia.
Between the wars
Immediately following his Baltic experiences, Agar returned to Osea Island. On 20 July 1920 he married Mary Dent, 19th Baroness Furnivall.Agar held a number of sea going commands between the wars. His first, in June 1920 was as executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
aboard HMS Chatham
HMS Chatham (1911)
HMS Chatham was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 9 November 1911 from Chatham Dockyard. She was the lead ship of the Chatham subgroup....
, a 5,400 ton light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
assigned to the newly formed New Zealand Naval Forces
History of the Royal New Zealand Navy
The history of the Royal New Zealand Navy leads back to early New Zealand-based gunboats used in controlling the British interests in the new colony, as well as to the strong linkages to the British Navy itself.-Origins:...
, later known as the New Zealand Division (then still part of the Royal Navy). In 1922 he was given command of HMS Philomel
HMS Philomel (1890)
HMS Philomel was a Pearl-class cruiser. She was the sixth ship of that name and served with the Royal Navy from her commissioning in 1890 until 1914, when she was transferred to the New Zealand Navy with whom she served until 1947...
, an obsolete cruiser of 2,575 tons used as a training ship for the New Zealand Division. These were very happy years for Agar, in a friendly country with interesting work and regular cruises through the South Seas.
On 1 January 1924, at the request of King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, Agar was appointed captain of the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert
HMY Victoria and Albert III
HMY Victoria and Albert III a Royal Yacht of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The yacht was designed by the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy Sir William White. She was launched in 1899 but was not ready for service until 1901...
, another pleasant duty. He served until January, 1925.
A great professional assignment in April, 1926 was command of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. The commander in chief, Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, specifically asked for Agar. Keyes was an outstanding leader and brought the fleet to the height of its efficiency. The Flotilla consisted of four ships, and Agar commanded the flotilla leader HMS Witch until July 1927.
By the late 1920s Agar and his wife were living apart - they divorced in 1931. This probably had an adverse effect on his chances for promotion, keeping him from reaching flag rank.
After these assignments, Agar was sent on courses and on shore duty for several years, including a stint as naval advisor to the New Zealand Delegation to the London Naval Conference
London Naval Conference
There were three major international naval conferences in London, the first in 1908-09, the second in 1930 and the third in 1935. The latter two, together with the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22 and the Geneva Conferences , resulted in agreements between the major powers on navy vessel...
of 1930.
On 30 September 1930, Agar was placed in command of the sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
HMS Scarborough
HMS Scarborough (U25)
HMS Scarborough was a Hastings-class sloop of the Royal Navy launched in 1930. She saw active service during the Second World War, especially as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic.-Construction and commissioning:...
attached to the North America and West Indies Squadron. During this time he married Ina Margaret Lindner in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, a union which lasted the rest of his life. He served aboard the Scarborough until September 1932.
Other seagoing commands followed, first in early 1936 aboard the 4,190 ton anti aircraft cruiser HMS Curlew
HMS Curlew (D42)
HMS Curlew was a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was part of the Ceres group of the C class of cruisers.She was laid down by Vickers Limited on 21 August 1916, and launched on 5 July 1917, being commissioned into the navy on 14 December 1917. In common with most of her...
, part of the reserve fleet at the Nore
Nore
The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....
. Then, from 15 January 1937 he commanded his favourite ship, the 7,300 ton light cruiser HMS Emerald
HMS Emerald (D66)
HMS Emerald was an Emerald-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Armstrong , with the keel being laid down on 23 September 1918...
, at 35 knots, with her sister, HMS Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (D52)
HMS Enterprise was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926...
, the fastest ships in the Royal Navy.
Emerald was attached to the East India Station
East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation of the British Royal Navy from 1865 to 1941.From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station...
from January 1937 to July 1938. Agar then served as Captain of the Royal Naval College
Old Royal Naval College
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most...
at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, England, but with war in the offing he was returned to command of the Emerald in the summer of 1939.
HMS Emerald, Gold Ingots and the North Atlantic Convoys
When war began on 3 September 1939 Agar was in command of the Emerald and, as in 1914, was directed to Scapa FlowScapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
. His ship was soon ordered onto the "Northern Patrol", between the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
to intercept any German merchant ships trying to return to their homeland. A second duty was to stop neutral ships and check for contraband
Contraband
The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....
headed for Germany. Emerald had just returned to Scapa on 1 October 1939 when Agar received "Top Secret" orders to proceed "with all despatch" to Plymouth, England.
At 23.18 on 3 October, Emerald dropped anchor in Plymouth. A short time later Agar was being briefed by Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Lancelot Holland
Lancelot Holland
Vice Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, CB commanded the British force in the Battle of Denmark Strait in May, 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck. Holland was killed during the battle.-Early life:...
on his mission. The written instructions are below.
On 7 October 1939 Emerald sailed from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, England for Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
with the gold bullion from the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, bound for Montreal, Canada to be used to pay for American war materials. As this voyage was under the strictest secrecy, the crew were outfitted with tropical whites, to confuse German agents. In the company of the two old battleships, HMS Revenge
HMS Revenge (06)
HMS Revenge was the lead ship of the Revenge class of battleships of the Royal Navy, the ninth to bear the name. She was launched during World War I in 1915. Though the class is often referred to as the Royal Sovereign class, official documents of 1914–1918 refer to the class as the Revenge class...
and HMS Resolution and her sister ship, HMS Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (D52)
HMS Enterprise was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926...
, as well as the old cruiser HMS Caradoc
HMS Caradoc (D60)
HMS Caradoc was a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was part of the Caledon group of the C-class of cruisers.She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock. She was laid down on 21 February 1916, launched on 23 December 1916 and completed and commissioned...
, she ran into some of the heaviest seas that Agar encountered. By the time they reached Halifax the Emerald had lost her ships boats,rafts and various depth charges, wires, shackles and other valuable equipment, not to mention her spotter plane, a Fairey Seafox.
Upon arrival in Halifax, Emerald was assigned to North Atlantic convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
escort duty for the return voyage. The large convoy was filled with American munitions for the war effort. Since the Emerald had been designed and equipped for work in gentler climates this was very uncomfortable as well as dangerous duty. The Canadian Red Cross
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a Canadian humanitarian charitable organization and one of 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies....
provided a large supply of warm gloves, woolen scarves, sea boot stockings, leather headgear lined with wool and fur, and woolen underwear, for the crew were ill equipped to face winter storms with their tropical gear. The convoy lost two merchant ships to U boats on the trip to the United Kingdom.
Among the convoys Emerald escorted was the first Canadian Troop Convoy, in November, 1939, when 7,500 troops reached Britain without incident. Convoy duty continued through the bitter winter of 1939/40. Agar's tour of duty as captain of the Emerald was completed in June 1940 after escorting a contingent of Canadian soldiers in the SS Empress of Australia to occupy Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. In the Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
he handed over command of his beloved ship and departed with the cheers of his officers and crew ringing in his ears (Draper, p 51). He was then assigned to command the destroyer leader
Flotilla leader
A flotilla leader was a warship suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer...
HMS Malcolm
HMS Malcolm (D19)
HMS Malcolm was one of eight Admiralty-type destroyer leaders built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was the first of only two Royal Navy ships to carry the name Malcolm, although HMS Valkyrie was originally planned to bear the name...
as head of the 16th Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. It was the first assignment in six months on temporary duty.
Operation Lucid
Agar was in charge of the planning and execution of Operation LucidOperation Lucid
Operation Lucid was a British plan to use fire ships to attack invasion barges that were gathering in ports on the northern coast of France in preparation for a German invasion of Britain in 1940...
in September 1940, an attempt to hit the German wooden invasion barges at Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, France, with incendiary material and set them alight. It was a desperate time and any measure, however risky, that could frustrate the German invasion plans
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
was welcome. The plan had the personal backing of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Accompanied by various auxiliary vessels, Agar set off for Boulogne several times in September and October 1940 with four small ancient oil tankers filled with a special incendiary fuel (called Agar's special mixture). The wartime need for oil tankers was so great that only vessels unfit for convoy work were available to Agar. The very poor mechanical condition of these ships hampered the enterprise. Bad weather or mechanical breakdowns forced cancellation on the first attempts.
The last attempt seemed set to be successful until the command ship with Agar aboard, HMS Hambledon, a Hunt class destroyer
Hunt class destroyer
The Hunt class was a class of Destroyer escort of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in World War II, particularly on the British East Coast and Mediterranean convoys. They were named after British fox hunts...
, hit an acoustic mine
Acoustic mine
An acoustic mine is a type of naval mine which monitors audio activity in its vicinity. Depending on its design, it will either actively send out audio pulses, not unlike a sonar, listening to the speed at which the echo returns to it or passively listen to its environment, depending only on the...
mid-Channel and was severely damaged. She had to be towed back to England, being shelled by German coastal batteries on the French coast on the way back, but without receiving a hit.
The season was now too late for another attempt and, in any case, the threat of invasion had receded.
Coastal Forces
On 25 November 1940, Agar was appointed Chief Staff Officer to the Rear Admiral commanding Coastal Forces. This was a critical position as the Germans were vigorously attacking the coastal convoys running down the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and up and down the east coast from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to the northeast of England down to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The threats were from aircraft, mines and fast German motor torpedo boats, called E boats. Britain had let her coastal forces deteriorate since the days when Agar had himself commanded CMBs.
One coastal convoy in the fall of 1940 lost fourteen of twenty-five ships between London and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. The toll on the East Coast convoys was just as great, with E-Boats a threat here, making a quick dash from ports in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. The problem was that if coastal convoys were discontinued, the British rail network could not handle the extra traffic and factories would be idle for lack of raw materials. The vessels used in the coastal trade were small and specially designed for the service, and of limited utility on ocean convoys. The traffic in coal from the northeast of England to London was especially important.
Agar worked hard in this role from November 1940 to July 1941 when he was given a new seagoing command.
HMS Dorsetshire
Augustus Agar was appointed captain of the 9,925 ton heavy cruiserHeavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
HMS Dorsetshire
HMS Dorsetshire (40)
HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county . She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. During the Second World War, she was last commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C....
in August 1941. The ship carried a catapult operated reconnaissance aircraft (a Supermarine Walrus
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
), had a great range and was designed for finding and destroying enemy commerce raiders. She was assigned to convoy protection duty in the South Atlantic and left Scotland on her first mission escorting a slow convoy to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with a stop en route at Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
.
Based at Freetown, Dorsetshire worked with the cruisers HMS Newcastle
HMS Newcastle (C76)
The seventh HMS Newcastle was a Town-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She belonged to the Southampton subclass. In the Second World War following extensive battle damage sustained in the Mediterranean, she spent some time being repaired in New York.She also saw action in the Korean...
and later HMS Dunedin
HMS Dunedin
HMS Dunedin was a Danae-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was launched from the yards of Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle-on-Tyne on 19 November 1918 and commissioned on 13 September 1919...
and HMS Devonshire
HMS Devonshire (39)
HMS Devonshire was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was part of the London subgroup of the County class, and saw service in the Second World War.-Early career:...
. For a while they were joined by the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle
HMS Eagle (1918)
HMS Eagle was an early aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Ordered by Chile as the Almirante Cochrane, she was laid down before World War I. In early 1918 she was purchased by Britain for conversion to an aircraft carrier; this work was finished in 1924...
. Their task was to protect Allied commerce in the South Atlantic from German surface raiders and submarines. Particular targets of the British cruisers were the supply ships which replenished German submarines and surface raiders. Without them the submarines would have to withdraw. The Devonshire sank the German commerce raider Atlantis
German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis
The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis , known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider-C, was a converted German Hilfskreuzer of the Kriegsmarine, which, during World War II, travelled more than in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships totaling...
on 22 November 1941.
On 1 December 1941 Dorsetshire came upon the German supply ship Python, which immediately attempted to flee. Since the area was one where merchant ships seldom ventured Agar fired two salvos at the ship, one before and one behind as a warning to stand to. At this the Python scuttled herself. Dorsetshire did not stop to pick up survivors as she knew that submarines were likely to be near.
One of the German U Boats heading to the Python to be refuelled spotted HMS Dunedin and sank her with a loss of 350 of her 500 man crew.
Japanese in the Indian Ocean
Dorsetshire was berthed at the naval base at Simonstown, South Africa, on 7 December 1941 when the JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese attacked Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and, soon after, British positions at Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
. She was immediately assigned to escort a convoy of British troops just arriving from Halifax in American transports, originally destined for the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, but now diverted to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. She guided them to Bombay and then returned to Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
to escort another convoy to Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
and Bombay. This was essential duty as these convoys were now vulnerable to attack by both German and Japanese raiders, passing by the less than friendly Vichy French island of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. Dorsetshire then was assigned to escort a convoy to withdraw as many civilians from Singapore as possible before the island was overrun by the Japanese. She got them safely to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Agar then was assigned a mission to transport and land a party of 100 Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
in Burma
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
to harass invading Japanese forces, giving the main forces time to evacuate Rangoon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
. Dorsetshire then escorted the last convoy to get out of Rangoon before it fell on 8 March 1942.
Dorsetshire was not equipped to operate in an area with enemy aircraft and Agar was attempting to add antiaircraft guns in Colombo and to dismantle and refit her engines and boilers to meet the challenges ahead when word arrived that an enemy fleet had entered the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. For an account of the Japanese attack on British positions in the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
see Indian Ocean Raid
Indian Ocean raid
The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March-10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II...
. He stopped his refit, reassembled his machinery and put to sea as fast as he could. Acting on information that the Japanese fleet had turned back, Admiral Somerville ordered Dorsetshire back into Colombo to finish the refit. Agar again began to dismantle his machinery and clean his boilers. He was told by the port admiral that anti aircraft guns would arrive in two days for his ship. It was a Saturday, 4 April, the day before Easter.
The Dorsetshire was part of a scratch fleet of obsolete British battleships with two small obsolete aircraft carriers and attached cruisers hurriedly put together to stem the Japanese naval advance into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. Admiral James Somerville had moved the main part of the fleet to a secret base at Addu Atoll
Addu Atoll
Addu City is a city in Maldives consisting of the inhabited islands of the southernmost atoll of the archipelago....
in the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
, as he knew that his fleet was no match for the Japanese. His main duty was to keep the sea lanes open to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
oilfields and to the Eighth Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, at that time attempting to stop the German and Italian armies under General Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
.
End of the Dorsetshire
Dorsetshire was in some ways a victim of the lack of British intelligence about the capabilities of the Japanese fleet. Neither Agar nor Somerville had any idea that the range of Japanese naval dive bombers was almost twice that of comparative British aircraft. To survive after getting a second warning of the presence of a large westbound Japanese Fleet in the Indian Ocean he would have had to leave Colombo as fast as possible and head west at top speed.On Saturday afternoon, 4 April 1942 an urgent message summoned Agar to the base Operations Room in Colombo. A Consolidated Catalina flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
had just reported that it was shadowing a large force of enemy carriers accompanied by battleships steering west from the Malacca Straits, directly for Ceylon. This was the fleet of Admiral Nagumo.
Admiral Somerville was in the Maldives beyond the immediate reach of the advancing Japanese. Upon receiving the news he moved further out of Nagumo's way and ordered the Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall
HMS Cornwall (56)
HMS Cornwall was a County class heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. She was built at Devonport Dockyard .-History:...
, which was also in Colombo, to join him with all speed. He left the choosing of a rendezvous point to the admiral commanding in Colombo. It took six long hours to reassemble the ships machinery and get her ready for sea. The two cruisers left Colombo harbour at 10pm on 4 April. The rendezvous point was approved by Admiral Somerville. It was a fatal error as a more westerly rendezvous point would have saved the two ships. The ships could steam at only 28 knots, the top speed that Cornwall could make.
At daybreak, Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, Agar received a signal that the Japanese Fleet was only 120 miles south of Colombo. They began an attack on the port at 8 am. No further communication was received from Colombo (their radio tower was hit).
At this point, lacking further direction, as Somerville was maintaining radio silence and Colombo was out of action, Agar made a fatal decision. He saw his first duty as rejoining the fleet in the hopes of launching a night attack on the Japanese and opted to continue on southwards to the rendezvous point instead of heading due west out of the danger zone. At 11:30 am a Japanese patrol aircraft spotted them. There were six hours of daylight left. Agar continued on to the rendezvous point. He broke radio silence to tell Somerville of his decision. The rendezvous point was 90 miles away.
The two ships were caught by Japanese dive bombers at 1pm on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942 and the Dorsetshire sank eight minutes after the first bomb hit. She went down at 13:50 after being struck by 10 bombs. 234 men were killed and 500 including the Captain survived in the water until rescue 32 hours later. Only 16 of the men who went into the water died, a testament to crew discipline and the leadership of Agar and the other officers and petty officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
s. The Cornwall was sunk as well.
Agar worked hard to save his crew, picking up the wounded in a whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
, gathering up stragglers and giving good advice. He was reported by survivors as speaking calmly.
A Fairey Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
found the men in the water the next afternoon and an hour later the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
HMS Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (D52)
HMS Enterprise was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926...
and the destroyers HMS Paladin
HMS Paladin (G69)
HMS Paladin was a P-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by John Brown and Co. Ltd., Clydebank...
and HMS Panther
HMS Panther (G41)
HMS Panther was a P class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down on 5 March 1940 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and launched on 28 May of the following year...
arrived to rescue the survivors. Agar was taken aboard the Paladin.
During the engagement Agar had been wounded in the leg by shrapnel. This wound turned septic
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
as a result of being left unattended after the sinking. When the Dorsetshire sank, Agar had been dragged down deep and suffered the bends
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
while coming up, with serious damage to his lungs. On the surface he swallowed oil. These injuries affected his fitness for further seagoing duty. He was 52 and had completed thirty-seven years of active duty. After a short stay in Bombay where his health took a turn for the worse, he was sent to hospital in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The leg healed, but lung trouble from the bends and oil he swallowed stayed with him for the rest of his life. He arrived in Britain on 28 May 1942.
Discussion of the loss
The British paid dearly for underestimating Japanese capabilities. After Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, the loss of HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse (1916)
HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner...
and Prince of Wales
HMS Prince of Wales (1939)
HMS Prince of Wales was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy, built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England...
and the fall of Singapore one might have expected greater caution. Augustus Agar's seafaring days ended close to where he was born 52 years before.
It is easy to assess blame afterwards, but it did seem unwise to send Dorsetshire back to Colombo for a second time to finish her refit with a huge Japanese Fleet threatening. This was Somerville's decision. But, of course we do not know what other viable choices he had. Certainly, South Africa was a safe place for a refit, but it was so far away that Dorsetshire could not get back in time to assist him. He needed every ship. Was Bombay too crowded? Did the ship really need the refit at this critical juncture? It must be remembered that Somerville had to choose his time for battle carefully. If he was caught in the open, he would surely lose to the larger Japanese Fleet with all its dive bombers and torpedo bombers. He had divided his fleet into a fast part and a slow part, with the latter in reserve. Dorsetshire was assigned to the fast division where speed was essential for a fast night attack, in and out before aircraft could reach them. Hence Somerville's insistence on a refit to increase her speed.
The rendezvous point for the cruisers with the main British fleet was set too far east, too close to the Japanese. This was the port admiral's decision. Agar should have fled due west at dawn when he heard how close the Japanese were. But this is hindsight. He had no reason to believe that Somerville would not show up at the rendezvous point, expecting the help of two cruisers for a night attack on the Japanese aircraft carriers. He knew he was taking a great risk.
Character and Manner
Augustus Agar was described by Alfred Draper in his book, "Operation Fish", as a "...slim, impeccably-uniformed man with an extremely courteous manner...". He had a reputation for expecting a lot from his men, but looking out for their best interest as well. Arriving in Plymouth on Sunday, 29 October 1939 after a gruelling two months of continuous sea duty in the North Atlantic, he was informed that he had to get his damaged ship ready for sea in six days. He sent his men home for a much needed rest and stayed himself to personally supervise dockyard repairs. He devised a means (drawing on his Murmansk experience in 1917-18) of getting steam heat into the mess decks, so that the men coming from and going onto duty in the cold could get a "warm up".Later life
After leave for a month, the less than fit Agar was sent to BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
to supervise the building and completion of the new aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, HMS Unicorn
HMS Unicorn (I72)
HMS Unicorn was a aircraft repair ship and light aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. She was completed during World War II and provided air cover over the amphibious landing at Salerno, Italy in September 1943. The ship was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian...
. He worked on this assignment for a period and was placed on the retired list in 1943.
Agar was appointed Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
in 1943 when he once again served as President and Captain of the Royal Naval College
Old Royal Naval College
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most...
at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. He served in this capacity until 1946 and reverted to his substantive rank of Captain.
Agar wrote two noteworthy books about his naval career. In his retirement he farmed at Alton, Hampshire
Alton, Hampshire
Alton is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of the English county of Hampshire. It had a population of 16,584 at the 1991 census and is administered by East Hampshire district council. It is located on the source of the River Wey and is the highest town in...
, England. His farm produced strawberries. His clubs were the Athenaeum
Athenaeum Club, London
The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall, London, England, at the corner of Waterloo Place....
and the Royal Yacht Squadron
Royal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron is the most prestigious yacht club in the United Kingdom and arguably the world. Its clubhouse is located in Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom...
.
Augustus Agar died on 30 December 1968 and was buried at Alton. His will was probated at 9,580 pounds sterling on 28 March 1969.
His second wife, Ina, attended HMS Dorsetshire reunions after his death.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, London, along with his telescope. His other medals and various papers are in storage there, including a receipt for gold bullion delivered to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1939.
HM Coastal Motor Boat 4, his boat in the Baltic, is on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, Duxford
Duxford
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, some ten miles south of Cambridge.-History:The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex...
.
External links
- Burial location of Agustus Agar (Hampshire)
- Location of Agustus Agar's Victoria Cross Imperial War Museum
Agar also wrote "Showing the flag", 1962 Evans Brothers Ltd, London