Reginald Drax

Admiral The Hon. Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax
Born	28 August 1880 St Marylebone, London
Died	16 October 1967 (aged 87) Poole, Dorset
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1894–1941
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Director, Royal Naval College, Greenwich (1919–1922) President of Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control (Berlin) (Jan 1923 – Aug 1924) HMS Marlborough (April 1926 – February 1927) 1st Battle Squadron (May 1929 – Apr 1930) America and West Indies Station (Apr 1932 – Oct 1934) Plymouth Command (Jun 1935 – Sep 1938)
Battles/wars	First World War Heligoland Dogger Bank Jutland Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Order of St Stanislas (2nd cl.) with Swords (1916) Knight Grand Cross, Order of Orange Nassau (19 Jan 1943)
Relations	Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany
Other work	Home Guard (1941–1943) Commodore of Ocean Convoys (April 1943 – July 1945) Justice of the Peace Deputy Lieutenant, Dorset (Oct 1941)

Admiral the Hon. Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, KCB, DSO, JP, DL (28 August 1880 – 16 October 1967) was a British admiral. He is often referred to as Reginald Plunkett^[1] or (after 1916) Reginald Drax.^[2]

He was the younger son of John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853–1899)^[1] and his wife, the former Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor, née Burton, later Ernle-Erle-Drax (1855–1916).^[1] His elder brother was Lord Dunsany, a prolific writer and author of over 60 books.

Biography

Quadruple-barrelled name

Sir Reginald, born a Plunkett, was christened Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly (Plunkett) on 9 September 1880 at Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone, Westminster,^[3] and assumed the Ernle-Erle-Drax on 4 October 1916.^[4] His long series of titles, Christian names, surnames and postnominals has made him famous beyond his career as an Admiral in the Royal Navy.^[5] Elsewhere, the name has been cited as having inspired some of the more fanciful appellations employed by writers about the British aristocracy such as P. G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh; and in the penultimate episode of Series 2 of the BBC1 costume drama Upstairs Downstairs, the storyline adopts the conceit that Admiral Drax was known amongst his civil servants as "Admiral Acronym". Upstairs Downstairs features a leading character, Sir Hallam Holland, who is a member of the British Government's Foreign Office. The leaking of this nickname by Sir Hallam's lover to the German authorities forms part of the storyline of the final episode.

Early naval career

Plunkett was educated at Cheam School^[1] and joined the navy at the age of 14, training aboard the stationary school ship, HMS Britannia.^[1] He was promoted Lieutenant 15 January 1901.^[6]

He served during the First World War aboard the battlecruiser HMS Lion^[1] and was present at the naval battles of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank and Jutland.^[1] He was promoted captain on 30 June 1916.^[1]

He was awarded the DSO in 1918 whilst commanding HMS Blanche.^[1]

Between the wars

Drax held a series of senior naval appointments between the wars. From 1919 to 1922, he was Director of the Naval Staff College, Greenwich.^[1] He then served as President of the Naval Allied Control Commission in Germany from 1923 to 1924.^[1]

As a Rear Admiral, he commanded the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet from 1929 to 1930. From 1930 to 1932 he was ashore in the Admiralty as Director of Manning.^[1]

Promoted to Vice Admiral on 24 September 1932, he held from 1932 to 1934 the much sought after post of Commander of the America and West Indies Squadron.^[1]

From 1935 to 1938, he was Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.^[1]

Mission to Moscow

Sir Reginald was the British half of the Anglo-French delegation sent to Moscow in August 1939^[1] to discuss a possible alliance with the USSR. As an indication of the low priority the Allied Governments put on the mission, it was sent by sea. The Soviets did not take the delegation seriously because Sir Reginald did not have any power to make decisions without the approval of the British government, rendering him next to powerless.

Second World War

In December 1939, Drax was appointed Commander-in-Chief, The Nore^[7] serving until 1941. This was an important post as he was responsible for the protection of the east coast convoys from Scotland to London. These faced the multiple threats of acoustic mines and magnetic mines as well as attacks from the air and by surface vessels, especially after the fall of the Netherlands and Belgium.

As the war continued, advancing years caused him to retire from the active navy list and to join the Home Guard.^[1] Nonetheless, he went to sea from 1943 to 1945 as a convoy commodore, during the Battle of the Atlantic.^[1]

Alongside Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond and Vice-Admiral Kenneth Dewar, Drax was considered to be an intellectual who held controversial views, including the need for naval reform.^[8]

Civilian life

He was an early pioneer of solar heating.^[1]

His friend, the James Bond novelist Ian Fleming, named the character Sir Hugo Drax after him as a tribute.^[9]

Publications

• He wrote a book entitled Handbook on Solar Heating (Montefiore Stalin 272)^[1]
• Admiral Drax's papers are at Churchill College, Cambridge.^[1]
• He is also referred to in the David Niven autobiography The Moon Is a Balloon when he assisted in the starting of Niven's career. Niven was on his uppers, having left the Army and adrift in the nascent Hollywood. After a cocktail party, on the Admiral's ship, he was deposited the following morning into the press barge at a PR junket for the launch of the film Mutiny on the Bounty. Niven goes on to reveal it made him stand out and be recognised and become the only man "to crash Hollywood in a battleship".^[10]

Family

In 1916, Plunkett married Kathleen Chalmers.^[1] They had one son and four daughters.^[1] Their son is Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, who is the father of Richard Drax, Conservative MP for South Dorset since the 2010 General Election.

References

1. "The Papers of Admiral Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax - content and context". Janus. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
2. Robert L. Davison (April 2003). "Striking a Balance Between Dissent and Discipline: Admiral Sir Reginald Drax in The Northern Mariner/le Marin du Nord" (PDF). The Northern Mariner. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
3. Christening register of Holy Trinity Church, 1880 (The Metropolitan Archive).
4. The London Gazette: no. 29783. p. 9861. 13 October 1916.
5. Boulby, Chris (8 May 2009). "Three surnames for one person. Too many?". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
6. The London Gazette: no. 27372. p. 7146. 5 November 1901.
7. Naval Command Changed Melbourne Argus, 6 December 1939
8. Davison, Robert Lynn (1994). Admiral Sir Reginald Drax and British strategic policy: Festina lente (M.A. thesis) Wilfrid Laurier University
9. Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4
10. David Niven (2005-04-28). The Moon's a Balloon. ePenguin. ISBN 978-0-14-023924-9.