Royal Naval veteran, Captain Laurence WH Taylor CBE RN celebrated his 100th birthday with a surprise visit from Captain of Devonport Naval Base, Captain David Preece, along with members of the Plymouth Royal Naval Association.
100-year-old Laurence, who lives in a Plympton nursing home, was delighted to receive the group and happy to regale them with stories and tales of his long and distinguished service career, which began in 1940 when he attended Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.
Joining as a Seaman Officer, Captain Laurence served throughout the the Second World War on several major ships including HMS Sussex, where he was injured during a bombing of the ship in Glasgow, HMS Nelson, HMS Duncan and HMS Savage, which was involved in the sinking of the German Battleship Scharnhorst and the Battle of North Cape.
Following two remarkable years on HMS Savage he joined HMS Start Bay at the end of the war, serving in the Mediterranean, before leaving her in Gibraltar and taking up a position in Haifa as the RN Operations Officer. Service in HMS Fernie and HMS Bigbury Bay followed before returning to Greenwich in 1950 for the Naval Staff course.
He married Margaret in 1951 and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and posted to HMS Tamar in Hong Kong as the Staff Officer Plans to the Commodore of Hong Kong. Margaret joined him there, and their first daughter was born in Hong Kong.
He became responsible for the patrols of small warships to prevent illegal immigrants from China. There were great celebrations for the Coronation in 1953. Near the end of his time, there was a serious incident as one of the patrol boats was shot up by the Chinese in the Pearl River. He was the Officer responsible for dealing with the incident which saw a young Lieutenant killed on the bridge.
He travelled home from Hong Kong on the Empire Windrush to join his wife, and when back in the UK joined HMS Decoy as the First Lieutenant based at Devonport and a second daughter arrived. In 1956 he attended the Joint Services Staff course, before he became Staff Operations Officer to Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers. A son arrived December 1956 and in 1957 he was promoted to Commander.
Several Staff jobs followed before in 1966 he was promoted to Captain, and he set off to become the Naval Attaché in Moscow, which also involved looking after Finland as well. In 1968 he also served as the Naval Liaison Officer in Canberra Australia for two joyful years, before his final appointment with the Royal Navy as the Queen’s Harbour Master at Chatham in Kent.
Sadly, Margaret died in 2015 and they had three children, six grandchildren and seven great children.
Following the QHM job in Chatham he became Director of Marine Services in 1974, where he served for eight years, finishing on his 60th birthday. Made a CBE in New Year’s Honours in 1982. He lived in Winkleigh from 1984 and was church warden 1987 to 1996, serving also as Vice Chair of the Royal British Legion and then the President.
Captain David Preece, Captain of the Base Devonport said:
“I was absolutely delighted to be able to wish Captain Taylor happy birthday on such a landmark day. As well as congratulating him on behalf of the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Association, it was also a real privilege to have an insight into his very clear and fond memories of an amazing career. I hope that our presence was a reminder to him and his family that they are still a part of the Naval family no matter how long since retiring.”
Des McCarthy, chairman of Plymouth Royal Naval Association said:“Our members were honoured to attend the 100th Birthday celebration of Captain Taylor and award him with Life Membership to mark the high degree of respect and esteem we hold for our wartime warriors and their generation.”
