SlR Charles Hughes Hallett was born in J898. He joined the Navy as a cadet in; O, i911J and he left it as a Vice-Admiral in T-;:| 1955, to die thirty years laterj still visibly a, naval officer of the old school. He was not ‘(M I? an .-.easy: man c to get to; know, but his /pi; acquaintance was worth acquisition and his, ,_______________nr_.,^_,r friendship, when given, was cherished. But, Hardy, escorting the first trial convoy;oL thoughnthe eyes, could-twinkle^ their gaze " —«•—«— could be frosty1 and sometimes -’daunting** merchant ships frpm Gibraltar itp: England:) iE:.y‘ i At t_ At-- .a_______ _«__________ f ------------1.’ —ii is v.” v ’J.

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pj$ acquaintance was worth acquisition and his;
and ran;a picket-boat,. ofL’the?)/ beaches, once victualling a weary General with eggs and bacon fried on her boiler ^He/^ was at Jutland in St Vincenti but* nothing except the breech end’ofrJwoi,i2J^( guns which were firing from time iOitimeMk He remembered; as a Sub-Lieutenant) jn Jthefj
| pf, thoughtthe eyes, could-twinkle* their gaze that' war'^• .'a collection'oft very-,elderly^ . T- . J... and ? though nthe ; personage "was (alwaysJ luckily ,, nothing-roccurred; < or- the4 anti^ courteous,- itbwas always Jhali of/,a very convoy party at the Admiralty might<have^| commanding - officer. f;Hen never (courted managed, to delay the introduction-of the; popularity,1 but there was ho pomposity,t ’r c I $ iL nothing 'at alt false about him. When he 'f' f I VTf.-t - T •' Jr j j ?;■;? odd jobs about the house; and when he had 4 ?). dealt'with a matter; that was that. Hence he

realised that he would not wear his Uniform; : again; he didn’t mind using his jacket fot; odd jobs about the house; and when he had
continually weeded, his own packs and left: little, in the way of papers, except some on deposit Ain that valuable private venture archive,of MrpLiddle in Sunderland; The major steps in his career were chronicled adequately in the public press. He was not a legendary man,' and > the; few stories told- about him are, to various degrees; mainly apocryphal. But he was a good man, and populanVvith the discerning. The range and. numberJ of old 1 shipmates and colleagues who' turned upiati'ihisjimemorial^service testified to that.5 ’ ; :’h-vul • His time as a cadet he said merited no ? interest except/— and his reflections were, " - - - > . a • * • a
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• * his modesty was excessive. But he!§poktf£ with affection and pride of Cambridge^ ltd’, which 'i he ;> wentt 1 with !' hisi.lsUrViving-r contemporaries in 1919 for those terms Soa felicitously) 1 .memorialised by l,Masefield*f!| attributing ' that •< University’s >I sporting? ascendancy over Oxford to their: presence,?'|O since the latter had refused to take,them He spoke with nostalgia of the change, fromij broadside,!, to » centrals- messing,IfirWithj' contempt of the hire purchase systemir, which he saw Has at root'> cause t.of Invergordon, and with respect of'Jod Kellyb —■ ‘not a notable tactical ' or i technical?;’ expert, but a great seaman and WonderfuiHj with personnel —4 memory for faces and a habit of; making/® eccentric but memorable remarks\r'h He qualified at Whale Island in 1925; he $ had been awarded the Egerton Prize beforir? that. He had < a brief but t interesting'^ commission as G in the XL and attended a^; senior officers’,, technical course iri?li^3ii^ with a relatively unknown F. J; Walker. Hefr had been G of the Nelson in the early he returned to her in 1938 as SOO and WaSf admired by one of the staff I’for- hevei? interfering in gunnery matters?! H^lU'ai* adamant in his opposition to a Scapa Flow in 1939 and. con firmed Jmthatfi is .21 a,, jA af u tut $
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•he had a remarkable? .,^4 f t anrl *5 liataif r>Ft frnaVinrt. a*
; cannot expect to, know his own mind at the1 age of thirteen is Scarcely borne out by thet . fact that of the >72 cadets in my batch only! four left the Navy as cadets because theyi found.it was notithe way they wanted to spend'their lives? He was mobilised as a; cadet and joined the Vengeance; four days; later he.was promoted, and a pair of white, flannels was cannibalised to-provide the, patches for the young gentleman. He was at; Gallipolifjrom-.thei.startbo'fi.the: campaign, 'jV/^.VrjJVlbnitno'j tr^o' I'itl thiJ/ ^'■(Tdria 'IW ■ b,sMw5/i;.»,97 ;Vvi itf mipi.niv.ii.‘r. and its tuiliiy m i:tms uH-.ri i»'f 10- ol ’w1C j ■ . . ; - ’ •