The Lord Chatfield | |
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![]() Admiral of the Fleet Sir Ernle Chatfield | |
Minister for Coordination of Defence | |
In office 29 January 1939 – 10 May 1940 | |
Prime Minister | Neville Chamberlain |
Preceded by | Sir Thomas Inskip |
Succeeded by | Winston Churchill as Minister of Defence |
Personal details | |
Born | Southsea, Hampshire | 27 September 1873
Died | 15 November 1967 Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire | (aged 94)
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch/service | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1886–1938 |
Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
Commands | First Sea Lord Mediterranean Fleet Atlantic Fleet 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS Iron Duke HMS Lion HMS Southampton HMS Aboukir RMS Medina HMS London HMS Albemarle |
Battles/wars | First World War |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Member of the Order of Merit Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commander of the Royal Victorian Order |
Admiral of the Fleet Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield, GCB, OM, KCMG, CVO, PC, DL (27 September 1873 – 15 November 1967) was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he was present as Sir David Beatty's Flag-Captain at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. After the war he became Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet and then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet before serving as First Sea Lord in the mid-1930s in which role he won arguments that the Royal Navy should have 70 cruisers rather than the 50 cruisers that had been agreed at the Naval Conference of 1930, that the battleship still had an important role to play despite the development of the bomber and that the Fleet Air Arm should be part of the Royal Navy rather than the Royal Air Force. He subsequently served as Minister for Coordination of Defence in the early years of the Second World War.
Having been appointed to the Order of Merit in the 1939 New Year Honours,[25][26] in February Chatfield succeeded Sir Thomas Inskip as Minister for Coordination of Defence in the government of Neville Chamberlain, despite having a non-political background.[19] He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time.[27]
In March 1939 Chatfield urged an increase in munition production: "Would it not be possible to put industry on a war production basis immediately, not necessarily at the expense of our export trade but by curtailing internal consumption?" However the President of the Board of Trade, Oliver Stanley, objected: "Such a step would be almost revolutionary, and must be proved absolutely essential before introduction".[28]
On 11 April 1939 the Foreign Policy Committee decided that the question of Russia's potential as an ally should be referred to the Chiefs of Staff. Chatfield said that it was clear the political arguments against a Russian alliance outweighed any possible military benefits and that the Chiefs of Staff should only report on Russia's military capability.[29] On 24 April 1939 the Chiefs of Staff submitted their report and rated Russia's military effectiveness low. The next day Chatfield gave the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Policy a summary of this report: "Russia, although a great Power for other purposes, was only a Power of medium rank for military purposes...Her assistance would be of considerable, though not of great, military value".[30] On 16 May 1939 Lord Halifax said that the political reasons for not allying with Russia were stronger than the strategic reasons for such an alliance. Chatfield responded: "...if for fear of making an alliance with Russia we drove that country into the German camp we should have made a mistake of vital and far-reaching importance".[31]
Chatfield resigned as Minister for Coordination of Defence in April 1940 and subsequently chaired a committee on the evacuation of London's hospitals.[32] He retired to his home at Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire and became Deputy Lieutenant of that county on 15 June 1951.[33] He died at his home there on 15 November 1967.[32]
In July 1909 he married Lillian Emma Matthews (d.1977); they had two daughters and a son.[5] Their son, Ernle, succeeded his father as Baron Chatfield. He followed him into the Royal Navy, serving as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Canada between 1940 and 1945. The 2nd Baron settled in Victoria, British Columbia. Their elder daughter, Angela (Lady Donner) married Sir Patrick Donner MP. Their younger daughter, Katharine, married Henry Duckworth, son of Sir George Duckworth.[34]
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