Lionel Preston

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Sir Lionel Preston
Born(1875-09-27)27 September 1875
Died21 September 1971(1971-09-21) (aged 95)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch
Mentioned in Despatches
Legion of Honour
(France)

KCB (27 September 1875 – 21 September 1971) was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as Fourth Sea Lord
from 1930 to 1932.

Naval career

Lionel Preston was educated at

Admiralty.[2]

After the war Preston was in charge of the clearance of mines in British waters and then, from 1919, commanded patrol, minesweeping training and fishing protection flotilla.

Commanding Officer of the Royal Navy Signal School at Portsmouth in 1920 and then given command of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle in 1923.[2] He was given command of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in 1926 and became Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport in 1930.[2] He was made Commandant of the Imperial Defence College in 1933 and, after being promoted to full admiral on 1 March 1934,[5] he retired in 1935.[2]

Preston also served in the

Second World War as advisor on minesweeping and then, as the Director of Small Vessels Pool, he took charge of the provision of small craft for Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.[2] In a "War Commentary" broadcast by the BBC he made reference to "the futile years" when the United Kingdom supported the League of Nations as a basis for its foreign policy.[6] He retired again in 1945.[2]

Later life

In retirement Preston became Chairman of Titanine Limited, a business specialising in aircraft finishes.[7] He lived in Chiltern Road in Dunstable.[8]

Preston also wrote the book Sea And River Painters of the Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century.[9]

Family

Preston married twice. His first wife was Emily Elizabeth Bryant, daughter of Edgar Bryant.[10] They had a son born in 1902.[11]

References

  1. ^ "PRESTON, Adm. Sir Lionel". Who Was Who. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press. December 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.(subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Admiral Sir Lionel George Preston Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36076. London. 27 February 1900. p. 6.
  4. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36761. London. 7 May 1902. p. 10.
  5. ^ "No. 34029". The London Gazette. 2 March 1934. p. 1425.
  6. ^ Sir Lionel Preseton's War Commentary Hansard, 24 June 1941
  7. ^ In Brief Flight Global, 1953
  8. ^ Dunstable and Houghton Regis Luton Today
  9. ^ "Sea And River Painters of The Netherlands In The Seventeenth Century" Oxford University Press (1937)
  10. ^ National Portrait Gallery
  11. ^ "Births". The Times. No. 36917. London. 5 November 1902. p. 1.
Military offices
Preceded by Fourth Sea Lord
1930–1932 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commandant of the Imperial Defence College
1933–1935 		Succeeded by
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