Rear-Admiral Reginald William Armytage, GC

b. 18/05/1903 Chelsea, London. d. 09/11/1984 Salisbury, Wiltshire.

DATE AND PLACE OF GC ACTION: 23/05/1928 Malta.

Reginald Armytage was the son of Sir George Ayscough Armytage, 7th Baronet, CMG, DSO of Kirklees Park, Brighouse and his wife Amy Pilkington. He was born in Chelsea on 18th May 1903. He was educated at the Osborne and Dartmouth Colleges. In 1928 he married Sylvia Beatrice Staveley and they had three sons David, Maurice and Roderick. In the same year, he played rugby union for the Navy and was picked to play for England in 1929 but was unable to play due to being called to sea.

He had entered the Navy at 13 in 1917. He served on HMS Royal Oak in 1921, Capetown from 1922-24, on emergency destroyers in 1925 and on HMS Warspite from 1926-1928. It was while he was serving on Warspite on 23rd May 1928 that he performed the actions which led to his and Dick Oliver's Albert Medal. Following the award, he qualified as a Gunner and served on HMS Devonshire, Mackay and Frobisher.

Armytage became Head of Gun Design and the Senior Naval Representative at the Armament Design Establishment in 1946, and later became Chief Inspector of Naval Ordnance in 1956. His final Naval rank was Rear Admiral. He chose not to exchange his Albert Medal for a GC.

On retirement, he and his wife moved to Downton, Wiltshire where his main hobby was water colour painting. He died on 9th November 1984 and was buried in his wife's family vault in Holbeton, Devon.

Source: THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE VICTORIA & GEORGE CROSS