List of supply officers in the Royal Navy who have reached flag rank

This is a list of Royal Naval Paymasters, Supply Officers and Logistics Officers who have reached flag rank, listed in order of seniority as a Rear-Admiral. It was customary for some officers to be promoted upon retirement, so some pre-war paymaster admirals may not have served in the rank on the active list.

Full names are given, where known, and honours and awards are listed in full, but without dates. Dates of birth are not given for the deceased. Appointments held as an admiral are given and a summary, where known, of appointments held since retirement from the Royal Navy.

At any one time, one admiral is appointed as head of the branch, either as Paymaster Director-General from 1918 to 1944, Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch from 1944 to 1959, Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer (CNSSO) from 1959 to 2004 and, now, Chief Naval Logistics Officer (CNLO). For the last fifty years, this appointment has been an additional job. However, there was no admiral in the logistics branch from 2008–2010 and the post of CNLO was held by the senior Commodore in the branch.

Supply officers of flag rank If the rank is italicised it is a War Service Rank, an honorary distinction introduced in 1945

Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir John Henry George Chapple KCB CVO - retired 1 July 1918. Retroactively promoted to that rank in 1919 with seniority of 6 March 1918 Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir William Marcus Charles Beresford Whyte (1863–1932) - promoted to the rank of Paymaster-Director-General 1 July 1918 and to Paymaster Rear-Admiral on 8 November 1918, the first proper paymaster rear-admiral. Paymaster Rear-Admiral Charles Augustus Royer Flood Dunbar CBE (1849–1939) Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir Hamnet Holditch Share (1864–1937) Paymaster Rear Admiral Charles Edward Allen Woolley CMG (1863–1940) Paymaster Rear-Admiral Charles Edward Lynes, CMG Paymaster Rear-Admiral Gerald Solfleet (joined RN 1880; retired 1918) Paymaster Rear-Admiral Frederick George Motton CBE Paymaster Rear-Admiral William Ernest Russell Martin (1867–1946) - (joined RN 1884; retired 1922); author of Adventures of a Naval Paymaster (Herbert Jenkins, 1924) Paymaster Rear-Admiral Herbert Arthur David John Gyles (died 1937) Paymaster Rear-Admiral George Christopher Aubin Boyer, CBE (1862–1949) - promoted c.1919 Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Fleetwood Pollard KCB CMG (1868–1938) - appointed 3 July 1923 as Paymaster Director-General. Portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Paymaster Rear-Admiral Henry Mortlock Ommanney (1870–1935) - promoted c.1922 Paymaster Rear-Admiral Richard Bosustow Hosking (1869–1962) - promoted 1924 Paymaster Rear-Admiral William Frederick Cullinan, CMG (1876–1937) - promoted c.1925 and served as Port Accountant Officer, staff of Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, Chatham Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral (S)) Sir Bertram Cowles Allen KCB MVO (1875–1957) - promoted 1 July 1926 and served as Paymaster Director General (1926–1929) Paymaster Rear-Admiral Henry Horniman, CB (1870–1956) Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral (S)) Sir (Henry Wilfred) Eldon Manisty KCB CMG (1876–1960) - appointed 1 July 1929 as Paymaster Director-General. Paymaster Rear-Admiral John Dickenson Holmes (1875–1947) - promoted 1930 Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Ferdinand Murray (187?–1933) - appointed 1 July 1932 as Paymaster Director-General and died in office Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral (S)) Sir Henry William Woodward KCB (1879–1959) - appointed 10 July 1933 as Paymaster Director-General until July 1936 Paymaster Rear-Admiral J. Siddalls OBE Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral S) Sir Arthur (Foster) Strickland KCB OBE (1882–1955) - appointed 10 July 1936 as Paymaster Director-General until retirement in July 1939. Served as Ministry of Food's Chief Divisional Food Officer, Southern Command Area 1941–1943 Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral (S)) Sir David Sidney Lambert KCB OBE (1885–1966) - promoted 10 July 1939 and served as Paymaster Director-General until retirement in July 1942. Served in the Ministry of Supply (Directorate of Economy) 1942–1944. Portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Paymaster Rear-Admiral (later Rear-Admiral (S)) Sir William Evelyn Hatten Jolly KCB (1887–1961) - promoted 10 July 1942 and served as Paymaster Director-General until 26 October 1944, then Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until July 1945 Vice-Admiral (S) Sir Malcolm Giffard Stebbing Cull KCB CBE MVO (1891–1962) - appointed 10 July 1945 as Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until August 1948 Rear-Admiral (S) A. J. Wheeler (1894–19xx) Rear-Admiral (S) Noel Wright CB, OBE (1890–1975) - promoted c.1944 and Command Supply Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches 1944–1945 Rear-Admiral (S) E. L. Tottenham CB OBE (1896–19xx) - promoted 1 December 1945 Vice-Admiral (S) Sir (George) Harold Bankart KCB CBE (1893–1964) - promoted 4 August 1948 and served as Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until August 1951 Vice-Admiral (S) Sir William McBride KCB CBE (1895–1959) - appointed 4 August 1951 as Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until August 1954 Rear-Admiral (S) H. P. Chapman CBE (190x–19xx) - promoted 31 March 1949 Rear-Admiral (S) (later Rear-Admiral) Jack Kenneth Highton CB CBE (1904–1988) - promoted 30 June 1951 and served as Chief Staff Officer (Administration) to Commander-in-Chief Plymouth 1957–1960 Rear-Admiral (S) Frederick Robert Joseph Mack CB CBE (1987–1959) - promoted 23 August 1951 Rear-Admiral (S) Alan Watson Laybourne CB CBE (1898–1977) - promoted 31 May 1952 Rear-Admiral (S) Laurence Arthur Boutwood (1898–1982) - promoted 5 July 1953 and served as Command Supply Officer, Portsmouth (1953–1956) Vice-Admiral (S) (later Vice-Admiral) Sir Maurice Herbert Elliott KCB CBE (1897–1972) - promoted Rear-Admiral (S) 4 August 1951 and promoted Vice-Admiral (S) 4 August 1954 and then he served as Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until August 1957 Rear-Admiral (S) (later Rear-Admiral) Richard Allix Braine (1900–1998) - promoted 4 August 1954 and served as Command Supply Officer on staff of Flag Officer, Air (Home) (1954–1956) and Command Supply Officer Portsmouth (1956–1957) Vice-Admiral Sir Harry [Henry] Philpot Koelle KCB (1901–1980) - promoted Rear-Admiral (S) 15 May 1955 and to Vice-Admiral 4 August 1957 serving as Director-General Supply and Secretariat Branch until 4 May 1959 when he became Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer (CNSSO) until 1 December 1959. Portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Rear-Admiral Ronald Wilson Paffard CB CBE (1904–1994) - promoted 30 June 1957 and served as Chief Staff Officer (Administration) to Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth 1957–1960 Vice-Admiral (S) Sir John Strike Lancaster KBE CB (1903–1992) - appointed 1 December 1959 as Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer (CNSSO) until July 1962 Vice-Admiral Sir Norman (Egbert) Denning KBE CB (1904–1979) - promoted 1958 and served as Deputy Chief of Personnel (1958–1959) and Director of Naval Manpower (1959–1960), Director of Naval Intelligence (1960–64) and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence) (1964–1967). From 10 July 1962 to 24 January 1964 he was also CNSSO. On retirement, appointed Secretary of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (the D Notice Committee) 1967–c1970;Entry in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Rear-Admiral Wilfred Geoffrey Stuart Tighe CB (1905–1975) - promoted 7 July 1959 Rear-Admiral Godfrey Benjamin Teale CB CBE (1908–1978) - promoted 7 July 1960 Rear-Admiral Richard (Arthur James) Owen CB (1910–1997) - promoted 7 July 1961 and served as Director-General Naval Personal Services 1962–1964 Rear-Admiral Morrice Alexander McMullen CB OBE (1909–1990) - promoted 7 January 1962 and served as Flag Officer Admiralty Interview Board 1961–1964. After retirement, appointed Director of Civil Defence for London 1965–1968 Vice-Admiral Sir Horace Collier Lyddon KBE CB (1912–1968) - promoted Rear-Admiral 7 July 1962 and served as Rear-Admiral (Personnel), Naval Air Command (1962–1964); Director-General of Naval Manpower (1964–1967); Admiral President, Royal Naval College, Greenwich (1967–1968) and died in office. Promoted Vice-Admiral 1966. From 24 January 1964 to June 1968 he was also CNSSO Vice-Admiral Sir Ronald Vernon Brockman KCB CSI CIE CVO CBE (1909–1999) - promoted to Rear-Admiral 6 April 1963 (but acting Rear-Admiral from 1959 and acting Vice-Admiral in 1963) and served as Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff (1959–1965) having been Admiral's Secretary to Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten of Burma in all appointments from (1943–1959) Rear-Admiral Charles Kerr Thorneycroft Wheen CB (1912–1989) - promoted 7 January 1964 and served as Flag Officer Admiralty Interview Board 1964–1966 Rear-Admiral John Kingdon Watkins CB (1913–1970) - promoted 7 January 1965 Rear-Admiral Kenneth (Haydn) Farnhill CB OBE (1913–1983) - promoted 7 January 1966 and served as Director of Management and Support of Intelligence, Ministry of Defence (1966–1969) Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Archer Henderson CB (1913–1985) - promoted 7 January 1967 and appointed 10 June 1968 as Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer (CNSSO) until September 1970. Rear-Admiral John Douglas Trythall CB OBE (1914–1991) - promoted 7 January 1968 and served as Assistant Chief of Personnel and Logistics, on the central staff of the Ministry of Defence, 1968–1972 Rear-Admiral Colin (Charles Harrison) Dunlop CB CBE DL (1918–2009) - promoted 7 July 1969 and served as Commander, British Navy Staff, Washington, DC (1969–1971) and Flag Officer, Medway and Port Admiral, Chatham (1971–1974). From September 1970 to February 1974 he was also CNSSO. On retirement he was Director General, Cable Television Association and National Television Rental Association from 1974–1983. Rear-Admiral James (Percy Knowles) Harkness CB (1916–2009) - promoted 7 January 1970 and served as Director-General Naval Manpower (1970–1972). Admiral Sir Peter White GBE (1919–2010) - promoted Rear-Admiral 7 January 1970 and served as Director-General Fleet Services (1969–1971), Port Admiral, Rosyth, (1972–1974) and Chief of Fleet Support (1974–1977) - promoted Vice-Admiral (1974) and Admiral 28 June 1976. After retirement he was a senior executive of the Industrial Society. Rear-Admiral Arthur Brooke Webb CB (1918–2008) - promoted 7 January 1973 and retired 1975 Rear-Admiral Bill ([William] Noel) Ash CB LVO (1921–2008) - promoted 7 January 1974 and served as Director of Service Intelligence (1974–1977). On retirement he was Secretary of Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee 1980–1984. Rear-Admiral Frank Wright Hearn CB (1919–1993) - promoted 7 January 1974 and from February 1974 to January 1977 he was CNSSO Rear-Admiral Tom ([Thomas] Buckhurst) Homan CB (1921–2008) - promoted 7 January 1975 and served as Director-General Naval Personal Services 1974–1978. After retirement appointed Sub-Treasurer, Inner Temple 1978–1985 Rear-Admiral Ben(jamin) Cubitt Perowne CB (1921–1992) - promoted 7 January 1976 and from 26 January 1977 to 30 January 1978 he was CNSSO Rear-Admiral Charles Arthur Winfield Weston CB (1922–1998) - promoted 7 July 1976 and served as Admiral President, Royal Naval College, Greenwich (1976–1978). After retirement, Appeals Secretary for King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers 1979–1987 Rear-Admiral Tom ([Thomas] Henry) Bradbury (1922–2021) - promoted 7 July 1977 and served as Flag Officer Admiralty Interview Board (1977–1979). From 30 January 1978 to 23 May 1979 he was CNSSO