Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett(1 December 1901–5 April 1972) was a British naval commander and politician. He was the Naval Commander during the Dieppe Raid of 1942. He had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, beginning as a Midshipman on HMS Lion, May 1918. He was promoted to staff rank and, during WWII, served in a variety of roles. During the Norwegian campaign of 1940, he saw active service on HMS Devonshire and was mentioned in despatches.In 1940 to 1941, Hughes-Hallett played a key role in cross-Channel raids. He assisted in planning raids under Mountbatten and was the Naval Commander during the misconceived Dieppe Raid of 1942. Although the raid itself was a failure and cost many lives, it did lead to new strategies for cross-Channel operations. The actual proposer of the idea of the Mulberry Harbour is disputed, but it is believed by some to have been Hughes-Hallett. At a meeting following the Dieppe raid, he declared that if a port could not be captured, then one should be taken across the Channel. Although this was met with derision at the time, the concept of Mulberry Harbours began to take shape when Hughes-Hallett moved to be Naval Chief of Staff to the Operation Overlord planners.Hughes-Hallett became Commodore commanding the Channel Assault Force and Naval Chief of Staff (X) from 1942 to 1943. Of the 5 Assault Forces, Hughes-Hallett's Force "J" started its training with a decided advantage over the other four; its nucleus having been formed as far back as October 1942, with HQ at Cowes. On 1 May 1943, Commodore Hughes-Hallett succeeded Rear Admiral Philip Vian as the head of the Naval Branch at Supreme Allied Command. He served as Captain of HMS Jamaica from December 1943. After the war, he was in command of HMS Vernon (1946-8). He then commanded HMS Illustrious'(1948–1949) and after that was Vice-Controller of the Navy in Bath, 1950–1952, and then Flag Officer, Heavy Squadron, Home Fleet, 1952–1953.Hughes-Hallett retired from the Royal Navy in 1954 as Vice-Admiral and went into Conservative politics.His older brother, Charles Hughes-Hallett(1898-1985), was a Rear Admiral.

A thoroughly interesting biography on one of the supreme military leaders for Britain in WW2. The story is well done and full of facts and firsthand accounts. This is a great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

To have the inside story of the ‘disastrous’ Dieppe raid of 1942 and the subsequent build up preparation for D-Day (Overlord), gives the reader a unique insight into the military, primarily Naval perspective of that preparation. Vice Admiral Huges-Hallett is very honest in his delivery of the detail and relationships of the senior officers involved, especially displaying their prejudices and risk aversions to the emerging plans. The account also allows us to identify the strong personalities who prevailed through logic and experience to bring the lessons learnt from Dieppe to the success of D-Day on June 6 1944.
A thought provoking account of this ‘window’ on one aspect of the winning combination to bring an end to WWll.