Times Obit - Maj Gen Robert Houghton RM Dieppe

[Jedburgh22]

Major-General Robert Houghton


Houghton in 1947 at Stanley Fort, Hong Kong, wearing his green beret which the locals interpreted as a sign of infidelity

• 1 of 1
  Houghton in 1947 at Stanley Fort, Hong Kong, wearing his green beret which the locals interpreted as a sign of infidelity

1 minute ago

Royal Marine whose bravery during the disastrous Dieppe raid and subsequent ordeal as a prisoner of war was marked with the MC
Robert “Titch” Houghton was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery during the failed raid on Dieppe in August 1942 and subsequently his endurance as a prisoner of war.
In the absence of a full-scale Allied assault on the European continent in 1942, it had been accepted that more and larger raids should follow the minor successes at Bruneval and St Nazaire. But the raid on Dieppe was imprecise in its objectives. Too large for a raid, too small for an invasion, it was the product of a general feeling that something must be done to impress the Russians, but without any prospect that German forces would be diverted from the eastern front.
Other aims were to test the amphibious techniques then being developed by Admiral Mountbatten’s Combined Operations Headquarters and to see if it would be possible to capture a large port intact. The logistics of the eventual invasion of France would require this.
Owing to inadequate naval gunfire support, unexpectedly strong and well-sited German artillery defences that had not been detected by intelligence and a lack of any aerial bombardment, the raid was an expensive disaster, with the force of Canadian troops and Army and Royal Marine commandos leaving behind nearly 1,000 dead and more than 2,000 prisoners.
However, the tactical and equipment failures of the Dieppe raid did remove many illusions that invasions were easy. It generated a depth of realism in the meticulous preparations for D-Day, including the provision of “Mulberry” mobile harbours.
Houghton, as an acting major, had been appointed second in command of 40 Commando when it formed up in February 1942. At Dieppe he led an assault over a beach covered by intense mortar and machinegun fire. The Commando CO, Colonel Phillips, was fatally wounded during the approach while attempting to signal a withdrawal. A witness in his landing craft recorded that the Marines “landed with a courage terrible to see”.
Houghton’s landing craft blew up behind him immediately after disembarkation. Entrapped by thick wire entanglements, pinned down and finally strafed by their own aircraft, he and his men were taken prisoners of war. Houghton was fortunate not to have been shot under Hitler’s infamous Commando Order. But in prison he was handcuffed for a continuous 4ll days as a reprisal against commando activities .
Educated at Haileybury School, Hertford, Robert Dyer Houghton was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1930 and carried out a number of tours ashore and afloat, notably in the battleship Malaya and for two years in Egypt. At the outbreak of war he was adjutant and subsequently a company commander of the 1st Battalion, Royal Marines, until January 1942 when he joined 40 Commando.
After returning from PoW camp in 1945, Houghton was briefly given command of 45 Commando. Passing the Army Staff Course at Camberley in 1946, he was appointed CO of 40 Commando and served in Hong Kong, North Africa, Palestine and Cyprus.
Hong Kong — where Houghton’s elder brother Jack was killed in its defence in 1942 — was a somewhat fluid and turbulent place in 1946 and the garrison included a whole Royal Marines brigade. Their green berets were novel to the Chinese who subscribed to a belief that “a man wearing a green hat has an unfaithful wife”.

Garrison duty in Malta, with training expeditions to Tripolitania, was followed by a more demanding occupation in Palestine during the first half of 1948, the final months of the British Mandate. After the United Nations resolution of November 1947 setting up the Jewish state, Britain was left with substantial forces in Palestine but only one way of remaining faithful both to the UN and to the Mandate: doing nothing. The main battle was now between Arab and Jewish communities. This needed to be policed as far as possible; Houghton and 40 Commando’s duties were to keep open the port of Haifa for the vital citrus fruit trade, and to prevent sabotage and theft.
Thieving took elaborate forms; correctly uniformed Jews speaking good English and with the right documentation took delivery of two armoured half-tracks, only one of which was recovered. A Comet tank was driven away by a Polish driver from a cavalry regiment. Ammunition, petrol and stores such as gun barrels and breech blocks were vulnerable despite careful guarding. Car bombs, usually packed into stolen war department vehicles, were a frequent occurrence.
Houghton met a senior and influential Jew whose life he had saved while in Oflag 17 PoW camp and who promised that 40 Commando would not be targeted. Unable to master the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, the British withdrew through Haifa on May 14, 1948, leaving a fragmented, violent and disorganised country behind them. Then, 40 Commando went to Cyprus to guard until their release 8,000 Jewish illegal immigrants at a camp at Larnaca. Houghton was appointed OBE for his gallant and distinguished service during this difficult period.
His next tour was in South Africa as intelligence officer to Admiral Sir Robert Packer, C-in-C South Atlantic, followed by command of the Commando School. In subsequent years he commanded the Royal Marines reservist organisation and, in 1957 as a colonel, 3 Commando Brigade. In 1961 he was promoted major-general and appointed Chief of Amphibious Warfare. His final tour was as Major-General Royal Marines, Portsmouth, retiring in 1964. He was appointed CB in the same year.
In retirement he continued his Service interests as a regional president of the Royal Marines Association. From 1973 to 1976 he was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Royal Marines and was the general secretary of the Royal United Kingdom Beneficent Association from 1968 to 1978. In 1977 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex.
Tough and short of stature, he was an exuberant, forceful leader who inspired trust even in the most dangerous and demanding circumstances.
His wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1940, died in 1995. He is survived by their daughter and two sons.
Major-General Robert Houghton, CB, OBE, MC, Royal Marines, was born on March 7, 1912. He died on January 17, 2011, aged 98


http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinio...cle2880923.ece

[Smudger Jnr]

Major-General Robert Houghton, CB, OBE, MC. R.I.P.

Tom

[Jedburgh22]

Major-General 'Titch' Houghton

Major-General 'Titch' Houghton, who has died aged 98, was second-in-command of Royal Marine 40 Commando during the Second World War; captured in the Dieppe raid, he returned after three years as a PoW to take key roles with the commandos in peacetime.

'Titch' Houghton in 1947


Houghton's baptism of fire came on August 19 1942 during Operation Jubilee, when, in support of the main assault by Canadian troops, 40 Commando was to destroy port facilities at Dieppe and form a reserve. They crossed the Channel in the river gunboat Locust and arrived off Dieppe at about 0530, before disembarking into several LCAs (Landing Craft Assault).

As Locust attempted to force the harbour entrance, she came under heavy fire from German batteries which the preliminary bombardment had failed to silence. She was repeatedly hit and her captain withdrew: meanwhile, the Canadians were pinned down on the beaches by heavy fire and barbed wire entanglements.

40 Commando was now ordered to land at the eastern end of the beach, but as the LCAs approached the shore they came under intense machine-gun and mortar fire. The commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel JP Phillips, ordered them to retreat back out to sea.

In his landing craft, however, Houghton continued towards the shore, moving to the centre of the beach where he stormed the sands, his LCA blowing up behind him.

"Ironically the doctor was our first casualty," Houghton noted. "But further casualties quickly followed. We advanced as far as the promenade wall, where progress was barred by thick wire entanglements swept by enemy fire. Pinned in this position with practically no cover, unable to move forward and without any means of returning by sea, we concentrated our efforts on inflicting as much damage as possible on the enemy positions.

"Lacking any form of communication with our own forces, we continued until the official time of withdrawal had passed. The beach was strafed by our own aircraft at 1400 hours as part of the withdrawal programme, and it was just the luck of the draw that we found ourselves on the receiving end."
Of 370 officers and men in 40 Commando, 76, including Phillips, were killed. Houghton, after fighting against overwhelming odds, was taken prisoner, though for many months he was reported dead.
Later that year, in an act of vengeance, Hitler ordered commando prisoners to be shackled, and Houghton was handcuffed for 411 days. Afterwards he was awarded an MC for his bravery at Dieppe and for his endurance as a prisoner of war.
Robert Dyer Houghton was born on March 7 1912 and educated at Haileybury. He joined the Royal Marines in 1930 and served in the battleship Malaya before qualifying as a small arms instructor. In 1935 he commanded an anti-aircraft battery of the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation (MNBDO) which, following the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, was deployed to Egypt to protect the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria.
The MNBDO had been thrown together hurriedly and, while at Alexandria, trained together for the first time while on short notice to move to an advanced base in Crete. This situation was an excellent opportunity for a young officer, and Houghton, now 23, entered into his work with great enthusiasm, soon earning the respect of his men. By the time he returned to Chatham it was beginning to be recognised that he had considerable leadership potential.
Soon after the outbreak of war Houghton was promoted captain and appointed adjutant of the 1st Battalion, Royal Marines. He joined the RM Commando in early 1942.
Liberated from his prison camp in Germany in 1945, Houghton was briefly commanding officer of 45 Commando until selected for the Army staff course. On completion he was delighted to be given command of 40 Commando.
His leadership was tested when, in 1948, his Commando was sent to Haifa to cover the end of the Palestine Mandate and the withdrawal of British troops. Animosity towards the British from both Arabs and Jews was high, and there was looting and violence by extremists. Houghton's task was to keep the port open, and to mount searches to prevent arms being smuggled in from visiting ships.
In April a series of vicious skirmishes took place between Jewish paramilitaries of the Haganah and Arab forces, and Houghton had to keep the peace while some 37,000 Arabs were evacuated from Haifa. He also had to house and feed large numbers of refugees who sought sanctuary in the dockyard.
The final evacuation took place on June 30, smoothly and without incident, 40 Commando being the last to leave. For his outstanding leadership and distinguished service Houghton was appointed OBE.
He was subsequently appointed to the Joint Services Staff College; as staff officer (Intelligence) to the Commander in Chief South Atlantic; commandant of the Commando School; and as director of the Royal Marines Reserve.
In August 1957 Houghton was appointed Commander 3rd Commando Brigade, then based in Malta, where he devoted himself to bringing the brigade to a peak of efficiency and readiness for any emergency. He took his commandos to Libya, Turkey, Greece, Sardinia and Cyprus on a series of well-run exercises, and he oversaw pioneering trials of helicopters in commando assaults.
There were numerous trouble spots in the Mediterranean and, when Malta itself suffered politically-inspired unrest, Houghton's brigade assisted the police in quelling riots and restoring calm.
Houghton was insistent that the "fire brigade of the Mediterranean", as he called it, should be able to move anywhere at 12 hours' notice, and his orders were written for no fewer than 17 different scenarios. He was tested when, in anticipation of a political crisis threatening British nationals, the brigade's advance party flew to Libya, and the main body followed by sea. Before the main body landed, however, a greater problem arose in Cyprus, whereupon the rear party altered course and became the advance party to Cyprus, to be replaced in Malta by the advance party which returned from Libya. Houghton thrived on such situations.
In 1959 he was appointed commanding officer of the Royal Marines in Deal and commandant of the Royal Marines School of Music. His last two appointments were as Director Joint Warfare Staff, and Major-General Royal Marines in Portsmouth. He was appointed CB and retired in 1964.
In retirement he was president of 40 Commando Association and regularly attended reunions. In 1973 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex, and from 1968 to 1978 was general secretary of the Royal United Kingdom Beneficent Association.
Though naturally impetuous and forceful, Houghton was a more sensitive man than many appreciated. Like many short people, he unconsciously compensated by speaking louder than necessary, and if possible would seek a stair to stand on when communicating with others.
Though he always maintained that the interests of the service came first, he was a devoted family man. With his sons, he built a model railway in his garden at Lewes which still runs today. He was president of the Gauge One Model Railway Association for more than 40 years during which time he increased its membership 10-fold.
"Titch" Houghton (one of the few people in the Services given this nickname because he really was short) died on January 17.
He married Dorothy Lyons in 1940. She died in 1995, and he is survived by their two sons and a daughter.

Major-General 'Titch' Houghton - Telegraph

[Recce_Mitch]

Major-General Robert Houghton, CB, OBE, MC. RIP

Paul