Ronald Brockman


Sir Ronald Vernon Brockman was a British senior officer of the Royal Navy. He served under Lord Mountbatten and participated in accepting the surrender of the Japanese Fleet in 1945. Sir Ronald was the elder son of Engineer Rear-Admiral Henry Stafford Brockman CB. He was descendant of the English Brockman family, and was Gentleman Usher to the Queen from 1967 to 1979.

Military service

Sir Ronald was educated at Weymouth College in Dorset and joined the Royal Navy in 1927 as a paymaster cadet. He was promoted to paymaster sub-lieutenant on 16 April 1930 and to paymaster lieutenant on 1 October 1931. He served as the Assistant Secretary to the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Backhouse from 1938 to 1939 and was promoted to paymaster lieutenant-commander on 1 October 1939.
He was the Admiral's Secretary to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound during World War II from 1939 to 1943. Promoted to paymaster commander on 31 December 1943, he served as Admiral's Secretary to Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten from 1943 to 1959 and as an acting captain was the Private Secretary to Mountbatten as Governor General of India from 1947 to 1948. Finally, he served as the Senior Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff within the Ministry of Defence from 1959 to 1965. He was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 30 June 1953. He was promoted to rear admiral on 7 July 1960, and to vice-admiral on 6 April 1963. He retired from the Royal Navy on 6 December 1965
He was appointed a KCB in the 1965 New Year Honours, CSI 1947, CIE 1946, CVO 1979 and CBE 1943. He was made a KStJ in 1985 and among his foreign awards were the Special Rosette of Cloud and Banner 1948, Chevalier Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre with Palm 1950 and Bronze Star Medal 1947.

Personal life and death

In 1932 Brockman married Marjorie Jean Butt; they had one son and three daughters. He died on 3 September 1999, aged 90. He was the last surviving Companion of the Order of the Star of India. At his death, the Queen was represented by Sir Carron Grieg and the Duke of Edinburgh was represented by Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Woodard at a service of thanksgiving for Sir Ronald’s life and service. The Prince of Wales was represented by Vice-Admiral Sir Christopher Morgan.