Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax

Admiral THE HONOURABLE SIR Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, K.C.B., D.S.O., Royal Navy (22 August, 1880 – 16 October, 1967) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Drax was born Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett in London on 28 August, 1880, the second son of John William Plunkett, later Seventeenth Baron of Dunsany, and his wife, Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton. He was the younger brother of the future Eighteenth Baron of Dunsany and in 1916 on inheriting estates from his mother he assumed by Royal Licence the additional names of Ernle-Erle-Drax. Thenceforth he was usually known by the surname of Drax.

From Cheam School he joined the Britannia and went to sea in 1896. He was promoted lieutenant in 1901 and went on to specialize in torpedo. At his own request he attended the Military Staff College, Camberley, and in 1912 he was one of the first officers chosen to undergo the new course of training for staff officers. In the same year he received early promotion to commander and when in 1913 Admiral (later Earl) Beatty [q.v.] was given command of the battle-cruiser squadron, he chose Plunkett as his war staff officer. In this capacity he served in the Lion at the actions of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland. He was promoted captain in 1916 and ended the war in the cruiser Blanche which was employed in laying minefields in the Heligoland Bight close to the enemy's main ports. For his services in the Lion he was mentioned in dispatches and he was appointed to the DSO when commanding the Blanche.

In 1919 Drax became first director of the new Naval Staff College at Greenwich where he served until 1922. Having proved himself as a brilliant staff officer and thinker and also as a fine captain of a cruiser, he was the ideal person for this appointment. He did much to make staff work respectable in a navy where thinkers were apt to be regarded with suspicion and only the proved seamen admired and promoted. Drax showed that it was possible to be both. He went next as president of the allied naval control commission in Berlin until 1924. In 1926–7 he commanded the Marlborough in the third battle squadron.

In 1928 Drax was promoted rear-admiral and in 1929 appointed to command the first battle squadron in the Mediterranean. As director of manning at the Admiralty (1930–2) he was involved in the recovery of the navy's morale after the Invergordon mutiny, an episode for which he had had no responsibility. In 1932–4 he was commander-in-chief America and West Indies, where he cruised widely in his flagship and did much to promote friendly relations with the United States navy. He was promoted vice-admiral in 1932 and admiral in 1936. In 1935–8 he served as commander-in-chief, Plymouth. In 1939 he headed the British section of the Anglo-French military mission to Russia to concert plans against German aggression, a mission which was doomed from the start through no fault of his, for whilst Drax was engaged in vague staff talks at Leningrad, the Russo-German treaty of non-aggression was being negotiated.

In 1939–41 Drax was commander-in-chief at the Nore where he was responsible for the main defences against German attack. After Dunkirk, when Drax worked in close co-operation with his old friend (Sir) Bertram Ramsay at Dover, his inventive mind did much to prepare for the expected invasion. After serving his full time at the Nore, Drax retired and returned to his estates in Dorset where he served as a private in the Home Guard. In the spring of 1943 he volunteered for duty as a commodore of convoy and served until 1945 with the distinction of never losing a ship.

A critic of much of British strategy, Drax privately printed in 1943 a book on the Art of War which attacked many aspects of defence policy. Events have vindicated many of his views. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the navy was his promotion of the study of war, a topic which at the beginning of the century was somewhat discouraged due to the flood of technological change. Drax was a founder-member of the Naval Society which from 1913 has issued the quarterly Naval Review to encourage new ideas on naval matters and persuade young officers to put their thoughts on paper. Throughout his career Drax studied the art of war and constantly produced new ideas and new policies, based mainly on a thorough study of history. It was little known that he had a particular sympathy for the men of the lower deck and their pay and conditions of service. He was a friend of "Lionel Yexley" (James Woods), the naval reformer, and invited him to lecture to the staff course—a move looked upon as most radical. Drax was firm but kindly and he inspired great affection from those with whom he served. He encouraged junior officers constructively and was never too busy to advise or if necessary to criticize. In retirement at Charborough he remained busy with the management of his estates and the writing of articles on many subjects. The swimming bath, warmed by rays of the sun, was one invention of which he was very proud.

Drax was appointed C.B. in 1928 and K.C.B. in 1934. In 1916 he married Kathleen (died 1980), daughter of Quintin Chalmers, MD, and sister of the future Rear-Admiral W. S. Chalmers. Of an unusually happy marriage there were four daughters and one son. Drax died in Poole on 16 October, 1967.

Bibliography

• "Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 18 October, 1967. Issue 57075, col F, pg. 12.

Service Record

• ADM 196/45