Lord Louis Mountbatten

Earl Mountbatten of Burma

(Lieutenant on HMS Repulse)

Last Viceroy of India

Some biographical information:

Louis was born at Windsor Castle 25th June 1900

Naval Career
1913 – Entered Royal Navy
1916 – Rated Midshipman
Served on: 
H.M.S. Lion, 1916; 
H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, 1917; 
H.M. Submarine K6, 1918. 
1918 – Promoted Sub-Lieutenant
Served on H.M.S. P31. 
1920 – Promoted Lieutenant
Served on: 
H.M.S. Renown, 1920 (Prince of Wales' Tour, Australia and New Zealand); 
H.M.S. Repulse, 1921 
H.M.S. Renown, 1920 (Prince of Wales' Tour to India, Japan and the Far East); 
H.M.S. Revenge, 1923; 
Signal School, Portsmouth, 1924; 
R.N. College, Greenwich, 1925; 
Reserve Fleet Wireless and Signal Officer, 1926; 
Assistant Fleet Wireless Officer, Mediterranean Fleet, 1927–1928. 
1928 – Promoted Lieutenant-Commander 
Second Destroyer Flotilla Signal and Wireless, 1928–1929; 
Senior Instructor in Wireless at H.M. Signal School, Portsmouth, 1929–1931; 
Fleet Wireless Officer, Mediterranean Fleet, 1931–1933. 
1932 – Promoted Commander 
Qualified as interpreter in French and German, 1933; 
In command of H.M.S. Daring, 1934; 
In command of H.M.S. Wishart, 1935; 
Appointed to Naval Air Division at Admiralty, 1936. 
1937 – Promoted Captain 
In command of H.M.S. Kelly and Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, 1939 (mentioned in dispatches twice); 
In command of H.M.S. Illustrious, 1941. 
1941 – Promoted Commodore (First Class) 
Commodore, Combined Operations, 1941–1942; 
Chief of Combined Operations and Member of Chief of Staff's Committee with rank of acting Vice-Admiral, 1942–1943; 
Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia with rank of acting Admiral, 1943–1946.

From 1943, he headed the Allied Southeast Asian Command, where he rendered excellent service, helped by distinguished subordinates, notably William Slim.

As Supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia (SEAC), he officially accepted the Japanese surrender on 12 September 1945 in City Hall Chambers, receiving Field Marshall Count Hisaichi Terauchi's sword from General Seishiro Itagaki who signed the Instrument of Surrender. Mountbatten had come with an advance unit of liberation forces. 
1946 – Promoted Rear-Admiral 
Flag Officer commanding First Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet, 1948–1949.

After the war, he served as the last Viceroy of India, overseeing the British withdrawal and the partition of India. He also ended British rule in India a year before the proposed date of June 1948. 
1949 – Promoted Vice-Admiral 
Fourth Sea Lord, 1950–1952; 
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1952–1954. 
1953 – Promoted Admiral 
Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, Mediterranean, 1953–1954; 
First Sea Lord, 1955–1959. 
1956 – Promoted Admiral of the Fleet 
Chief of the Defence Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, 1959–1965. 
1965 – Retired

Died on 27th August 1979 in Donegal Bay, Ireland, killed by a bomb planted on his boat by the IRA

Lord Louis Mountbatten of the Royal Navy addresses Enterprise CV-6's men and officers before viewing a movie on the ship's hangar deck, 25 September 1941.

(Click for a larger view)

Original source: James C. Barnhill

I am sitting on the hanger deck immediately behind and under the left elbow of Lord Louis Mountbatten. I was a Seaman Second Class in the First Deck Division at the time. 
Robert J. Colson - Texas U.S.A. 
(Picture kindly supplied by Robert J. Colson)

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