Profile Page
Once a month we will put a new profile of a different person relavant to the Sea Cadets or the Royal Navy.
This months profile is...... HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Military service
After leaving Gordonstoun in 1939, Prince Philip joined the Royal Navy, graduating in 1940 from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as the best cadet in his course.
Commissioned as a Midshipman, Prince Philip spent six months on the battleship HMS Ramillies then serving in the Indian Ocean. In January 1941 he was posted to the Mediterranean fleet aboard the battleship HMS Valiant where, amongst other engagements, he was involved in the Battle of Crete. He was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the Battle of Cape Matapan and was also awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour. Midshipman Mountbatten encountered a range of duties; for example, he is remembered for having helped stoke the boilers of the troop transport HMS Empress of Russia in 1941.
Promoted Sub-Lieutenant, and after a series of courses, Prince Philip was appointed to the V&W class destroyer, flotilla leader HMS Wallace, where he was subsequently involved in convoy escort tasks. Promotion to Lieutenant followed on 16 July 1942 and in October 1942, he became the ship's First Lieutenant (at 21 years of age, he was one of the youngest to be appointed a First Lieutenant). Whilst with HMS Wallace, he took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily.
Prince Philip was later appointed as the First Lieutenant of the new destroyer HMS Whelp where he saw service with the British Pacific Fleet in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla, including being present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrender was signed. He eventually returned to Britain with the ship in January 1946. In the post-war years, Prince Philip served as an instructor at the Petty Officers' School and attended Naval Staff College, Greenwich.
Prince Philip has for many years been Colonel-in-Chief of the oldest Canadian Infantry Regiment, the Royal Canadian Regiment. This regiment continues to be the only Regiment in the Commonwealth to be authorized to wear a dead Monarch's insignia, that being Queen Victoria's insignia.
HRH Prince Phillip is also an honorary Field Marshal in Australia. HRH was promoted to the rank of field marshal in the Australian Army on 1 April 1954 - over a year after he attained that rank in the British Army on 15 January 1953. However, as consort of Queen Elizabeth II, the duke's rank is purely ceremonial. He has no command or control role in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and is not part of the ADF's operational structure. He has never paraded as a field marshal with any units or elements of the ADF.
Prince Phillip succeeded Sir Winston Churchill as Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in 1965 and remained so until the regiment amalgamated with the Queen's Own Hussars in 1993 to form the Queen's Royal Hussars. Upon the death of the Queen Mother in 2002 he became Colonel in Chief of the Queen's Royal Hussars.
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD
The organisation most closely identified with Prince Philip is The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
Launched in 1956, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme is aimed at young people between 15 and 25, able-bodied or disabled.
The three Award levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) include four sections: service, expeditions, skills and physical recreation.
The aim is to develop young people's self-confidence and self-reliance; give them a sense of achievement and a sense of responsibility; and help them discover new skills, interests and talents.
This challenging programme demonstrates Prince Philip's keen interest in the personal development of young people.Since 1956, around six million young people from over 100 countries, from Australia to Trinidad & Tobago, have taken part.
Well-known Award winners have included athelete Dame Kelly Holmes, explorer David Hempleman-Adams, singer Katherine Jenkins and footballer Kevin Keegan.
In 2006 the scheme celebrated its 50th anniversary with a garden party at Buckingham Palace and various other celebratory events.Prince Philip has served as the scheme's Patron since its beginning.
He devotes much time to presenting Gold Awards in person and meeting participants and helpers, in the UK and overseas.
His youngest son, The Earl of Wessex, is himself a Gold Award winner. He now also plays a part in the Award as a Trustee, travelling around the world to encourage participants and organisers, and helping to ensure the award's future development
