Oliver Backhouse
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Oliver Backhouse was born on 4th June 1876, the third son of Sir Jonathan Edmund Backhouse, a director of Backhouse’s Bank who was created a baronet in 1901, and his wife Florence (née Salusbury-Trelawny). His siblings were Edmund Trelawny (1873), Roland Charles (1874–77), Roger (c.1875), Miles Roland Charles (1878), and Harriet Jane (1880). In 1901, for a short period, Oliver held command of HMS Angler, one of a group of seven destroyers serving in the North Sea. He saw active service in the Somaliland Campaign of 1904, during which he was Mentioned in Despatches. The following year he was appointed to the shore gunnery school HMS Excellent as a Lieutenant. In 1908 he was promoted to the rank of Commodore, and in 1914 advanced to Captain. At the outbreak of the Great War, Oliver was appointed to command the armed merchant cruiser HMS Victorian and, less than two weeks later, transferred to another shore establishment, HMS President. On 21st August 1914 he was appointed Commodore commanding the 2nd Naval Brigade of the Royal Naval Division. |
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Oliver commanded the 2nd Naval Brigade during the defence of Antwerp and through the early months of the Gallipoli campaign. On Gallipoli his headquarters, from the landings until the advances in early May, were situated near Achi Baba Nullah. Marked by a sign fashioned from an old biscuit tin bearing the words “Backhouse Post,” it represented the furthest point to which wheeled transport could reach. After the Division was decimated in the June fighting, he fell out with General Paris over the proposed reorganisation and, on 2nd August, was transferred to HMS Europa, the flagship of Rear-Admiral de Robeck at Mudros. On 3rd August he was Mentioned in Despatches, and on 20th August was detailed for special duty with the Naval Artillery Brigade. In October he took command of HMS Orion and, on 5th November, was again Mentioned in Despatches for his service on Gallipoli. On 9th November the King invested him as a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his work with the Royal Naval Division. He was also decorated with the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre. |
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| During the Battle of Jutland, Orion was the lead ship of the 2nd Division of the 2nd Battle Squadron and the fifth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. Oliver reported that the ship fired fifty-one rounds during the action and sustained no damage. He was once more Mentioned in Despatches. After Jutland he commanded HMAS Australia from December 1916 to September 1918, and then HMS Resolution from September 1918 to March 1919. During the course of the war he was also awarded the Silver Medal of Italy. |
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After the Armistice, Oliver was appointed to command the battleship HMS Ramillies on 6th April 1919, followed by HMS Royal Sovereign in June 1919 during the occupation of Constantinople. He relinquished command of Royal Sovereign in September 1920, when he was appointed Naval Member of the Ordnance Committee, a position he held until February 1922. On 15th December 1920 he married Margaret Susan Dyson Perrins; the marriage produced no children. Between 1923 and 1925 Oliver served as Superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard, and on 17th February 1925 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral. From 1927 to 1931 he was Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard, and on 9th October 1929 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral, being placed on the Retired List the following day. |
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| Oliver died on 25th March 1943. | ||||||
