The death has been announced this week of former Winchester MP, Rear Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles.
He served from May 1964 until 1979 when he was succeeded by John Browne.
The Rear Admiral was mentioned in despatches four times and, in September 1941, awarded the George Medal for "gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty" during bomb and mine disposal work while serving at HMS Nile, the naval base at Ras el-Tin Point, Alexandria. At the end of a war during which he was recruited by Fitzroy MacLean to run arms to Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia, Morgan-Giles was awarded a DSO for "courage, outstanding leadership and devotion to duty" – notably during an attack on the Croatian island of Lussino.
From 1964, on the benches at Westminster, such feats saw him greeted by affectionate Labour cries of "Send a gunboat"; the genial Morgan-Giles duly steamed into action with all guns blazing on behalf of his beloved Service. He condemned the decision to withdraw East of Suez "as a sop to the Left wing"; roundly advocated a British presence beside the Americans in Vietnam; and supported the construction of a fifth Polaris nuclear submarine.
Although he moved away from the area in his later years, the Rear Admiral kept close links with Winchester where several members of his family still live.
Current Winchester MP Steve Brine said on hearing of his death; "I was very sad to hear of the passing of the Rear Admiral who, even today, is a hard act to follow in this job. I still find people who remember him in Winchester and speak fondly of his tenure as the local MP. During my time as candidate we were in contact from time to time and he was among the first to congratulate me when I was elected in 2010. He served his country with distinction before and during his time in Parliament and will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with his family at this time.
"The famous picture of the Rear Admiral climbing onto a thatched roof in Micheldever during the 1970 General Election is without question the best campaign trail photo I have seen. I worked pretty hard in my constituency but I have yet to scale such heights. Something to aim for in the next two years maybe!"
Pictured; Morgan-Giles on the campaign trail in Micheldever in the run-up to the 1970 election. Picture source; The Times online.
More information ...
Read the Rear Admiral's obituary in The Telegraph here and The Times (£) here.