John Templeton-Cottil

John A. Mizzi writes:

Admiral John Templeton-Cottil has died at Avignon in France only a few days short of his 91st birthday. He was born on June 4, 1920.

He was Flag Officer Malta between 1972-73 at the height of the negotiations and operations for the final withdrawal of the British forces from the island. His personal charm, calm reaction to the impulsive Prime Minister, Dom Mintoff, and his love for Malta contributed in great measure to the smoothness with which the historic change was carried out from the start, so that when he retired from the navy after 33 years he was made a Commander of the Order of the Bath and was even asked by Mr Mintoff to run Malta Drydocks.

He declined the offer as he had already planned to settle in France where he opened the first office in Paris of the British art auction house of Sotheby’s.

Adm. Templeton-Cotill was called up and joined the Royal Navy in June 1940. He first went to sea in corvettes in the Battle of the Atlantic but was soon called, because of his knowledge of French, to liaison with the Free French Forces in the Far East.

When he arrived shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour he found the senior French admiral refusing to cooperate with the Americans and, with the consent of the American general, he transferred to the 112th US Cavalry and spent six months on horseback watching for any Japanese landings from submarines.

He came to know Malta when, in 1943, he was appointed flag lieutenant to the then Flag Officer Malta, Admiral Sir Louis Hamilton.

He asked for operational service and was appointed to a motor torpedo boat base at Leghorn.

Various postings after the war included service in Australia when he was also aide-de-camp to the Duke of Gloucester during his term as Governor-General of Australia, between 1946-46.

He returned to service afloat serving in warships in the China Sea and in the Mediterranean. Between 1959 and 1961 he was the executive officer of the new cruiser HMS Tiger, at that time flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet based at Malta.

This appointment was followed by two years as naval attachè in Moscow.

He was back at sea in 1968 in command of the helicopter carrier HMS Bulwark and was appointed rear-admiral in 1970 shortly before Bulwark was in the news when she was sent post-haste to Malta to act as headquarters for Operation Exit after Mr Mintoff became Prime Minister.

At one stage, following a series of arguments with the British government, he abruptly decided to order the British servicemen off the island until calmer views prevailed and the withdrawal was fixed for March 1979.