World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAlfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound was born on the Isle of Wight to a lawyer. He joined the Royal Navy in 1891 and commanded the battleship HMS Colossus during the Battle of Jutland in WW1, sinking two German cruisers during that battle. After serving in several staff positions, he was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in the late 1920s as Roger Keyes' chief of staff. In 1936, he became the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. On 31 Jul 1939, despite health problems (brain tumor and hip degeneration), he was appointed the First Sea Lord. He suffered from sleep problems due to the health issues. After Winston Churchill became the Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill brought an intense working schedule into the top ranks of the Royal Navy, with meetings lasting until late into the night. The combination caused Pound to doze off during meetings at times. He simply could not, as Churchill put it, "press a day and a half's work into one." At more than one occasion, Churchill

ww2dbaseNevertheless, Pound was a loyal subordinate to Churchill, and had a good working relationship with the future Prime Minister. Some lower rank officers, however, complained of his habit of micromanaging issues that should had been left for others to decide. He resigned from the Royal Navy in Sep 1943 after his health really declined. He passed away a month later.

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