The new Governor Sir Adrian Johns arrives in Gibraltar on Monday when he will be formally sworn in at the Gibraltar Parliament. Veteran contributor Mike Brufal met Sir Adrian and wrote this profile.

By the age of seven Adrian Johns knew that he wanted to join the Royal Navy. The family lived in Cornwall and so every time his parents took him by train to Plymouth they crossed the river Tamar into Devon and he would see an array of Royal Naval frigates, destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. Little did the boy think that his eventual 35-year Royal Naval career would end with his being the Second Sea Lord and subsequently being appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar.

Primary schooling was in the village of Newlyn East after which the family moved to Newquay on the north Cornish coast. After passing the 11+ exam he went to Newquay Grammar School where he was later advised to go to University before joining the Royal Navy. Three years were spent at Imperial College, London University where he read Physics, which included a healthy dose of Mathematics. This training was to stand him in good stead throughout his naval career as life became increasingly technological.

There was to be no gap year and in 1973 he joined the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth two months after he came down from university. As a direct

graduate entrant one term was spent at the College, another with the Dartmouth Training Squadron in HMS Fearless, and a final half term back at Dartmouth. After about five months at the College he passed out at the beginning of 1974.

His first assignment was to undergo Fleet training and because during the mid seventies there was a dearth of submariners he was sent initially to submarines in the expectation that he might stay in the specialisation. Nine months were spent in submarines, which he thoroughly enjoyed and found to be an incredible experience, but his ambition was to fly and so he opted out of submarines and completed his Fleet training in a frigate before a year’s posting as the navigator of a mine sweeper based in Scotland. After obtaining all the required bridge watchkeeping, navigation and seamanship certificates then came the moment for deciding in which arm to specialise. Newly commissioned officers were required to specialise in surface warfare, submarine, or aviation and Sir Adrian made a bee-line towards his chosen specialisation of flying. The necessary aptitude tests were passed and he joined the Fleet Air Arm to train as a helicopter pilot. Promotion to Lieutenant came in 1975.

In the meantime, however, he had met his future wife, Suzie, in Portsmouth where she was based as a WRNS officer. They discovered that their homes were only a few miles apart in Cornwall: he offered her a lift one weekend, she accepted, the romance started and they were married in the little Cornish village of St Agnes in 1976.

It was a happy coincidence that most of Sir Adrian’s early flying career was spent at the Royal Naval Air Station at Culdrose in Cornwall, the couple’s home county. He was trained to fly Sea King helicopters and spent a tour with 824 Naval Air Squadron embarked in the veteran carrier HMS Ark Royal. At this time the fixed wing side of the Fleet Air Arm was shrinking and helicopter aviation was becoming predominant but his time in HMS Ark Royal gave him an invaluable understanding of how a large, fixed wing carrier operated, which was to be of great benefit during his later career. He returned ashore in 1979, qualifying as a flying instructor and teaching trainee pilots to fly the Sea King helicopter, again based at Culdrose.

Luck then reared its head and his flying career was interrupted by an 18-month tour in Hong Kong in command of the patrol boat, HMS Yarnton. This was a very exciting appointment for a young aviator and excellent experience for one who had signed up for a long career, which would inevitably mean returning to mainstream sea jobs at some stage in the future. It was also exciting for Suzie and the couple’s two young children, who moved to Hong Kong with him. Their third child, a second daughter, was born in Hong Kong in 1981.

Upon his return to the UK he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and enjoyed another flying appointment, converting to fly the Lynx helicopter and becoming the Flight Commander of the frigate HMS Brilliant, which was then commanded by Captain Geoffrey Biggs who was later to become Flag Officer Gibraltar. HMS Brilliant was at that time the Flagship for the NATO squadron and Sir Adrian’s duties saw plenty of interesting flying in the North Atlantic, Adriatic, Caribbean, and South America.

Now came decision time, because if he continued to fly his future might be constrained by his chosen specialisation whereas a return to the surface flotilla in what was termed a broadening job at sea might possibly open more doors. He opted to return to sea and was appointed second in command of the Leander class frigate, HMS Arethusa. He remembers this job as very demanding but equally rewarding and the nature of his duties meant that he knew the name of every one of the 270 crew onboard, as well as details of their families, their favourite football teams and so on. He was promoted Commander in 1988 and appointed to command first HMS Juno and then HMS Ariadne, both Leander class frigates. He observes wryly that in the 1980s there were 26 frigates of the Leander class alone whereas today the Royal Navy has fewer frigates and destroyers than that in total.

The highlight of Sir Adrian’s time as Captain of HMS Ariadne was a six and a half month circumnavigation of the globe – starting where else but Gibraltar, then the Mediterranean, Suez canal, Middle East, Far East, across the Pacific, Canada, United States of America, Panama canal, Caribbean and then home. This was an experience never to be forgotten.

Upon his return he was appointed Training Commander of HMS Raleigh, a shore training establishment at which every single male or female recruit had to attend; all the instructors were experienced Petty Officers with some 5000 recruits passing through each year.

Then followed his first appointment in the Ministry of Defence, which was quite a shock for someone who up to this point in his career had enjoyed active, hands-on operational jobs. As a Commander he worked in the Directorate of Navy Plans working directly for the then Captain Jonathon Band, later Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the recently retired First Sea Lord. The brief in Navy Plans was to determine the shape and size of the Royal Navy and to ensure that there were sufficient resources to match the master plan. He quickly came to enjoy this very different way of life and learned much about working alongside civil servants, a relationship that was to become increasingly close as the Ministry of Defence moved towards full integration, with military officers and civil servants working side by side in the same offices, and sometimes even at the same desks.

At this point he was living in Plymouth and commuting home from London at weekends. This was quite tough on family life and his wife felt that weekend commuting was worse in some ways than being fully separated for months on end; at least with the latter she could settle into her own routines. So Suzie decided that from his next appointment the family would join him and so they moved to London. Sir Adrian said: “Suzie has always been absolutely marvellous in all areas from bringing up the children, managing the family affairs as well as the home – she’s done it all without me. Whilst I was at sea she twice moved house and on the second occasion actually bought the house while I was away. The first I knew of it was when details were received through the post; when I got home I had to show the taxi driver the change of address card because I didn’t know where we were living!”

He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1994 and moved to work in the Directorate of Naval Operations as Assistant Director with responsibility for aviation and air operations. This was followed by his fourth command at sea, HMS Campbeltown, a Type 22 frigate, which was affiliated to the small Scottish town of Campbeltown. Whilst other ships might have had grand affiliations with their namesake major cities, HMS Campbeltown’s affiliation ensured a steady supply of fine Springbank single malt whisky from the town’s distillery. HMS Campbeltown also became the NATO Flagship in the Atlantic but ironically found herself deployed at various times to the Mediterranean and South America.

For one year Sir Adrian was in charge of the Royal Navy Presentation Team which consisted of himself, a young Lieutenant, a marine and a sailor. This team was not aimed at recruiting but at informing and influencing opinion formers the length and breadth of the United Kingdom about the purpose and tasks of the Royal Navy. What was intriguing was the further the venue was away from the sea, the bigger the interest and the audience.

His next appointment was back once again to the Directorate of Navy Plans in the Ministry of Defence this time as a Captain and Assistant Director at a very busy time during the Strategic Defence Review of 1997. But after a just a year in post he was invited to join the then General Sir Charles Guthrie (now Lord), the Chief of Defence Staff to become his Principal Staff Officer. This provided a unique insight into the senior workings of Defence, Whitehall, Government, NATO and international partnerships, which were to prove absolutely invaluable. His appointment coincided with a period of intense military operations in Iraq, the Former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, each campaign seeming to merge into the next – a complete contrast to the previous couple of years which was dominated by the policy work of the Strategic Defence Review. He was appointed a CBE in the 2001 New Year’s Honours List.

After attending the tri-service Higher Command and Staff Course he was appointed to his fifth sea command, HMS Ocean in May 2001. The first deployment was through the Mediterranean to take part in a Gulf exercise off Oman. Just as the ship approached Turkey the attack on the twin towers took place and from that moment everything changed. The decision was taken to carry on with the exercise although within a totally different context. It turned out to be an invaluable training ground for the next two deployments. The first in 2002 was to deliver the first Royal Marines direct from sea into Afghanistan and the subsequent operation in 2003 into Iraq – Operation Telic. In 2003 he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service for his work during the Iraq war.

He said “HMS Ocean went through the Suez canal five times in 18 months and on the fifth occasion it was to go to war with Iraq. I felt that I was at the pinnacle of my operational career. I was in command of the navy’s largest ship with 1200 people on board including 700 Royal Marines, 22 helicopters, vehicles, guns and other equipment. I knew what I was doing and perhaps more importantly my ship’s company knew what they were doing. It was enormously professionally satisfying and if I had been asked to retire after that job I would have done so a happy man”

The end of the Iraq campaign marked his 2 years in the ship and it was time to make arrangements for his relief to join. Sir Adrian elected to hand the ship over to his relief in Kuwait rather than sail home in her himself. This puzzled the crew as they all wished to sail home together and wanted him to take the ship back into home port. But he knew that as soon as the ship was alongside in Plymouth, the crew would vanish to well-deserved leave and the new Captain would be left with a virtually empty ship. Sir Adrian thought it would be best for his successor to drive the ship back.

When the time came to leave the ship he went through to the vehicle deck, got into the back of a Land Rover to say farewell and thank you to the 1000 sailors and marines present. As he walked away there was absolute silence which was the greatest honour that could have been given him. It was so emotional it was almost unbearable. Had they clapped and cheered it would have lessened the tension but as it was he just could not look back as he walked off the ship in case emotion got the better of him. .

But retirement was not yet on the cards for Sir Adrian. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 2003 he returned to the Ministry of Defence for over two years as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, an appointment that carried with it membership of the Admiralty Board and the duties of London deputy to the then First Sea Lord, Sir Alan West (now Lord). It was a tough job as the team were fighting the Royal Navy’s case in some difficult circumstances.

In 2005 he was promoted Vice-Admiral and given his final appointment as Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command. HMS Victory was his flag ship and Nelson’s Great Cabin was his flag cabin – a humbling and inspiring experience. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.

During his last two Flag appointments in the Royal Navy, Sir Adrian also held the appointment of Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm, the titular head of the naval aviation fighting arm. He felt it a particular honour to represent the Fleet Air Arm in this way especially as 2009 is the centenary year of naval aviation. Sir Adrian initiated the Fly Navy100 project some 3 years ago and formed a close relationship with Henry Allingham who died earlier this year aged 113. Sir Adrian delivered a eulogy at the funeral as Henry was the last surviving member of the old Royal Naval Air Service which he had joined in 1915.

As well as supporting naval service charities and veterans’ associations, Sir Adrian is also a Patron of the National Leadership Council of the National Health Service, a new body within the NHS that seeks to identify and nurture leadership talent in the NHS.

Sir Adrian Johns retired in 2008 and a few months later was appointed Governor designate of Gibraltar. His wife has never visited the Rock but as her father worked for most of his life in India she does remember as a small child seeing the mighty form of the Rock as the liner passed through the Straits of Gibraltar whilst sailing out to see her parents. Lady Johns intends to be an active supporter in Gibraltar. The couple have four children, a son and three daughters: Jamie (32) is married and an accountant with Deloittes in London; Melloney (30) is a doctor; Clare (28) is a teacher; and the youngest, Jo (26), is an HR executive with British Airways. None will be living in the Convent but all will no doubt be regular visitors.

Sir Adrian has made many visits to Gibraltar and, as for so many other sailors, the Rock was his first overseas run ashore. Gibraltar has a special place in his heart and indeed in the hearts of all Royal Navy people.

Sir Adrian ended the interview with this message:

“I feel highly privileged to have been appointed Governor of Gibraltar. My wife and I and the whole family are absolutely thrilled. I am very aware of the responsibility that I have taken on and my wife and I are going to commit ourselves to Gibraltar during my tour of duty. We look forward so much to being there and to contributing to and enjoying life in Gibraltar.”

 

The Governor-Designate, Sir Adrian Johns KCB CBE, will arrive in Gibraltar on board HMS Lancaster at 10.00am on Monday 26 October 2009.

He will be welcomed to Gibraltar by the Acting Governor, Lesley Pallett, and the Chief Minister, Peter Caruana. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment will also fire a 17 gun salute during the short welcome ceremony at the Tower.

Following the ceremony the Commander British Forces, Commodore Adrian Bell RN, will introduce the Governor-Designate to senior officers from British Forces, Gibraltar. The Governor-Designate will then depart for the Parliament, where he will join other VIP invitees for the Swearing-In Ceremony.