Alan McNicoll

Vice Admiral Sir Alan Wedel Ramsay McNicoll, KBE, CB, GM was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy and a diplomat. Born in Melbourne, he entered the Royal Australian Naval College at the age of thirteen and graduated in 1926. Following training and staff appointments in Australia and the United Kingdom, he was attached to the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War. As torpedo officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla in the Mediterranean theatre, McNicoll was decorated with the George Medal in 1941 for disarming enemy ordnance. He served aboard HMS160King George V from 1942, sailing in support of several Arctic convoys and taking part in the Allied invasion of Sicily. McNicoll was posted for staff duties with the Admiralty from September 1943 and was involved in the planning of the Normandy landings. He returned to Australia in October 1944.

Alan McNicoll was born in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, Victoria, onApril 1908. He was the second of four sons of Walter McNicoll, a school teacher and Militia officer, and Hildur . The young McNicoll was of noble Norwegian descent through his mother. He was initially educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, before the family moved to Goulburn, from where he was sent to attend The Scots College in Sydney. OnJanuary 1922, at the age of thirteen, McNicoll entered the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay. Described as urbane and studious, he performed well both academically and in sport, ultimately placing first in seamanship, history and English. On graduation in 1926, McNicoll was posted to Britain for service and further training with the Royal Navy.

Source: Wikipedia