Otto Humphrey Becher, CBE, DSO, DSC & Bar was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. A lieutenant commander at the outbreak of the Second World War, he assisted in the extraction of Allied troops from the Namsos region of Norway. He returned to Australia in 1942 as officer-in-charge of the gunnery school at HMAS Cer Cerberus. In 1951 he was given command of the destroyer HMAS Warramunga. In 1959 he served as Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet from 1964 to 1965. He retired from the RAN in 1966, and died in 1977 at the age of 68.
About Otto Becher in brief
Otto Humphrey Becher, CBE, DSO, DSC & Bar was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. A lieutenant commander at the outbreak of the Second World War, Becher assisted in the extraction of Allied troops from the Namsos region of Norway while aboard the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire. Following service in the Mediterranean theatre, he returned to Australia in 1942 as officer-in-charge of the gunnery school at HMAS Cer Cerberus. In 1951 he was given command of the destroyer HMAS Warramunga. In 1959 he served as Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet from 1964 to 1965, before taking up the post of Flag Officer-In-Charge East Australia Area. Becher retired from the RAN in 1966, and died in 1977 at the age of 68. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service during the Korean War, and a Bar for his actions in operations against Japanese forces in the Pacific. He died in Sydney, Australia, in 1977, and was survived by his wife Valerie Chisholm Baird and their three sons. He is buried at St Vincent’s Anglican Church in Vaucluse, New South Wales, where he was christened on 1 January 1922. His funeral service was held on 7 January 1935, and he was buried on 10 January 1935 at St Vincent’s Church, VauCluse. He had a son and a daughter with his first wife, who died in a car crash in 1969. He also had a daughter and a son with his second wife, both of whom died in infancy.
His last child, a daughter, was born on 2 June 1974, and later died in hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He served in the Australian Air Force until his retirement in 1986. He has been awarded the CBE and the DSO for his services to the Royal Navy in the First World War. His son, Peter, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and served as a Member of the House of Lords. His grandson, Peter Becher-Smith, is an Australian politician and a former member of Parliament. His great-great-grandfather was the former Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawkes, who served from 1936 to 1959. His wife, Valerie, was also a former RAN officer and served with the Australian Navy until her retirement in 1966. She was awarded a Bar to her Distinguished service Cross for her service in World War II. She also served as the Flag Officer in charge of the aircraft carriers HMASMelbourne and HMS V Vengeance. She died in 2007 at age 68, and is survived by her husband and three children. She is buried in a suburb of Sydney, NSW, where she is buried with her husband. Her son Peter is a former Member of Parliament for the NSW City of Sydney and the former Mayor of Sydney. Her daughter, Victoria, was married to the former NSW Deputy Prime Minister, Peter Bevan, and has three sons with him.
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This page is based on the article Otto Becher published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
