Gate but no house dedicated to Falklands War strategist
If you head towards the old Royal Naval College at Greenwich from the entrance by the Thames Clipper at Greenwich Pier, you will pass between an imposing pair of wrought iron gates.
If you stop to read the adjacent inscription, you will discover they are the Lewin Gates, dedicated to the memory of Admiral Lord Lewin.
Admiral Lord Lewin of Greenwich was First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff during the Falklands War.
As such, he was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s chief war advisor.
When he died in January 1999, he had a string of decorations and titles to his name. He was additionally chairman of the trustees of the National Maritime Museum, president of the Society for Nautical Research, a Liveryman of the Skinners’ Company and of the Shipwrights’ Company and an Elder Brother of Trinity House, president of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society, president of the George Cross Island Association, and patron of the Russian Convoy Club. But before he became Baron Lewin, KG, GCB, LVO, DSC, he had been plain Terence (Terry) Lewin and a pupil at The Judd School in Tonbridge.
Terry was born in Mason Dieu Road in Dover in 1920, one of two sons to Eric and Maggie (née Falconer) Lewin, but his father soon moved the family to Tonbridge where they lived at 3 Quarry Gardens.
Eric Lewin had served in the Kent Yeomanry during the First World War, as had the then head teacher at The Judd, and had won the Military Cross. Eric, now working as a civil servant, used their wartime comradeship to get both his sons into the school. Terry soon demonstrated exceptional ability on the track and field events, and at rugby, and rose to become first head prefect and then head boy. When he left school in 1938, he secured a place with the Public School Exploring Society Expedition to Newfoundland, which was run by former Royal Navy Petty Officers and with many cadets from the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in the party. It was his association with them that first sparked young Terry’s interest in a naval career. Especially with war looming, he abandoned his original plans to join the police force and instead joined the Navy under the Special Entry Programme - a fast track to a commission. Within 11 months he was appointed from cadet to midshipman and joined HMS Belfast days before the Second World War broke out - the light cruiser is now a floating museum on the River Thames in London.
Lewin had a “lucky” war career - which means he saw plenty of action without being injured. His first mission involved his leading a boarding party in a cutter to capture the German blockade runner Cap Norte.
He served on several ships, notably HMS Ashanti, which was in the thick of many battles. During his time as a midshipman, Lewin, was required to keep a daily journal, which can now be seen in the Greenwich Maritime Museum.
It is a list of course changes, duty watches and action reports, rather than a sentimental account of a young man away from home, but as a history of the war it makes interesting reading. After 12 months, Lewin was senior midshipman, when a new midshipman joined the crew - Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. The two became firms friends, and later, Lewin was to captain the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Lewin’s war service included a spell on Arctic convoys to Murmansk. This was considered one of the most hazardous operations of the whole war, not just because of enemy action, but also because of the extreme weather. Promoted to Lieutenant, Lewin took part in the relief of Malta and the Allied landings in North Africa, and finally the landings at Normandy.
He was mentioned in despatches three times and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1942 for saving the lives of many fellow servicemen when the destroyer HMS Somali was hit by a torpedo. Lewin went down on a scrambling net to reach survivors in the water, putting himself in great danger of being washed away.
He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1949. He held several staff posts but also commanded the destroyer HMS Corunna, HM Yacht Britannia, the frigates HMS Urchin and HMS Tenby and the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes.
He was promoted to rear admiral in 1968, then Admiral of the Fleet in 1979, and finally Chief of the Defence Staff in September of that year.
When Argentina invaded the Falklands, he told Mrs Thatcher’s war cabinet: “We must be prepared to take losses. But we are not going to lose. The only thing which will make us lose is if you lose your nerve.”
Lewin married Jane Branch-Evans, a WREN officer whom he met at a Captain’s party aboard the Ashanti, in 1944. They had two sons and a daughter.
Lewin was at school at The Judd with Neville Duke. Indeed the two were best friends. Duke went on to become a fighter ace and later a renowned test pilot. Between 2008 and 2017 the school operated a four-house system, with each named after famous alumni. Both Duke and Lewin had one named after them. Sadly, with a recent expansion, the school decided it needed six houses and they were renamed after former headmasters, spurning the memory of the man credited with master-minding our victory in the Falklands.