Vice-admiral Sir James Jungius
Naval officer who took part in an audacious raid on the Adriatic coast that won a valuable harbour
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JAMES JUNGIUS, who has died aged 96, took part in a daring raid behind enemy lines in 1943 and later became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. Shortly before midnight on October 2 1943, east of Termoli on Italy’s Adriatic coast, the 20-year-old Jungius was in command of one of several Landing Craft (Assault), or LCAS, of the 59th Flotilla, under tow of a larger Landing Craft (Infantry), or LCI, when the towing ship grounded on an uncharted sandbank. Just then, a squall with strong winds and driving rain blotted out visibility.
Casting off the LCAS so as not to foul the towing hawsers, the LCI ran on blind towards the intended release point, the night so dark that no land could be seen and the accompanying LCAS only dimly glimpsed. At the release point Jungius and six other LCAS each embarked 30 men of 3 Commando, before running in the last 1¾ miles to the beaches. Jungius’s LCA hit the beach at 0214, one minute before H-hour, and his passengers stepped ashore dry-shod.
Operation Devon, the code word given to the amphibious landing by British commandos at Termoli, 30 miles behind the German lines, was an outstanding success. The German defences were pointed land- and southwards, and the commandos reached the centre of the town before the Germans were alerted, capturing their commander in his pyjamas.
German vehicles and motorcyclists were still driving unknowingly into commando ambushes at midday. Over the next two days, while the 16th Panzer Division launched vicious counter-attacks, the LCAS ferried reinforcements and stores ashore and took off prisoners of war. Despite repeated shelling and air attacks, the LCAS’ shallow draft saved them from all but direct hits by bombs.
By the time the advancing British Eighth Army arrived on October 6, the commandos had won a valuable harbour in what the Commanderin-chief, Mediterranean called an outstanding operation: it turned the hinge-pin of the enemy line, was boldly conceived and executed, and was an excellent example of the effective deployment of sea forces.
The report of proceedings referred to the splendid work of the highest order, and the cheerfulness and devotion to duty of the LCA crews; Jungius was Mentioned in Despatches.
James George Jungius was born at Barnes in London on November 15 1923. He was educated at Dulwich Prep and learned to love the sea on holidays at Polperro and from reading The Wonder Book of the Navy.
He entered the Navy in 1937 and benefited from the Admiralty’s belief in its own immortality: despite the outbreak of war, training for young career officers continued at a leisurely pace, and Jungius was given appointments at sea as a midshipman in the battleship Rodney, the cruiser London, and the destroyer Arrow.
He saw action on Arctic convoys, spent Christmas under air attack in Malta, and hunted German surface raiders and blockade-runners in the Atlantic.
On June 21 1941 Jungius was about to be ducked by King Neptune’s bears in the traditional crossing-theline ceremony on the Equator when London came upon the German supply ship Babitonga, who was scuttled by crew, who were surprised to be picked up by men in fancy dress – grass skirts and painted faces.
Jungius returned to Britain for his sub-lieutenant’s course before being appointed to the 59th Flotilla LCA, and he completed his war in the destroyer Lauderdale.
In 1945 Jungius became secondin-command of the captured German Elbing-class destroyer T28, with a mixed crew of British officers and German Pows conducting trials in the Solent. He carried out his duties efficiently in the somewhat trying and unusual circumstances, and showed tact in dealing with the German personnel.
Jungius specialised in navigation, and in 1946 became navigator of the brand-new sloop Sparrow on a two-year deployment based on Bermuda. After carnival in Trinidad, a 900-mile passage up the Amazon to Manaus, and the relief of Castries, St Lucia, after a disastrous fire, Sparrow visited Georgetown in British Guiana. There he met the 20-year old Rosemary “Bullet” Matthey, and on the sixth day of the visit he proposed and she accepted.
Over the next few years, Jungius’s reports reflected that he was an outstandingly good navigator and a first-class ship handler. An unusual name and a court-martial are regarded as ways of getting ahead in the Navy, and Jungius was duly court-martialled in 1953 for smuggling cigarettes: the conviction was quashed (intent had not been proved), and, after commanding the anti-submarine frigate Wizard during the Suez Crisis, he was promoted early to captain in 1963.
After two years in command of the frigate Lynx, the last ship on the historic South Atlantic and South America station, Jungius was appointed assistant naval attaché in Washington, where he showed himself to be an outstanding officer who, with his wife, made a memorable contribution to the special relationship between the US Navy and the Royal Navy.
Having commanded an LCA 30 years before, there was satisfaction that in 1971 he was appointed to the commando-carrier Albion, which carried her own landing craft and commando helicopters. Jungius was remembered as a born leader of a happy ship whose people liked and respected him, while Albion embarked a succession of air squadrons and commando units for exercises from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and the Far East.
From 1972 to 1974 as a rearadmiral, Jungius was Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Operational Requirements), and on promotion to vice-admiral he was appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (1975-77) based in Norfolk, Virginia. Jungius struck up a good working relationship with his American boss, Admiral Isaac C Kidd Jr, believing strongly that the special relationship was important to both countries.
Jungius was knighted in 1977 and served as the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic’s Representative in Europe from 1978 to 1980.
In retirement, he bought a smallholding in Cornwall where he raised beef for several years, and was deputy lieutenant of Cornwall.
Jungius was dry, but was known for the wonderful smile which lit up his face, even after he had delivered a well-deserved reprimand to a junior officer. He was genuinely interested in others, regardless of their station in life, whether stoker or dignitary, grandchild or farming friend. Everyone enjoyed his company, and he wore his success in life lightly.
He married Rosemary Matthey in 1949; she died in 2005. He is survived by two sons; another son predeceased him.
Vice-admiral Sir James Jungius, born November 15 1923, died October 14 2020