William Landymore

Rear-Admiral William Moss Landymore, OBE, CD (31 July 1916 – 27 November 2008) was a Canadian naval officer. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Landymore joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1936, but spent much of early career training with the Royal Navy. During World War II, Landymore returned to the Royal Canadian Navy and served aboard destroyers in the Battle of the Atlantic, surviving two sinkings. By the end of the war Landymore had taken a series of positions in Ottawa before returning to destroyer command during the Korean War. He was promoted through the ranks eventually becoming the first Commander of Maritime Command. :andymore became embroiled in a public feud with the Minister of National Defence following the Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces and resigned as a result. He died at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early career Landymore joined the Royal Canadian Navy on 28 August 1936 where he commenced studies at the Royal Military College of Canada as cadet #2399. As a cadet, Landymore served aboard the Royal Navy training cruiser before being sent to the light cruiser . During his time with the Royal Navy he was also appointed to , and . He was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy as a midshipman on 1 May 1937 and promoted to acting sub-lieutenant on 1 March 1939. Second World War Landymore was posted to the C-class destroyer in 1940 and survived her sinking after she collided with the cruiser in the Gironde estuary. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 November 1940 and served aboard the River-class destroyer and survived her sinking. Landymore served on convoy escort missions in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans, in the Second World War. In 1942, he specialized in gunnery, taking the RN Long Gunnery course at . In 1943, Landymore was posted to . He was promoted to acting lieutenant commander on 5 June 1944. He transferred Naval Service Headquarters (NSHQ) in Ottawa in 1944, as Director of Warfare and Training. Later in 1944, he returned to sea in the cruiser . In 1945, he returned to NSHQ as Staff Gunnery Officer. Cold War Landymore was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-commander on 1 May 1947 and served as gunnery officer aboard HMCS Uganda, where he earned a Mention in Despatches (MID). He was then stationed as staff gunnery officer at Naval Service Headquarters in Ottawa. He was promoted to commander on 1 July 1949 and given command of the destroyer , where he was awarded a second mention-in-despatches.