Walter Couchman

Admiral Sir Walter Thomas Couchman, (19 March 1905 – 2 May 1981) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff from February to November 1960, when he retired from service. Early life The son of Malcolm Edward Couchman, a civil servant in British India, and Emily Elizabeth Ranking, Walter Couchman was born in Madras in 1905. Educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Couchman joined the Royal Navy and specialized in naval aviation. Naval career Couchman attended staff college at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1928 and qualified as a naval pilot in 1935. He served in the Second World War as Commander in the Air Materials Division and then as Commanding Officer of the destroyer . In 1941 he was appointed Staff Officer (Plans) for the Mediterranean Fleet. Later in the War he became Naval Assistant (Underwater Weapons) and then Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer Air (Home).