Life at full throttle

LIFE AT FULL THROTTLE: From Wardroom to Boardroom

By Sir John Treacher

Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2004

xii + 260 pages, 36 illustrations, index. Price £19.99

ISBN 1-84415-134-4

This autobiography tells the story of a quite remarkable career and a life relished to the full. Admiral Sir John Treacher joined the Royal Navy at Dartmouth in 1942 where he began a distinguished career culminating in his retirement in 1952 when VCNS and Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet. He had an active wartime career afloat in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, specialised as a naval aviator and flew operationally in the Korean War. His career rose rapidly as he became captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle and soon after Commander in Chief Channel. A mixture of seagoing and Whitehall appointments gave him a very broad base of experience and so it was a matter of some astonishment when he left the Navy aged 52, when all the indications were that he was about to become First Sea Lord. His relish for battles in the corridors of power led him to make a move into business and although this proved to be a satisfying period of his life it is perhaps best remembered for his controversial appointment as the chairman of Playboy’s gambling operations in the UK and for his central role in the Westland Affair, which led to the resignation of Michael Heseltine.

The book is in equal measure fascinating and disappointing. Treacher had something of a reputation as a martinet, but the earlier part of the book is bedevilled by an unbecoming modesty which covers his wartime career in a dozen pages consisting mainly of descriptions of ship movements, although he was present at Salerno and Omaha Beach and sailed on Arctic convoy, while his active service in Korea merits barely a page. The modesty extends to suggesting the reader should acquire the works of other authors. Anecdotes are thin on the ground and tend to the innocuous refusal of gravy boats at dinner. At times the book reads like an extended retirement speech with thanks for excellent service from everyone from cabinet ministers to cooks – although a certain venom is reserved for Dennis Healey. It is also fascinating to see the smallness of the world in which he moved. A cast from old school friends to vividly nicknamed colleagues “Jungle”, “Crash”, “Spiv”, “Block”, “Cat” and others appear, disappear and reappear, while there are solid views of senior figures from Al Haig to Queen Juliana.

He is at his best as the book moves to the 1960’s and he enters Whitehall as Director of Naval Air Warfare where he was to play a full part in procurement and in reviews of defence spending, where he is particularly harsh on joint procurements with the French, but somewhat reticent over the battle for the “through-deck cruiser” which resulted from the Future Fleet Working Party, of which he was a member. This was a seminal period for the modern navy and the description of how and why various platforms were acquired is fascinating.

After retirement he moved into a series of boardroom appointments and had a colourful role from working with NCP and Hugh Heffner to the Westland saga, which is described at length. We have much to thank Treacher for, not least his role in preserving the fledgling FAA Museum at Yeovilton, but his modesty and kindness ultimately prevent this from being a memorable memoir.