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Rear Admiral Otto Humphrey Becher & Bar (13 September 1908 – 15 June 1977) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Born in Harvey, Western Australia, Becher entered the Royal Australian Naval College in 1922. After graduating in 1926, he was posted to a series of staff and training positions prior to specialising in gunnery. A lieutenant commander at the outbreak of the Second World War, Becher assisted in the extraction of Allied troops from the Namsos region of Norway while aboard the heavy cruiser HMS ''Devonshire'', and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross. Following service in the Mediterranean theatre, he returned to Australia in 1942 as officer-in-charge of the gunnery school at HMAS ''Cerberus''. He spent two years at ''Cerberus'' before being given command of the Q class destroyer HMAS ''Quickmatch'' in March 1944. While commanding the ''Quickmatch'' in operations against Japanese forces in the Pacific, Becher earned a Bar to his Distinguished Service Cross. At the war's end Becher was posted to the Navy Office and later to the aircraft carrier HMAS ''Sydney''; in 1951 he was given command of the destroyer HMAS ''Warramunga''. ''Warramunga'' formed part of Australia's contribution to the United Nations forces engaged in the Korean War; Becher was promoted to captain and awarded the Distinguished Service Order while carrying out operations in Korean waters. On returning to Australia, he filled several staff positions and commanded the aircraft carriers HMAS ''Melbourne'' and HMAS ''Vengeance''. Promoted to rear admiral in 1959, he served as Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet from 1964 to 1965, before taking up the post of Flag Officer-in-Charge East Australia Area. Becher retired from the RAN in 1966, and died in 1977 at the age of 68. ==Early life and career== Otto Becher was born in Harvey, Western Australia, on 13 September 1908, to Francis Joseph Becher, an orchardist, and Antonia Amalie (née Vetter). On 1 January 1922, at the age of thirteen, he enrolled in the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay, where he performed well both academically and at sport, receiving colours for hockey and tennis. Graduating in 1926, he served as a midshipman aboard HMAS ''Adelaide'' and later HMAS ''Brisbane'', before being posted to the United Kingdom in September of that year for further sea-training and professional development with the Royal Navy.〔 Becher was promoted to acting sub-lieutenant in September 1928; the rank was made substantive the following March. He returned to Australia in January 1930 and was raised to lieutenant, gaining further seafaring experience over the next two years on HMAS ''Australia'' and HMAS ''Canberra''. Deciding to specialise in gunnery, he attended an advanced course at the Royal Navy's gunnery school at HMS ''Excellent'' in England from 1932 until 1934. Returning to Australia after completing the course, on 7 January 1935, Becher married Valerie Chisholm Baird at St Michael's Anglican Church in Vaucluse, New South Wales; the couple would have three sons.〔〔 From May 1934 to June 1935, Becher was posted to the gunnery school at the shore establishment HMAS ''Cerberus'' in Victoria. He later completed two years aboard HMAS ''Canberra'' as her intelligence officer, and in 1937 was transferred to HMAS ''Stuart'' for flotilla duties. Promoted to lieutenant commander on 16 June 1938, Becher briefly returned to ''Cerberus'' before embarking for the United Kingdom on exchange with the Royal Navy in January 1939.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Otto Becher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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