Louis Le Bailly

Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Edward Stewart Holland Le Bailly (18 July 1915 – 3 October 2010) was a Royal Navy officer who became director-general of intelligence and later a writer.

Naval career and retirement Le Bailly was born the son of Robert Francis Le Bailly and Ida Gaskell Le Bailly (née Holland). He attended the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, between 1929 and 1932 and joined as a midshipman. He attended the Royal Naval Engineering College in Keyham between 1933 and 1937, returning to HMS Hood as an engineer lieutenant.

In retirement he was appointed director-general of intelligence at the Ministry of Defence in 1972. He wrote many letters to newspapers such as The Times and The Daily Telegraph, often calling for British withdrawal from the European Union which eventually happened after his death, but also sometimes on more whimsical matters. For his Eurosceptic views he was criticised by Auberon Waugh; after he joined with his fellow villagers in a petition asking for a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, Waugh denounced "terrified and resentful" Eurosceptics "mumbl[ing] their platitudes about British sovereignty".

On his death in 2010 he was survived by his wife, Pamela (née Berthon); Sir Louis died on their 64th wedding anniversary, as they had been married on 2 October 1946 at Holy Trinity Brompton Church, and by their daughters Susanna, Charlotte and Belinda, and the children of his daughters. Lady Le Bailly died in 2019.

Works

Le Bailly was a prolific writer; his writings include four published books; 1990: A Man Around the Engine 1991: From Fisher to the Falklands 1994: Old Loves Return 2007: We Should Look to Our Moat