Augustus Agar - Early Life

Early Life

Augustus Agar was born in Kandy, Ceylon, on 4 January 1890. He was the thirteenth child of John Shelton Agar, an Irishman from County Kerry, who had left his native land in 1860 to become a successful tea planter in Ceylon, taking a pack of foxhounds with him. Agar was brought up in comfortable circumstances in a fine house with servants. Agar's mother, who was Austrian, died shortly after his birth and at the age of eight he was sent with one of his brothers to school in England. All his brothers were educated in English public schools, and all his sisters were educated in Austrian or German schools. His father died in 1902 of cholera which he had caught during a visit to China.

Augustus ("Gus") Agar attended Framlingham College in Suffolk, England. He was now without parents or a fixed home and his oldest brother, Shelton, determined that he should go into the Navy. Gus, who idolized his older brother, willingly agreed. To prepare, he attended Eastman’s Royal Naval Academy in Southsea.

A friend of the family, Sir Henry Jackson, later an admiral and First Sea Lord, nominated Agar for a spot in the annual intake of naval cadets. After time spent with a "crammer", he passed the entrance exams and in 1904 joined the naval cadet school, HMS Britannia, at Dartmouth, England. The Britannia was a wooden man of war, obsolete when launched in 1860, and soon tied up and used as a stationary training ship.

As a part of his training, Agar went to sea in the 5,650 ton second class cruiser, HMS Highflyer, and afterwards on the slightly older HMS Isis. These ships were stationed at Bermuda and many classes were held ashore when the ships were in port. Agar had many pleasant memories of sports, swimming, boating and picnics during this period.

Agar served at sea in a number of ships in the prewar period, including the battleships HMS Prince of Wales attached to the Mediterranean Fleet, and HMS Queen, commanded by Captain (later Admiral) David Beatty. He greatly admired Beatty's dash and style.

Agar's early training gave him a thorough grounding in basic naval matters, especially in handling small boats. This was to prove a great asset later in his career. In 1910 Agar passed his seamanship examination with flying colours and was made an acting sub-Lieutenant. During 1911, he served aboard a destroyer, HMS Ruby. He spent the next period on course at Portsmouth and studying at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, England. He was promoted Lieutenant on 30 June 1912.

After his courses were complete, Agar was assigned to small ships, his first being Torpedo Boat No. 23. In April 1913 he was sent to learn to fly. It was not entirely his metier, though he obtained his licence after enduring three crashes in the very primitive aircraft of the time. He joined the pre-dreadnought battleship, HMS Hibernia, in September 1913, attached to the Home Fleet.

During this period, Agar became a gunnery expert.