Dudley Pound - Interwar Career

Interwar Career

Pound was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1919 Birthday Honours and given command of the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in October 1920 before becoming director of the planning division at the Admiralty in June 1923. He became a Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 1 January 1925. Following Roger Keyes' appointment as commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1925, Pound became his chief of staff. Pound was promoted to rear admiral on 1 March 1926 and became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in April 1926. He went on to be Commander of the Battle Cruiser Squadron in May 1929 and, having been promoted to vice-admiral on 15 May 1930, he became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in August 1932. Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1933 Birthday Honours and promoted to full admiral on 16 January 1935, he became Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet and then, from March 1936, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order on 20 May 1937 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1939 New Year Honours.