Lancaster joined the navy as a special entry paymaster cadet. He spent large stretches of his early career in the Far East, and had one of his arms dragon tattooed. Lancaster was promoted to the rank of
commander in 1940, and in 1941 took up the post of drafting commander of
HMS Victory in
Portsmouth, where he was responsible for sending supply officers to other posts; he had previously served aboard the cruiser
HMS Gloucester, which was shortly afterwards lost in the
Battle of Crete along with many of its crew. He went on to serve in the
Persian Gulf before the end of the
Second World War. In 1946, he was supply officer aboard
HMS Ocean which assisted in rescuing survivors of the
Corfu Channel incident. Lancaster was promoted to
captain in 1951, and
rear-admiral five years later, coinciding with this appointment as rear-admiral personnel, Home Air Command; he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed director-general of manpower and chief naval supply and secretariat officer in 1959, serving in both posts until 1962, when he retired. Appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1958, Lancaster was also appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1961. He died on 7 January 1992; his wife, Edith Laurie
née Jacobs, had died in 1980, but he was survived by their two daughters. == References ==