Otto Becher

Who was Otto Becher?

Rear Admiral Otto Humphrey Becher CBE, DSO, DSC & Bar was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. 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 Navy in 1966, and died in 1977 at the age of 68.