Robert Houghton

Major-General Robert Dyer Houghton, (7 March 1912 – 17 January 2011), commonly known as "Titch", was a Royal Marines officer of the Second World War and post-war period. Early life Houghton was born in Dawlish, Devon, the son of John Mayo Houghton and Lucy Evelyn Trotman. He was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, before entering the Royal Marines in 1930. Military career Houghton received his commission on 1 September 1930. He served on HMS Malaya, before becoming the commander of an anti-aircraft battery of the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation in Egypt and Crete in 1935. At the start of the Second World War, Houghton was serving as Adjutant of the 1st Battalion, 101 Royal Marines Brigade. He held the role until February 1942, when he became Adjutant of the 15th (S) Battalion, 101 Royal Marines Brigade. In January 1942, Houghton became second-in-command of 40 Commando, and participated in the Allies' failed raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942. Like the majority of his unit, he was captured by the Germans in the fiasco. As a prisoner of war, Houghton was shackled for 411 days, and remained in captivity for the rest of the war. He was subsequently awarded the Military Cross for his bravery at Dieppe and for his endurance as a prisoner of war.