Commander Sir Robert Micklem, CBE (5 June 1891 – 13 May 1952) was a naval officer, submariner and chairman and managing director of the British engineerings company Vickers-Armstrongs.
Early life edit
Micklem was born Edward Robert Micklem on 5 June 1891 in Chingford, Essex,[1] the son of Leonard Micklem of Abbot's Mead at Elstree in Hertfordshire, by his second wife, Nanette Fenwick. He was the younger brother of Brigadier-General John Micklem DSO MC and half-brother of the Very Rev Philip Micklem. Micklem joined the Royal Navy in 1903 and served for two years in the submarine service during the First World War.[1]
Vickers and Second World War edit
He retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1919 and he went to work for companies associated with Vickers becoming General Manager at Elswick in 1928.[1] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1942 Birthday Honours.[1]
During the second world war he acted as chairman of Tank Board from 1942 to 1944 and a chairman in the Ministry of Supply of the armoured fighting vehicle division.[1] He was knighted in 1946.[2] Within a few years of the end of the war he became firstly deputy chairman and then chairman of Vickers-Armstrongs.[1] In 1951 he was appointed joint managing director of Vickers until he resigned due to ill health in April 1952.[1]
Family life edit
Micklem married Sibyl Head in 1922 and they had a son and daughter.[1] Micklem died in a nursing home in the Marylebone district of London on 13 May 1952, aged 60.[1]