Father of Richard, Rodney, Stephen

"Commodore Brian Turner who died recently, joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1933. By the beginning of the World War II he was a Petty Officer and he spent the first years of the war in that rank in various harbour patrol craft operating out of Auckland. In 1941 he was commissioned into the RNZNVR and travelled to Australia for courses and on completion again served in patrol vessels in New Zealand. He specialised in gunnery and was posted to GAMBIA for the final year of the war.

Commodore Turner returned GAMBIA to the United Kingdom and then transferred to BELLONA on first commissioning. He later became Commanding Officer of ARBUTUS and returned that Corvette to the United Kingdom and commissioned the first of the Loch Class and became the First Commanding Officer of KANIERE. After a spell ashore as First Lieutenant of PHILOMEL he became Commander of ROTOITI.

Commodore Turner commanded the frigate ROTOITI during the early stages of the Korean War. Major incidents were the operations when landing parties were put ashore on the coast of North Korea. During one of these raids Able Seaman Marchioni was killed and this provides a perspective from the commander of the operation. During the return to Hong Kong ROTOITI went to help a British merchantman which had been captured by pirates in the Formosa Strait. The action of ROTOITI resulted in the release of the merchant vessel.

In 1955 he became the Royal New Zealand Naval Liaison Officer in the United Kingdom and took a major part in the organisation for purchase of the Cruiser ROYALIST and the first two of the modern frigates OTAGO and TARANAKI. Commodore Turner became the Captain uperintendent of the Dockyard in Auckland in 1958. Attended a U.S. Naval War College in 1962, commanded ROYALIST and on promotion to Commodore in 1964 became the second Naval member. He retired from the RNZN in 1966."

OBITUARY: Commodore Brian Turner. Past-president Warwick Barraclough adds — Brian Turner was a dedicated, long standing secretary of the British New Zealand Trade Council when he retired in 1992 after more than 10 years service and at that year’s annual meeting he was elected a life member. In nominating Brian for this honour it was stated: “Without Brian’s personality, discipline, efficiency and dedication during a difficult period in the council’s history, BNZTC may not have survived”. Brian was a retired naval officer, a gentleman and very dedicated to the New Zealand -British relationships the council promotes.

{from http://www.bnztc.co.nz/data/May05Newsletter.pdf} AWMM