Wartime Swordfish heroes honoured by today’s sailors

“The challenges John described of his service in the North Atlantic are in some ways no different from the challenges we face today, even though our technology has moved on. Eighty years later, we still operate in this area,” said Captain Hall.

“His memories were was inspirational, the innovation required, the importance of the survival instinct and the passion and attitude he had to succeed. These are exactly the qualities we have to instil when we train the next generation of the Fleet Air Arm.”

In May 1943 – the pivotal month of the Battle of the Atlantic – Mr Barnes, then flying with 811 Naval Air Squadron – spied a U-boat on the surface during a patrol from escort carrier HMS Biter.

The depth charges he dropped crippled U-89 as it manoeuvred to attack Convoy HX 237. Destroyer HMS Broadway and frigate HMS Lagan then closed in and finished off the German boat, sending it and 48 U-boat men to the seabed.

Large, lumbering, virtually obsolete as a torpedo bomber when WW2 began, the Swordfish became a Fleet Air Arm legend thanks to the bravery of its crews often against fearful odds (the Bismarck Chase, the Channel Dash), its achievements (crippling the Italian Fleet at Taranto) and its ability to take punishment.

It required a crew of three – pilot, observer and TAG (Morse Code operator and rear gunner) – all in open cockpits.

Mr Underwood flew with 836 Naval Air Squadron from MACs – Merchant Aircraft Carriers, converted merchant vessels which performed a similar role to the escort carriers.

He served in the Atlantic and Arctic, although it’s the final days of the conflict which resonate particularly strongly in his memories in this 80th anniversary year of the end of WW2. 

While flying from the MAC Alexia escorting what was to be his last convoy of the war, he vividly recalls flying past lines of pre-war passenger liners preparing to return to the New World.

“We saw dozens of American and Canadian war brides lining the rails en route to their new homes,” Mr Underwood recalled.

“We, of course, were keeping our eyes open for surrendering U-boats coming to the surface but none were seen.”

The boats had already been delivered to the naval base at Londonderry as Mr Underwood found when he flew up the Foyle estuary.

“We could see lines of U-boats moored alongside, no longer a threat to our ships and sailors.  It’s a sobering thought to realise how many of these monsters were still operation able at the time of their surrender.” 

Within a week of landing at nearby RNAS Maydown, Mr Underwood’s squadron was disbanded.

After a short spell in the control tower at Ronaldsway on the Isle of Man, Mr Underwood returned to civvy street in his native Essex, where he served as a police officer for a quarter of a century.

Both services were represented as the veteran celebrated his milestone birthday. Warrant Officer 1 ‘Ronnie’ Rendall, the RN’s Regional Engagement Officer for East Anglia, joined Essex Police Officers, for a small gathering with the centenarian at his home in Brightlingsea.

Ronnie presented a gift created from a Swordfish part and a congratulatory certificate from the Naval Staff, while the police handed over custom-made epaulettes featuring Mr Underwood’s former collar numbers.

And everyone present enjoyed the odd tot and cake, courtesy of the town’s RNA branch which Mr Underwood helped found in 1993 – and continues to serve to this day as its president.