Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, (1 March 1909 – 12 February 1942) was a distinguished Irish pilot in the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

who was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to members of

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forces. Esmonde earned this award while in command of a

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the World War I, First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carryin ...

squadron in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

- in an action known as Operation Fuller, the 'Channel Dash’.

Early life

Esmonde was born on 1 March 1909 in

Thurgoland Thurgoland (, ) is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England, on the A629 road. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,801, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census. Bu ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, near

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. His mother, Eily O’Sullivan, was his father's second wife. Dr John Joseph Esmonde (1862–1915) had married her in 1904, after his first wife died in 1901. Dr. Esmonde was an Irish Catholic, a former Irish MP, who was in general practice in Yorkshire. Esmonde had six natural siblings (including a twin brother) and six half-siblings - three male, three female - from his father's first marriage to Rose McGuinness. The natural siblings were: Owen, Donal, John Witham, his twin James, Carmel and Patrick. His half-brothers were: Sir John Esmonde, 14th Baronet, who served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Esmonde (1897–1916), who was killed in action in the First World War serving with the 26th Tyneside Irish Battalion of the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

; and Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet. His father, died in 1915, when Esmonde and his siblings were all quite young. He had been serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and succumbed to pneumonia, after being laid low by over-work. Though born in England, Esmonde's parents were from Ireland and the family returned to the Esmonde family's ancestral home -

Esmonde baronets The Esmonde Baronetcy, of Ballynastragh in the County of Wexford, is a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created on 28 January 1629 for Thomas Esmonde. He raised a cavalry regiment for Charles I and commanded a regiment during the Siege ...

- in Drominagh,

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

. He was educated by the

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, first at

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the greate ...

in London and then at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland. Esmonde was commissioned into the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) as a

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on probation on 28 December 1928. During the early 1930s, Esmonde served first in the RAF, and then transferred to the

where he served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

when responsibility for naval aviation was returned to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Upon leaving the navy in 1934, he flew for

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

. and amongst other feats he flew flying boats and the first surcharged

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to Australia.

Second World War

Early wartime career

At the start of the Second World War, he returned to the Fleet Air Arm with the rank of lieutenant commander. His first sea posting was to , which was sunk in September 1939. He returned to sea duty on board after a series of postings to shore-based stations. On the night of 24 May 1941, Esmonde led No. 825 Naval Air Squadron's nine

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a retired biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was a ...

s in an attack against the . This attack took place after the

Battle of the Denmark Strait The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941 between ships of the Royal Navy and the ''Kriegsmarine''. The British battleship and the battlecruiser fought the German battlesh ...

, in which ''Bismarck'' sank . The biplanes flying from ''Victorious'' made a 193 km (120-mile) flight in foul

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

weather and one torpedo hit the ''Bismarck'' amidships, leading either directly or indirectly through hard manoeuvring to earlier damage opening up, causing further flooding and a boiler room rendered unusable. The Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet wrote in his despatch to the Admiralty that 'This attack, by a squadron so lately embarked in a new carrier, in unfavourable weather conditions, was magnificently carried out and reflects the greatest credit on all concerned,' adding 'There can be little doubt that the hit was largely responsible for the ''Bismarck'' finally being brought to action and sunk,' (although it was another torpedo hit by aircraft of '' Ark Royal'' several days later that led to the battleship's final destruction). Esmonde was decorated with the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

on 11 February 1942 for his leadership and actions (the award was announced on 16 September 1941). His squadron was serving on when she was torpedoed in November 1941. Attempts to tow her to

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were abandoned, and on 14 November 1941 she sank. The Swordfish of the squadron ferried some of the crew off the ship before she sank; Esmonde was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

for his actions on this occasion.

Channel Dash

Esmonde earned his Victoria Cross when he led his squadron against elements of the German fleet which were making the "Channel Dash" ( Operation ''Cerberus'') from Brest in an attempt to return to their home bases at

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

through the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. On 12 February 1942 off the coast of

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, 32-year-old Lieutenant Commander Esmonde led a detachment of six Fairey Swordfish in an attack on the German battlecruisers and and the heavy cruiser . All three had left Brest unopposed, and with a strong escort of smaller craft and fighter aircraft. The British had long-anticipated the movement of these ships and had formulated a combined operation of attack by sea, air and land artillery, as the Germans approached the

Straits of Dover The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait, historically known as the Dover Narrows, is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental ...

. The plan was termed Operation Fuller. It was not executed well, principally because the Germans vessels were not detected until they were almost at Dover. Consequently, everything was hurried and poorly coordinated. Esmonde’s squadron received orders to attack, but no fighter coverage materialised. He waited as long as he felt he could for his escorts to appear, but eventually took off without them. One of the fighter squadrons (10

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

s of No. 72 Squadron RAF) did rendezvous with Esmonde's squadron; the two squadrons were later attacked by enemy fighters of JG 2 and JG 26 as part of Operation ''Donnerkeil'', the German

air superiority An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

plan for the mission. The subsequent fighting left all of the planes in Esmonde's squadron damaged, and caused them to become separated from their fighter escort. The torpedo bombers continued their attack, in spite of their damage and lack of fighter protection. There was heavy anti-aircraft fire from the German ships, and Esmonde's aeroplane possibly sustained a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire that destroyed most of one of the port wings of his Swordfish biplane. Esmonde led his flight through a screen of the enemy destroyers and other small vessels protecting the battleships. He was still 2,700 metres from his target when he was hit by a

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

, resulting in his aircraft bursting into flames and crashing into the sea. The remaining aircraft continued the attack, but all were shot down by enemy fighters; only five of the 18 crew survived the action. The four surviving officers received the

, and the enlisted survivor was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. The courage of the Swordfish crews was noted by friend and foe alike. Admiral

Bertram Ramsay Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay, KCB, KBE, MVO (20 January 1883 – 2 January 1945) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded the destroyer during the First World War. In the Second World War, he was responsible for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1 ...

later wrote, "In my opinion the gallant sortie of these six Swordfish aircraft constitutes one of the finest exhibitions of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty the war had ever witnessed", while Admiral Otto Ciliax in the ''Scharnhorst'' described "The mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes, piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day". As he watched the smoking wrecks of the Swordfish falling into the sea, Captain Hoffmann of the ''Scharnhorst'' exclaimed, "Poor fellows, they are so very slow, it is nothing but suicide for them to fly against these big ships". Willhelm Wolf aboard the ''Scharnhorst'' wrote, "What an heroic stage for them to meet their end! Behind them their homeland, which they had just left with their hearts steeled to their purpose, still in view". The award of the VC was gazetted on 3 March 1942, the citation read: In fact, no torpedo hits were achieved. Esmonde was remembered in

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

's famous broadcast speech on 13 May 1945, "Five years of War", as having defended Ireland's honour: Seven weeks later Lieutenant Commander Esmonde's body, still in his lifejacket, was washed ashore in the Thames Estuary near the River Medway. Esmonde was buried in the Woodlands Cemetery,

Gillingham, Kent Gillingham ( ) is a town in Kent, England, which forms a conurbation with neighbouring Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It is the largest town in the borough of Medway and in 2020 had a populat ...

on 30 April 1942.Casualty details—Esmonde, Eugene Kingsmill

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. Retrieved 2008-07-16. His great-uncle Thomas Esmonde, had been awarded the Victoria Cross in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

References

External links

Lieutenant Commander E. Esmonde
in ''The Art of War'' exhibition at the

UK National Archives The National Archives (TNA; ) is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the ...