Eugene Esmonde
Eugene Esmonde | |
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Second World War
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Awards | John Joseph Esmonde (father) (great-uncle)Sir John Esmonde, 14th Baronet (brother) Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet (brother) Thomas Esmonde |
Early life
Esmonde was born on 1 March 1909 in
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:
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 - in Drominagh, County Tipperary. He was educated by the Jesuits, first at Wimbledon College in London and then at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare, Ireland.
Esmonde was commissioned into the
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 HMS Courageous, which was sunk in September 1939. He returned to sea duty on board HMS Victorious after a series of postings to shore-based stations.
On the night of 24 May 1941, Esmonde led No.
His squadron was serving on HMS Ark Royal when she was torpedoed in November 1941. Attempts to tow her to Gibraltar 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 for his actions on this occasion.[7]
Channel Dash
Esmonde earned his Victoria Cross when he led his squadron against elements of the German fleet which were making the "Channel Dash" (
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
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
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, 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 Distinguished Service Order, and the enlisted survivor was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.[8]
The courage of the Swordfish crews was noted by friend and foe alike. Admiral Bertram Ramsay 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
ADMIRALTY. Whitehall. 3rd March, 1942.
The KINGhas been graciously pleased to approve the grant of the VICTORIA CROSS, for valour and resolution in action against the Enemy, to:The late Lieutenant-Commander (A) Eugene Esmonde, D.S.O., Royal Navy.
On the morning of Thursday, 12th February, 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde, in command of a Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, was told that the German Battle-Cruisers SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU and the Cruiser PRINZ EUGEN, strongly escorted by some thirty surface craft, were entering the Straits of Dover, and that his Squadron must attack before they reached the sand-banks North East of Calais.
Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde knew well that his enterprise was desperate. Soon after noon he and his squadron of six Swordfish set course for the Enemy, and after ten minutes flight were attacked by a strong force of Enemy fighters. Touch was lost with his fighter escort; and in the action which followed all his aircraft were damaged. He flew on, cool and resolute, serenely challenging hopeless odds, to encounter the deadly fire of the Battle-Cruisers and their Escort, which shattered the port wing of his aircraft. Undismayed, he led his Squadron on, straight through this inferno of fire, in steady flight towards their target. Almost at once he was shot down; but his Squadron went on to launch a gallant attack, in which at least one torpedo is believed to have struck the German Battle-Cruisers, and from which not one of the six aircraft returned.
His high courage and splendid resolution will live in the traditions of the Royal Navy, and remain for many generations a fine and stirring memory.[8]
In fact, no torpedo hits were achieved.
Esmonde was remembered in Winston Churchill's famous broadcast speech on 13 May 1945, "Five years of War",[9] as having defended Ireland's honour:
When I think of these days I think also of other episodes and personalities. I do not forget Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde, V.C., D.S.O.,
Captain Fegen, V.C., and other Irish heroes that I could easily recite, and all bitterness by Britain for the Irish race dies in my heart. I can only pray that in years which I shall not see, the shame will be forgotten and the glories will endure, and that the peoples of the British Isles and of the British Commonwealth of Nations will walk together in mutual comprehension and forgiveness."
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 on 30 April 1942.[10]
His great-uncle Thomas Esmonde, had been awarded the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War.
References
- ^ Casualty details—Esmonde, Geoffery, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "No. 33453". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1929. p. 72.
- ^ "Royal Naval Museum biography". Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ "HMS Victorious (38) of the Royal Navy – British Aircraft Carrier of the Illustrious class – Allied Warships of WWII – uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-4094-5257-7.
- ^ "No. 35275". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 September 1941. p. 5357.
- ^ "No. 35424". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 January 1942. p. 341.
- ^ a b "No. 35474". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 February 1942. pp. 1007–1008.
- ^ "Churchill's Speech". Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ Casualty details—Esmonde, Eugene Kingsmill, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
Further reading
- Bowyer, Chaz (1983). Eugene Esmonde, VC, DSO. London: Kimber. ISBN 0718304098.
External links
- Lieutenant Commander E. Esmonde in The Art of War exhibition at the UK National Archives(includes image of original recommendation for the VC)
- Eugene Esmonde at Find a Grave
- Location of grave and VC medal (Kent)
- Esmonde Family Tree Archived 30 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine