Fancourt, Henry Lockhart St John (Oral history)

British midshipman served aboard HMS Princess Royal, 1st Battlecruiser Sqdn during Battle of Jutland in North Sea, 31/5/1916; officer served aboard HMS Camellia in Irish Sea and North Atlantic, 1918-1919; served aboard HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, GB, 1919; served aboard HMS Worcester in Irish Sea and Black Sea, 1922-1924; trained as pilot with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1924-1925; served as pilot aboard HMS Argus on China Station, 1927-1928 and aboard HMS Courageous in Mediterranean and GB coastal waters, 1929-1932; served aboard HMS Neptune in Mediterranean, 1936-1937; commanded HMS Daedalus, Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, GB, 1940 and HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, GB, 1940-1942; commanded 4th Destroyer Flotilla during Operation Torch in French Algeria, 11/1942 including sinking of HMS Broke in Algiers Harbour, French Algeria, 8/11/1942; commanded HMS Argus in GB coastal waters, 1/1943-8/1943; commanded HMS Unicorn in GB coastal waters and Indian Ocean, 9/1943-11/1944

REEL 1 Background in Birmingham, GB, 1900-1912: family; education; reasons for joining Royal Navy as cadet, 1912. Recollections of operations as midshipman aboard HMS Princess Royal, 1st Battlecruiser Sqdn during Battle of Jutland in North Sea, 31/5/1916: contact with Admiral David Beatty; action station in Q Turret; sight of sinking of battlecruiser HMS Invincible; memories of the battle including morale and casualties; opinion of ships' officers; reception at Rosyth after battle; burial of dead; role of 1st Battlecruiser Sqdn during battle. REEL 2 Continues: post-war encounter with brother officer Captain Robert Shaw, 10/1990. Aspects of operations as officer aboard HMS Camellia in Irish Sea and North Atlantic, 1918-1919: character of sloop; escorting senior Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, GB, 1918; convoy escort work; character of ships captain, Lieutenant Commander Bertrand Bannerman. Aspects of period as officer with Royal Navy in GB, 1919-1921: sight of scuttling of German Fleet from HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, 21/6/1919; participation in Victory March in London, GB, 19/7/1919; continuing education at University of Cambridge, 1919-1920; opinion of service aboard HMS Commonwealth, 1920. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Worcester in Irish Sea and Black Sea, 1922-1924: role supporting Irish Free State during Irish Civil War; role during Chanak Crisis in Turkey, 9/1922-10/1922. Aspects of training as pilot with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1924-1925: reasons for volunteering for Fleet Air Arm; learning to fly at No 1 Flying Training School, RAF at RAF Netheravon; appointment to HMS Eagle. Aspects of operations as pilot with Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Argus on China Station, 1927-1928: appointment to British forces to Shanghai; use of seaplanes; contracting peritonitis. Aspects of operations as pilot with Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Courageous in Mediterranean and GB coastal waters, 1929-1932: move to Palestine; show of force; opinion of British Government's mishandling of pay cuts in Royal Navy, 1931; deck landing trials, 6/1931. REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Neptune in Mediterranean during Spanish Civil War, 1936-1937: duties in Mediterranean; return to GB and taking command of sloop HMS Weston in Red Sea. Aspects of period as officer with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1939: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; memories of Captain Guy D'Oyly-Hughes. Aspects of period commanding HMS Daedalus, Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, GB, 1940: background to appointment; German Air Force attack on station, 16/8/1940; wounding during attack, 16/8/1940. Aspects of period commanding HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, GB, 1940-1942: appointment as station commander, 12/1940; sending Martin Maryland reconnaissance aircraft to report on German battleship Bismarck's departure from Bergen, Norway, 5/1941; relations with American personnel from USS Wasp, 4/1942. Aspects of commanding 4th Destroyer Flotilla during Operation Torch in French Algeria, 11/1942 including sinking of HMS Broke in Algiers Harbour, French Algeria, 8/11/1942: question of potential success of operation and it's outcome; shelling of HMS Broke in Algiers Harbour, 8/11/1942; sinking of HMS Broke in Algiers Harbour, 8/11/1942; opinion of operation. REEL 5 Continues: memories of Admiral Andrew Cunningham; return to GB aboard HMS Sheffield after turning down of potential voyage aboard HMS Avenger which was subsequently sunk by submarine U-155, west of Gibraltar, 15/11/1942. Aspects of period commanding of HMS Argus in GB coastal waters, 1/1943-8/1943: appointment to command aircraft carrier; training duties in GB coastal waters. Aspects of period commanding HMS Unicorn in GB coastal waters and Indian Ocean, 9/1943-11/1944: background to appointment to command aircraft repair ship; duties in Indian Ocean; return to GB, 11/1944; later retirement from Royal Navy, 1951.