Eugene Esmonde
| Eugene Esmonde | |
|---|---|
Officers and ratings who were decorated for the part they played in the sinking of the Bismarck, pictured in front of a Fairey Swordfish aboard HMS Ark Royal. Esmonde is second from left.
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| Born |
1 March 1909 Thurgoland, Yorkshire |
| Died | 12 February 1942 (aged 32) English Channel |
| Buried at | Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
Royal Air Force (1928–34) Royal Navy (1939–42) |
| Years of service | 1928–1934 1939–1942 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Commands held |
825 Naval Air Squadron (1940–42) 754 Naval Air Squadron (1939) |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches |
| Relations |
John Joseph Esmonde (father) Sir John Esmonde, 14th Baronet (brother) Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet (brother) Thomas Esmonde (great-uncle) |
Lieutenant Commander Eugene Kingsmill Esmonde, VC, DSO (1 March 1909 – 12 February 1942) was a distinguished British pilot who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to members of Commonwealth forces. Esmonde earned this award while in command of a British Fleet Air Arm torpedo bomber squadron in the Second World War.
Esmonde was born on 1 March 1909 in Thurgoland, Yorkshire, near Barnsley, where his father, Dr John Joseph Esmonde (1862–1915), was in temporary general practice. Though by birth English, his parents were from Ireland, and he returned to his family's ancestral home of the Esmonde baronets in Drominagh, County Tipperary as a boy and was educated by the Jesuits, first at Wimbledon College in London and then at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare, Ireland. Thomas Esmonde, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War, was a great-uncle.
He had three elder half-brothers from his father's first marriage: Sir John Esmonde, 14th Baronet, who served in the First World War; 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; and Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet.
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