Henry St John Fancourt - World War II

World War II

In December 1940 he was promoted Captain and given command of HMS Sparrowhawk, the naval air station at Hatston in the Orkney Islands. In January 1941, Fancourt was bady injured when German dive-bombers destroyed the control tower at Lee-on-the-Solent.

In May 1941, he was Mentioned in Despatches for his initiative in sending a Maryland aircraft to reconnoitre for the German battleship Bismarck after poor weather had prevented RAF reconnaissance. He also ordered 828 Naval Air Squadron's Albacore torpedo bombers to Sumburgh, ready for a strike on Bismarck should she come within range, but she did not.

While at RAF Hatston in Orkney in April 1942 Fancourt, flying a Gloster Gladiator, made the first landing of the war by a British plane on an American aircraft carrier when the USS Wasp was passing through Scapa Flow.

In 1942, Fancourt had been assigned to take command of the escort carrier HMS Searcher, then under construction in the United States. This was cancelled, however, and he took command of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla which consisted of two destroyers, HMS Broke and HMS Malcolm, assigned to Operation Torch, the allied invasion of French North Africa. The destryers were to land a detachment of American Rangers. The assignment was to enter Algiers harbour on 8 November, land the troops and prevent the Vichy French from scuttling their ships or wrecking the port installations (Operation Terminal).

This turned into a disaster when the commandos that landed on either side of Algiers failed to capture the Vichy artillery batteries. These heavily bombarded Fancourt's destroyers and Malcolm had to withdraw after suffering engine room damage. Broke, with Fancourt, penetrated the defensive boom on her fourth attempt and landed her troops. Broke was sunk by French artillery later in the day but the crew and wounded were transferred to the destroyer HMS Zetland. Fancourt was awarded the DSO for his part in the battle.

In January 1943, Fancourt was placed in command of the Argus, now a training carrier. In September 1943, he was given command of the maintenance carrier HMS Unicorn, which sailed for the Indian Ocean in December 1943 with reinforcements for the Eastern Fleet, later transferring to the British Pacific Fleet.