John Moffat, British Navy pilot during World War II, Died at 97

  Military

John William Charlton Moffat was born on June 17, 1919, and died on December 11, 2016

He was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot,

He was notable for crippling the German battleship Bismarck during its Atlantic sortie, codenamed Operation Rheinübung on 26 May 1941, whilst flying a Fairey Swordfish biplane.

John was born to Mary and Peter Moffat.

As a child, his parents moved to Earlston where his father opened the first garage.

His father, Peter, had served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, joining in 1914 to qualify as an Aeronautical engineer for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).

Moffat served in No. 2 Wing RNAS under Wing Commander Charles Rumney Samson, the first man to fly an aircraft off a ship.

He served in Belgium and was posted to the seaplane carrier, HMS Ark Royal which sailed to the Mediterranean to take part in the Gallipoli Campaign.

Peter resigned from the service in 1917 and married Mary in 1918.

His wife was an amateur opera singer.

John Moffat passed away at 97 years old.