Charles Lamb

Commander Charles Bentall Lamb DSO DSC Royal Navy (1914–1981) was an officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II. He piloted a Fairey Swordfish torpedo strike reconnaissance aircraft at the Battle of Taranto, and later wrote a best selling book on his experiences called To War in a Stringbag.

Early life Lamb was born on 11 April 1914 in Bolton, Lancashire. He was the son of Arthur Lamb and Violet Aubrey Bentall.

On 20 September 1939, he married Josephine Frances Elgar; they later had two sons. Like many merchant navy officers Lamb joined the Royal Naval Reserve, appointed a midshipman 31 March 1933, and in December joined the battleship HMS Rodney in the Home Fleet and West Indies for four months' training.

Keen to learn to fly, Lamb joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) The RAF controlled British naval aviation up to 1938. When the Fleet Air Arm was constituted in 1938 Lamb transferred to the Air Branch of the Royal Navy, becoming a sub-lieutenant (aviation) on 13 June 1938 with seniority dated 28 October 1936

Second World War

In the early part of the war, he was a Swordfish pilot. "Charles Lamb flew in the thick of the action, mine-laying and U-boat hunting over northern Europe, harrying E-boats at Dunkirk, to being one of the two Swordfish Pathfinder pilots with 815 Squadron FAA at the Battle of Taranto." He flew in the Greek campaign of 1941 and was shot down during an air raid on Malta.

In September 1941 Lamb's aircraft was wrecked while landing a secret agent in French North Africa and he was held by the Vichy French government at the Laghouat prison camp for a year, until freed by the Allied Allied invasion of Algeria in November 1942. After treatment for malnutrition, he spent a year recruiting flying cadets for the Fleet Air Arm, until passed fit for flying in December 1943, and joined the aircraft carrier HMS Implacable as Lieutenant-Commander (Flying), with an acting rank of lieutenant-commander. Aboard as Lieutenant-Commander (Flying) from May 1944, he escorted Arctic convoys and launched air strikes against the German battleship Tirpitz. He served in Implacable again as Lieutenant-Commander (Flying) from 8 January 1945 until July 1945; after a catastrophic flight deck injury (struck by a broken aircraft propeller) he was hospitalized for two years before returning to naval duty. From 23 October 1953, he was Commander (General Training) and Staff Officer (Flying) to Flag Officer Ground Training at RN Air Station, Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus).

He was on the books of HMS President for miscellaneous duties from 26 September 1955. He was Assistant Commandant, Joint School of Warfare (Old Sarum), 1956–1958; and retired on 29 July 1958.

Retirement Lamb remained active in naval and public affairs until his death on 28 May 1981. He founded & managed the White Ensign Association, 1958–1973, a financial advisory service for redundant and retiring naval officers. His memoirs To War in a Stringbag, were published in 1977. They have been republished several times and are still in print.

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