17 Facts About Colin Maud

Colin Maud was described as "one of the most popular officers in the British Navy".

Colin Maud was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1924 and completed his Greenwich Lieutenants' course and submarine courses before joining the submarine H26 in 1925.

Colin Maud was promoted to lieutenant in 1925 and joined L25 in April 1927.

Colin Maud became the commanding officer of the submarine H49 in April 1932.

Colin Maud joined the W-class destroyer Woolston in 1932 and by October of the same year was second-in-command of the destroyer Achates.

On 3 March 1940, in company with Express, Impulsive and Esk, Colin Maud's Icarus laid a minefield, which claimed U-44 ten days later.

Colin Maud received a clutch of awards during the summer of 1940: on 28 June 1940 the Distinguished Service Cross, on 11 July 1940 a bar to the same award, "for good services in the Royal Navy since the outbreak of War," and on 16 August 1940 a mention in despatches.

In early May 1941, Colin Maud commanded Icarus during the hunt for Bismarck, escorting the battle cruiser Hood and the battleship Prince of Wales.

Colin Maud took over as captain of the destroyer Somali in September 1942 when her captain, Jack Eaton, was ill.

Colin Maud was rescued by Leading Seaman William Goad, who dived into the freezing water with a rope, for which Goad was awarded the Albert Medal.

Colin Maud had spent an hour in the Arctic water and credited his survival to the fact that he had drunk a bottle of whisky after going overboard.

The preparations included Colin Maud driving round the streets of Bayeux carrying a French Resistance leader shouting "General de Gaulle will speak at four o'clock on the Place du Chateau".

Colin Maud was appointed as the deputy commander of the Flushing assault force, during the Allied attack on Walcheren Island.

Colin Maud commanded her from June 1945, taking her through her workup in Scotland but when Japan surrendered, she was sent instead to the Mediterranean Fleet.

Colin Maud left her there in October 1946 to take command of Berryhead, a reserve depot ship in Plymouth.

Colin Maud acted as a technical adviser on the film and provided More with the same shillelagh he had carried on D-Day.

Colin Maud married, firstly, Elizabeth Gibson in 1926, with whom he had a son Ruan Colin Maud, and secondly, Valerie Compston, the ex-wife of Vice Admiral Sir Peter Compston, in 1967.