Commander John BYRON RNVR DSC and bar
HMCS Valleyfield, Royal Navy

Date of birth: 22nd August 1891
Date of death: 7th May 1944

Killed in action aged 52
Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial Panel 87 Column 3
He was born at Stourmouth on the 22nd of August 1891 the eldest son of John Byron, farmer, and Margaret Adela (nee White) of North Court, Stourmouth near Dover.

He was educated at the Junior King's School from January 1904 and at the King's School Canterbury from September 1905 to December 1906. He went on to HMS Worcester from 1907 to 1909 where he was a Cadet Captain and Gym Champion.

He was appointed as a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve on the 4th of August 1909 and passed the Master Mariners Exam in 1912. He was promoted to Acting Sub Lieutenant on the 8th of May 1914 and on the outbreak of the Great War he was mobilised in October 1914 and was confirmed in the rank of Sub Lieutenant on the 7th of November 1915. On the 15th of March 1917 he was promoted to Acting Artificer Engineer and was posted to the submarine depot ship HMS Titania on the 16th of July 1917. On the 7th of November 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant and in March 1918 he was posted to the 6,620 ton torpedo depot ship HMS Vulcan and was serving with her at the end of the war. On the 23rd of April 1919 he was posted as Warrant Engineer to the submarine HMS L4. In 1920 he went to Rangoon where he worked for the port commissioners as a pilot and in 1921 he served as engineering officer on board the submarine HMS L3. On the 24th of May 1922 he was posted to the submarine shore base HMS Dolphin.

He remained in the Royal Naval Reserve until the 7th of November 1925 when he was placed on the reserve list with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

He was married to Frances Mary (nee Worship) of The Vicarage, Ringwood in Hampshire; they had two daughters, Susan and Joan.

He was recalled to duty on the outbreak of the Second World War.

From the 21st of April 1941 until early 1943 he commanded the corvette HMS Pentstemon (K61). During this time his ship took part in the sinking of the U Boat U-131 to the north east of Madeira on the 17th of December 1941.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross 'For skill and bravery in action against enemy submarines' which was announced in the London Gazette of the 7th of April 1942
On the 18th of August 1942 the ship was on escort duty when the merchantman Hatarana was hit by a torpedo fired by U214. The Pentstemon was forced to fire on the ship to scuttle her and picked up twenty survivors who they took to Londonderry. He was mentioned in despatches which was announced in the London Gazette of the 6th of April 1943. From the 26th of April 1943 he briefly commanded the frigate HMS Towy (K294) and on the 24th of July 1943 he was given command of the destroyer HMS Keppel (D84). On the 22nd of September 1943 HMS Keppel was to the south east of Cape Farwell, Greenland, acting as an escort to Convoy ONS-18 when she attacked the German submarine U-229, under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Robert Schetelig. Following an attack on U-229 with depth charges and gunfire Keppel rammed the enemy vessel and sank it with the loss of its entire crew of fifty officers and men. HMS Keppel then limped to port in Newfoundland for repairs to her bow. Byron relinquished command of the ship on the 2nd of December 1943.

He was awarded a Bar to his medal 'For outstanding bravery, enterprise and devotion to duty in actions with enemy submarines while serving in H.M. ships Keppel and Towy on convoy escort duty' which was announced in the London Gazette of the 22nd of February 1944.

By May 1944 he was in command of the Canadian 1st Escort Group, consisting of the frigate HMCS Valleyfield (K329), the corvette HMCS Frontenac (K335), the corvette HMCS Giffard (D402) and the frigate HMCS Halifax (FF330). He was based on board HMCS Valleyfield, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Dermot Thomas English RCNR, a relatively new ship which had been commissioned at Quebec City on the 7th of December 1943 and was assigned to the Canadian 1st Escort Group. By April 1944, she had made one round trip as a convoy escort for Convoy SL151 from Sierra Leone to the Clyde. In May 1944 she was on the return leg of her second assignment, escorting Convoy ONM234, which had set out from Liverpool on the 27th of April. The Canadian 1st Escort Group had handed the convoy over to another group of escorts, and was heading for the port of St. John's in Newfoundland.

At just before midnight on the 6th of May 1944, the ships were some fifty miles to the south of Cape Race, Newfoundland where small icebergs scattered the area, confusing the radar picture. At around 1.30am John Byron issued orders for the group to cease zigzagging due to the icebergs and then turned in for the night. The ships sailed on, making good way to the safety of the Newfoundland port with John Byron asleep in his cabin. HMCS Valleyfield, was traveling astern of the other ships. The Officer of the Watch had just called for the middle watch, when the ASDIC operator gave a sudden warning of the presence of a submarine.

Just as Action Stations were called at 4.32am, a T5 torpedo, fired by the U Boat U-548 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Eberhard Zimmermann, struck the port side boiler room of Valleyfield causing a tremendous explosion. The ship was broken in two, and she quickly began to settle down into the water. Dermot English managed to make it to the bridge where he issued orders to abandon ship and the ship sank four minutes after she was hit. As the ship was sinking, most of the crew jumped overboard into the ice-cold North Atlantic water, which when measured in the last watch, had registered a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, oily water choked the survivors as they huddled together helping each other to survive. Some clambered on to wreckage, or clung to Carley floats while others remained in the water, buoyed by their life jackets. When the ship had sunk, the men found themselves alone, with their escorts being virtually unaware of what had taken place astern of them. Finally, HMCS Giffard, realizing that the Valleyfield was missing, arrived at the scene to begin rescuing survivors. However, as was the doctrine at the time, the rescue did not begin until she had spent valuable time searching for the U-Boat which had caused the tragedy. By this time many men had given up, let go their hold on Carley floats or wreckage and sank from sight. A total of one hundred and twenty five officers and men were killed in the attack with thirty eight survivors being picked up by HMCS Giffard.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Burley in Hampshire.
Holme House

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