D. V. Peyton-Ward

D.V. Peyton-Ward was a Captain in the Royal Navy and served during and after the Second World War. ‘P.W.’ to those that knew him he was most famous for his work as Naval Liaison Officer to RAF Coastal Command. The work he performed in this capacity was of utmost importance to the smooth functioning of Coastal Command operations. Among other things, he personally championed and facilitated the increased use of Very Long Range aircraft, such as the B24 Consolidated Liberator. These aircraft allowed continual air cover over the Atlantic and closed the notorious Mid-Atlantic air gap, where Axis U-Boats could freely operate against Allied convoys.

After the war he wrote an eight volume internal history for the Royal Navy, entitled ‘The R.A.F. in the Maritime War”, a copy of which resides as the National Archives in Kew, London.