On 29th January 1944, Supermarine Seafire LR761 crashed in Glenarm, Co. Antrim. The Mark IIC plane flew with Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 879 Squadron based on H.M.S. Attacker.
H.M.S. Attacker (D02) was an Attacker-class escort aircraft carrier. Built as a merchant ship, the Steel Artisan, the United States Navy commissioned the vessel as U.S.S. Barnes (CVE-7) on 30th September 1942. Through the Lend-Lease programme, the vessel instantly transferred to the Royal Navy as H.M.S. Attacker.
Imperial War Museum Photo: (A 17852) (Part of the Admiralty Official Collection). Auxiliary Carrier H.M.S. Attacker under the command of Captain W.W.P. Shirley off the coast of Greenock, Scotland. Photo taken on 7th July 1943. Copyright Lieutenant S.J. Beadell.
Pilot Acting Sub-Lieutenant George Patrick Lefroy Pardoe died as Supermarine Seafire LR761 crashed into the Co. Antrim hillside. He was the lead pilot of a group of planes on a low-level training exercise. “Pat” was 27 years old and from Purley, Surrey, England. His grave is in Section 10, Block F, Grave 899 of Larne New Cemetery, Larne, Co. Antrim. Short and Harland Ltd., Belfast received the wreckage of the Seafire on 18th February 1944.