On 13th February 1944, a Supermarine Seafire FIII from Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 894 Squadron came down south of Mew Island, Donaghadee, Co. Down.
Naval Air Squadron 894 was at RAF Ballyhalbert, Ballyhalbert, Co. Down at the time of the incident. They had arrived a week earlier on 6th February 1944 from HMS Ringtail/RNAS Burscough, Lancashire.
The pilot of the Seafire was Acting Sub-Lieutenant John Esmond Marshall. John was 23 years old, the son of Henry Horace Marshall and Constance Marshall of Thomas, Auckland, New Zealand. He served in the Royal New Zealand Navy Volunteer Reserve.
A boat dispatched from SS Cambria recovered the airman’s body. His grave is in Glenalina Extension, Section D, Grave 30 of Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast.