Frank Backhouse
Royal Navy
Born: 7th May 1906.
Story
Frank was the son of John Thomas Backhouse (1872-1953, pictured below left) and Margaret Cubar (1875-1906). Frank’s mother passed away shortly after he was born, and his father re-married Edith Hinchliffe (1874-1947) on 14th September 1918. Frank’s paternal grandparents were Christopher Backhouse (1844-1919) and Emma King (1846-1937), both pictured below right. Until she passed away on Christmas Day 1937 aged 91, Emma held the title of Kippax’s oldest resident. As an eight years-old girl, she was making nightshirts for British troops fighting in the Crimean War, and was also the oldest participant in 1926 for the Kippax Ladies March to raise funds for miners during the General Strike.
Frank started work at Allerton Bywater Colliery, then worked at Ledston Hall for Sir Granville Charles Hastings Wheler, 1st Baronet, MP (1872-1927, pictured below). For a time, Frank also moved to Ottenden Place, Kent, as the Whelers spent most of their time at their second home in Kent.
Before the War, Frank had moved back to 15 Hirst Street, Allerton Bywater and was working as Manager for Messrs. Keyzers at Castleford, who were Gentleman’s Outfitters.
Frank became a Special Constable at the outbreak of War, and then joined the Royal Navy, serving on the Captain’s staff of the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. Before she was even commissioned, Victorious (pictured below) was attacked by German aircraft on 27 January 1941, and was narrowly missed by two bombs. Her first mission began two weeks after her commissioning when she sailed in the group that hunted for the German battleship Bismarck, while carrying only a quarter the quantity of aircraft she was intended to carry. On 24 May 1941, she launched nine Fairey Swordfish biplanes and two Fulmar fighters against the Bismarck, scoring one hit to Bismarck’s armoured belt amidst heavy anti-aircraft fire. On 9 March 1941, 12 of her Albacore torpedo bombers attacked the battleship Tirpitz; they scored no hits and two were lost, but the attack made the German naval command act more conservatively in the presence of Allied aircraft. In May and June 1942, she escorted convoys PQ-15 and PQ-17 to Murmansk. She participated in Operation Pedestal in August 1942 in an attempt to supply Malta; the operation was a success, but she suffered light damage dealt by Italian bombers. In November 1942, Victorious directly supported Operation Torch landings in North Africa.
After a refit at the Norfolk Navy Yard in the United States, Victorious sailed through the Panama Canal for the Pacific on loan to the US Navy. During this time, she had the code name USS Robin, named after the character Robin Hood. Sailing alongside the American carrier Saratoga, she participated in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1943.
On 3 Apr 1944, after escorting several convoys to Russia across the North Atlantic, Victorious was a part of Operation Tungsten, a large attack aimed at sinking Tirpitz. 20 Barracuda aircraft supported by Corsair fighters attacked the German battleship in two waves, hitting her 14 times, putting her out of commission for three months. This attack made Victorious the first Royal Navy carrier to operationally use the American-made Corsair fighter. In June 1944, after a refit, Victorious sailed to join the British Eastern Fleet based on Ceylon. She struck Japanese positions at Palembang and the Andaman Island. En route to the Pacific Ocean, she struck Japanese installations at Pankalan Brandan and Palembang, Sumatra, under the code name Operation Meridian. In April 1945, she attacked Japanese defensive positions on Okinawa, and was hit by two successive Kamikaze special attack aircraft at 16:56 on 9 May off Sakishima Gunto. Three were killed during the attack, but she suffered only minor damage. Towards the end of the war, Victorious participated in the bombardment of the Japanese home islands.
On 8th February 1952, the local press were covering a story about the scrapping of the Cunard Line vessel, RMS Aquitania, as two local men had served on the ship during the Second World War, and had been sent a commemorative piece of wood direct from the ship. Frank stated he had also made a journey on the Aquitania during the war, and recalled the palatial lounge and the daily news sheet.
Returning to Allerton Bywater, Frank later married widow Alice Margaret Coe (1910-1987) on 2nd July 1953 in Methley. Frank passed away at Temple House, Woodrow, Methley on 9th December 1985, aged 75.
Kippax Roll of Honour 