George Honour


George Butler Honour DSC, was a British submariner during the Second World War. Honour was captain of HMS X23, one of the X-Craft responsible for guiding landing craft on during Operation Neptune. His particular role was to aid the navigation of ships heading for one of the British invasion areas, codenamed Sword.

Early life

Honour was born on 10 October 1918 in Bristol, England. Honour joined the Royal Navy when war broke out in 1939, serving in small ships in the Mediterranean. He married Naomi Celia Coles, a lieutenant in the Women's Royal Naval Service.

Second World War

Honour was a member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. During the Second World War, Honour served in Operation Gambit which was part of Operation Neptune. During the operation, X20 and X23 acted as lightships to help the D-Day invasion fleet land on the correct beaches, as part of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties. Setting out on 2 June, HMS X20 and HMS X23, captained by Honour, arrived in position on 4 June. Due to the delay caused by bad weather, they were ordered to remain in position until 4:30 a.m. on 6 June when they finally surfaced before erecting the navigational aids, an 18-foot telescopic mast with a light shining to seaward, a radio beacon and echo sounder, tapping out a message for the minelayers approaching the Sword landing area.

Awards