A RETIRED coastguard officer, and a founder member of the IW branch of the Submarine Old Comrades Associa-tion, has died aged 91.
John Finch, of Downs View Road, Bembridge, was born in Heywood, Lancashire, in 1926.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1942, and then joined the battleship HMS Anson in 1943 as a boy lookout on Arctic convoys.
At 18 years old, he was promoted to gun layer and remained on the Anson until 1944.
He also served in combined operations in Europe and the Far East before joining HMS Glasgow in August 1946.
Mr Finch transferred to submarines in 1947 and after training at HMS Dolphin, Gosport, served on boats Maidstone, Sidon, Tiptoe, Andrew and mother ship HMS Forth achieving the rank of chief petty officer.
Mr Finch’s service took the family to Malta twice in 1956 and 1961, and Singapore in 1967.
He retired in 1971, after 29 years’ service, but he then had a second career with HM Coastguard Service.
He joined the service at Rhossili, South Wales, and after three years was promoted and transferred to the Rescue Headquarters Thames District, Essex.
His duties returned the family to the Island in 1978 when he was the senior watch officer at The Needles until 1980.
He was then appointed to Bembridge as the East Wight sector officer.
Mr Finch retired in August 1989 as a well-known and respected figure among the Solent sea-going community.
Among the highlights of Mr Finch’s coastguard career were his experiences during the 1987 hurricane and a Coastguard Commendation for the rescue of a young swimmer by rocket line off the Worms Head, South Wales.
Mr Finch met Shirley Waight, from East Cowes, in 1951 when she was training as a nurse at St Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth.
They married in Wootton Methodist Church in April 1953 and went on to have five children. During retirement, Mr and Mrs Finch travelled extensively, visiting Australia 15 times.
Mr Finch’s funeral was held at the IW Crematorium on April 4.
His wife died in 2007, his son Stephen in 2008 and his son Michael in 2016. He leaves daughters Lynne and Carole, son Andrew and four grandchildren.