Real Lives: Jack was at home among the waves or on the land

He was born in 1919, and attended the local school, Pangbourne Nautical College before joining the navy. He took part in King George V's jubilee review of the fleet at Spithead in 1935, and in 1937 King George VI's coronation review.

When the Second World War broke out he was a navigator on the destroyer, HMS Broke, and in 1940, as part of the crew, he helped evacuate troops and civilians from western France, including the 52nd Lowland Division from Cherbourg.

For his part in the withdrawal of more than 20,000 Poles from Brest, he was awarded the Polish Krzyz Walecznych (Cross of Valour).

He went on to serve as first lieutenant of HMS Georgetown, and in February 1942 was appointed first lieutenant of the destroyer HMS Forester.

The ship was accompanying HMS Edinburgh out of Murmansk when it was torpedoed by a U-boat, and in the ensuing battle the captain of HMS Forester was killed and the ship badly damaged.

Capt Bitmead, then just 23 years old, took command and, fearing that the Germans might attempt to board, ordered the confidential books to be thrown overboard, and the engineers to make what repairs they could.

He was then able to steer slowly towards the other British ships whilst firing on the German destroyers.

He later returned to Britain as part of the escort for another cruiser, HMS Trinidad, which had infamously torpedoed herself.

She was overwhelmed by German air attack and set on fire, and Capt Bitmead wrote of the attack: "We were the first alongside and took off the stretcher cases and other wounded, in total about 70. The fires were very fierce and the exploding small arms ammunition would have made any Guy Fawkes night seem like a damp squib. Because of the wounded we were dispatched ahead of the fleet to fuel in Iceland and proceed to Scapa."

He became one of the youngest naval officers of the Second World War to be awarded the DSO "for his distinguished service in taking convoys to and from Murmansk through the dangers of ice and heavy seas and in the face of relentless attacks by enemy U-boats, aircraft and surface forces".

He went on to commanded five more ships, including the destroyers Meynell, Mendip, Broadsword and the frigate HMS Veryan Bay.

His last command was the destroyer HMS Duchess during Konfrontasi, the Indonesian attack on Malaysia.

He married Anne Therese O'Keefe in 1942, and after leaving the navy settled with his wife in East Lothian. He soon became known as an accomplished market gardener who supplied Edinburgh shops and the royal kitchens in Scotland.