A SOUTH Lakeland seaman, who took part in the famous sinking of the Scharnhorst during the Second World War, has died aged 86.

Commander Denis Jackson, an officer in the Royal Navy for 36 years, who lived at Scar View, Levens, from the early 1980s, was brought up in a strong Methodist family in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where he was born in 1922.

He attended Wolstanton County Grammar School, in Stoke, before attending Oxford University in 1939 to study physics. However, his stint at university was curtailed following the outbreak of war.

Mr Jackson was drafted into the Royal Navy, initially as a radar officer. He saw action in the Atlantic aboard the Duke of York, and was involved in the sinking of the German battleship, the Scharnhorst, during the battle of North Cape, off the coast of Norway in 1943.

The battleship had been causing havoc to Allied shipping lanes along with its sister ship, the Gneisenau. Following this sinking, the Germans did not attempt to attack British Arctic convoys, which were vital to Britain's survival during the early part of the war, with surface ships again. He was awarded a medal for his services protecting the convoys in the Atlantic.

Mr Jackson remained in the Navy after the war, serving all over the world, including the Caribbean, and rising to the rank of commander. He specialised in communication, becoming a weapons, electrical engineering and telecommunications specialist. He was in charge of all naval shore-based communications in the early 1970s.

He retired from the Navy at the age of 53 and was subsequently employed by the Ministry of Defence at a firing range, in West Cumbria.

During his time in the Navy, he met and married Jean. They had a happy marriage of 14 years until Jean's death from heart problems in 1969.

A few years later, his sister, Freda, introduced him to Betty Edmondson. They shared a love of the countryside, music and travelling, and visited friends all over the world.

His retirement was filled with walk leading, giving talks on local wildlife and flowers, singing in choirs and attending concerts.

He also undertook work for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, right up to the onset of his illness.

Mr Jackson died at St Wilfred's Hall, Halton.