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Peter John Cundy DSO, DFC, AFC, TD (3 October 1916 – 4 August 2005) was a British military aviator who fought during the Second World War. While serving under the RAF Coastal Command he was involved in new techniques for locating and destroying enemy .
On 11 April 1940 Cundy was attached to the Royal Air Force, being granted a temporary commission as a pilot officer. After completing flight training he joined No. 53 Squadron, to fly with Coastal Command, attacking U-boat bases along the French Atlantic coast. He was promoted to the war substantive rank of flying officer on 11 April 1941.
In 1941 Cundy joined No. 120 Squadron, flying a new long-range American-built B-24 Liberator. On 11 January 1942 while on patrol over the Bay of Biscay, he saw a Heinkel He 115 twin-engined floatplane, and manoeuvred his aircraft so his gunners could bring their fire to bear. The seaplane escaped into cloud with an engine on fire. Soon afterwards Cundy sighted the refuelling alongside a large tanker. Cundy immediately attacked both vessels with depth charges and machine gun fire. The submarine was damaged but dived, leaving a large patch of surface oil. Cundy was then attacked by another enemy He 115, but the Liberator's gunners drove it away damaged before Cundy resumed his attack on the tanker. Cundy and his navigator, Pilot Officer Ronald Roxburgh Fabel, were both subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Cundy was promoted to the war substantive rank of flight lieutenant on 11 April 1942, and in May he and his crew were detached to America to assist in the development of a new air-to-surface radar. They then joined No. 224 Squadron in October 1942, flying the maritime version of the B-24 Liberator from St Eval in Cornwall on patrols in over the Bay of Biscay.
On patrol on 3 July 1943, Cundy sighted a U-boat on the surface several miles ahead. With his gunners opening fire with machine guns, he dived to attack and launched the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon onto the submarine, , which had recently left Brest on its fourth cruise. He made a second attack despite his aircraft suffering serious damage from return fire. Cundy then dropped four depth charges which straddled the submarine. Cundy made a further attack as the submarine settled low in the water. As he circled after his third attack, it was seen that the U-boat had sunk and crewmen were in the water. Cundy nursed his aircraft back to St Eval on three engines; there was also damage to the fuel tanks and the aircraft's tail, but he made a safe landing. This was the first use of the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon from an aircraft.
On 23 July 1943 Cundy was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His citation read:
Throughout the war Cundy had served on attachment to the RAF, but on 1 September 1945 he finally relinquished his Territorial Army commission as a second lieutenant, accepting a permanent commission in the RAF, with the rank of squadron leader.
Cundy then flew Dakota transport aircraft before becoming an instructor, serving for three years with the Air Training Wing in Rhodesia, then with No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit, equipped with the Avro Lancaster. In May 1951 he assumed command of No. 210 Squadron, operating the Lancaster in the maritime reconnaissance role from Ballykelly in Northern Ireland.
He was promoted to wing commander on 1 January 1952, and eventually retired from the RAF on 3 October 1963.
Cundy retired to East Anglia, where he enjoyed fishing and shooting. Cundy died on 4 August 2005. He had married Section Officer Sheila Frost, WAAF, in 1945. She died six days before her husband, and they were survived by three sons and a daughter.
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