William Jason Maxwell Borthwick William Jason Maxwell Borthwick ( 1 November 1910 – 15 January 1998 ) was the son of Hon . William Borthwick and Ruth Margery Rigby . He married Elizabeth Cleveland Elworthy , daughter of Herbert Elworthy , on 26 July 1937 . He died at the age of 87 . William Jason Maxwell Borthwick usually went by his middle name of Jason . He was educated at Winchester College and at Trinity College , Cambridge . He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1933 and was entitled to practice as a Barrister . During the Second world war , he gained the rank of Commander in the service of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve . He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross ( DSC ) . Career highlights . Commander Jason Borthwick was a director of naval fighter aircraft , whose captain did not speak to him for a year until he won a DSC . He pioneered Naval Fighter Direction , the science of interpreting radar screens so as to send fighters out on the right bearing , at the correct height , and with enough time to intercept incoming enemy aircraft . He served in HMS Victorious during Operation Pedestal , and on Admiral Ramsay ' s staff for the D - Day landings in Normandy in June 1944 . He was Chief Instructor of the Fighter Direction School , and organised fighter direction in Indian Ocean operations , including the invasion of Rangoon in May 1945 . Development of fighter direction . Fighter direction was developed during the Second world war : the concept of the control and direction of Naval fighter aircraft from their parent Aircraft carrier had not been conceived prior to 1935 . In the second half of 1942 , working in the Home Fleet in the Navy ' s only operational radar - fitted Fleet carrier , Jason Borthwick in HMS Victorious was mastering the art of intercepting long - range Focke - Wulf Fw 200 aircraft . These attacked convoys far out in the Atlantic , in conditions of cloud and visibility very different from those prevailing in the Mediterranean . He operated in a corner of the plotting office with a home made plotting board , portable R / T set and an array of voice pipes . He was assisted by one untrained plotter . At first he had an uphill task establishing his position in a big ship ' s hierarchy , but continuing success brought status . A year later he had his own Fighter Direction Office , a Fighter Direction Officer as Filter Officer with two plotters , two Intercept Officers with and intercept plot each , and a third intercept for Borthwick to use in emergency . He sat at a dais with room for the Fleet Direction Officer beside him . HMS Victorious was then chosen as Flagship for Operation Pedestal in August 1942 , being a no - holds - barred attempt to relieve the island of Malta . Apart from her experience against FW 200 long - range reconnaissance aircraft in the Atlantic , she had previously covered Malta convoys as part of Force H , based at Gibraltar . At that time , HMS Victorious had the best Fighter Direction Office in the Fleet . The operation led to the most intense sea - air battle against the Luftwaffe yet seen , and the first full - scale test of the recent improvements in the Royal Navy ' s fighter direction . C - in - C Home Fleet regarded the HMS Victorious Fighter Direction Office as a showpiece for VIP visitors . On one occasion the Prime Minister climbed into Borthwick ' s high chair at the dais , which had been unscrewed from the desk for maintenance . The chair tilted forward , and only a quick grab of each arm by C - in - C and the Fighter Direction Officer saved Churchill from a dive . These VIP visits helped Borthwick to obtain hardware and , above all , good officers . Commander Jason Borthwick - Daily Telegraph Obituary . Director of naval fighter aircraft whose captain did not speak to him for a year , until he won a DSC COMMANDER JASON BORTHWICK , who has died aged 87 , pioneered Naval Fighter Direction , the science of interpreting radar screens so as to send fighters out on the right bearing , at the correct height , and with enough time to intercept incoming enemy aircraft . When , in September 1941 , Borthwick joined one of the earliest courses at HMS Heron , the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton , Somerset , fighter direction was in its infancy , and much of the training equipment improvised . For " aircraft " , the fledgling Fighter Defence Officers ( FDOs ) used commandeered Stop - Me - and - Buy - One ice cream tricycles which were pedalled around the airfield by Wrens who could not see where they were going and were directed to " intercept " on earphones . When they qualified , Borthwick ' s coursemates , known as the Famous Five — all five had been to Cambridge and were expert dinghy sailors — were appointed to aircraft carriers . Some were coolly received , both because they were RNVR and because fighter direction was still virtually unknown in the fleet . Borthwick went to Victorious , whose captain did not speak to him for a year . Borthwick had an uphill task to establish himself in the ship ' s hierarchy . He worked in a corner of the plotting office , with a homemade plotting table , a portable radio - telephone set , and an array of voice pipes . He had asked for a telephone line to the radar office , but the captain wrote on his request : " Voice pipes are quicker and more efficient . " But Borthwick and the other FDOs quickly gained the confidence of the fleet fighter pilots , who grew used to the sound of " their " FDOs ' voices over the radio . Within a year , Borthwick had his own Fighter Direction Office , with his own staff of intercept officers and plotters . Victorious wore the flag of the Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers Home Fleet for the Malta convoy Pedestal , one of the most spectacular operations of the war at sea . On 10 August 1942 , 14 merchant ships , among them the tanker Ohio , headed eastward through the Straits of Gibraltar , escorted by the battleships Nelson and the carriers Eagle , Indomitable and Victorious ( and Furious , with Spitfires for Malta ) , seven cruisers , and 32 destroyers . During Pedestal ' s hectic passage , nine of the merchantmen were sunk . Also lost were the cruisers Manchester and Cairo , and the destroyer Foresight . Of the carriers , Eagle was sunk by a U - boat and Indomitable suffered three heavy bomb hits which put her flight deck out of action , so the main burden of the convoy ' s fighter defence was borne by Victorious with the help of " orphans " from the other two carriers . Borthwick and his staff handled the fighters with great skill over a very tense period of some days , generally managing to maintain Combat Air Patrols ( CAPs ) from dawn to dusk , despite losses . For his part in Pedestal , Borthwick was awarded the DSC , one of the earliest fighter direction honours of the war . His captain spoke to him for the first time to congratulate him . William Jason Maxwell Borthwick was born on 1 November 1910 . From Winchester he went up to Trinity College , Cambridge , to read Law ( three of the Famous Five went to Trinity ) . He was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1933 , but joined his family firm of Thomas Borthwick and Sons , meat importers , in 1934 and travelled extensively to Australia and New Zealand . Borthwick had joined the RNVR before the war , but his membership lapsed during his travels . When he applied to rejoin in 1939 , he was told he was too old for a commission . He did not want to join on the lower deck because , as a barrister he " would be shunted aside into some routine job , probably in the Admiralty . " He therefore joined the River Fire Service and spent the severe winter of 1939 - 40 skippering a launch on the Thames . Early in 1940 , Borthwick heard about a new Admiralty order that holders of the old Board of Trade Yachtmaster ' s Ticket could be interviewed for a commission . He sat the examination , got his ticket , and was commissioned later that year . After a short course at HMS Osprey , the anti - submarine school at Portland , he joined HM Tug Bedfordshire , as first lieutenant , carrying out anti - submarine patrols from Swansea . He then served as first lieutenant of HM Tug Angle , escorting convoys to Iceland , before volunteering for fighter direction . He stayed in Victorious after Pedestal , and directed the ship ' s fighters in Operation Torch , the landings in North Africa in 1942 . From Victorious , Borthwick returned to Yeovilton as chief instructor of the Fighter Direction School . His students were young officers who could not navigate themselves , let alone direct others . The course that Borthwick introduced laid the foundations of fighter direction technique for the rest of the war . By now one of the Navy ' s experts on fighter direction , Borthwick served on Admiral Ramsay ' s staff for the D - Day landings in Normandy in June 1944 . He then went out to the Far East with the rank of Commander , joining the Naval Air Commander , East Indies , to organise fighter direction in Indian Ocean operations . These included Dracula , the invasion of Rangoon in May 1945 . Borthwick rejoined the family firm in 1946 and was a director for 30 years . At home in Norfolk , he was chairman of Brancaster Parish Council and Commodore of Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club . In 1966 he won the Jollyboat world championship , held at Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club . He was a director of International Commodities Clearing House Ltd , a member of the Central Council of Physical Recreation , and chairman of the National Sailing Centre at Cowes . He was a life member of the Wardroom Mess HMS Dryad . At Winchester and later , Jason Borthwick built boats , carved furniture , and manufactured radio sets . In 1925 , he and another boy made one of the first television sets . " Admittedly , " he said , " it only transmitted a picture from one end of a long bench to another , but it was television . " He married , in 1937 , Elizabeth ( " Spud " ) Elworthy , who died in 1978 . They had a son and three daughters .