[1] With a heavy black beard, he "possessed the outward appearance of a latter-day buccaneer and was endowed with exceptional boldness and tenacity to go with it".

[2][3] His blackthorn shillelagh and bulldog Winston provided an image when portrayed by Kenneth More in the film The Longest Day.

[5][6] On 29 November 1939, in company with the destroyers Kingston and Kashmir, Icarus depth charged and sank the German submarine U-35.

[7] On 3 March 1940, in company with Express, Impulsive and Esk, Maud's Icarus laid a minefield, which claimed U-44 ten days later.

[8][9][10] In early May 1941, Maud commanded Icarus during the hunt for Bismarck, escorting the battle cruiser Hood and the battleship Prince of Wales.

Poor weather meant that the destroyers were unable to keep up with the capital ships, and when Hood had been sunk, Icarus joined in the search for survivors, of which there were only three.

She was hit in her engine room and although taken under tow by Ashanti, on 25 September heavy weather broke the destroyer's back and she sank.

Maud had spent an hour in the Arctic water and credited his survival to the fact that he had drunk a bottle of whisky after going overboard.

The preparations included Maud driving round the streets of Bayeux carrying a French Resistance leader shouting "General de Gaulle will speak at four o'clock on the Place du Chateau".

His last appointment in the Royal Navy was as Commandant of the Amphibious Warfare Centre at Fremington, Devon, in the rank of commodore, second class.