Michael was educated at Wrekin College, Shropshire from 1930-1935 and commenced training as a Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy on the outbreak of war.
Commissioned to his first ship, the Duchess of Richmond in June 1940, he made numerous voyages across the Atlantic.
He later transferred to the SS Samala, a 5,320 ton British cargo steamer. This ship left Jamaica, en route to Liverpool from Kingston, carrying a cargo of bananas when she was torpedoed by U-37 and sunk on Monday 30th September 1940.
All the crew were lost. Michael was 24 and is commemorated on the Merchant Navy Memorial, Tower Hill, London. Elder son of Dudley Granville Ackroyd & Marjorie Ackroyd of Frizinghall, Yorkshire.
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