He saw active service in
World War I in as a midshipman in the battleship
Emperor of India before transferring to submarines in 1920. He became the commander of four submarines before his retirement in 1936. During
World War II Hackforth-Jones was recalled to the
Admiralty, serving in the Technical Branch. His novel
Fish Out of Water (1954), is informed by his experiences in
Birmingham in the early years of this war. It concerns a technical officer battling against indifference, ignorance and sabotage in his efforts to ensure the efficient production of
munitions in the war effort. In
Yellow Peril (1972), Hackforth-Jones re-worked a short story that first appeared in
Sixteen Bells (1946) into a full-length novel. == Bibliography ==