In August 1940, the German navy launched the pocket battleship Bismarck. The Bismarck was heavily armored and heavily gunned, and was the one of the most powerful warships ever built.

Germany intended for the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to elude the British fleet, break into the Atlantic Ocean and prey on Allied Shipping between North America and Great Britain. The results of this raid could have been disastrous.

On May24th, 1941, along with the Prinz Eugen, the Bismarck engaged the British Battle cruiser HMS Hood, and in a brief encounter during the Battle of Denmark Strait, sank the Hood, and heavily damaged the HMS Prince of Wales. This battle prompted Winston Churchill to utter the famous words, “Sink the Bismarck.”

On May 26th, the Bismarck was spotted by a PBY Catalina flying boat of the US Navy. The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal of the British Navy subsequently launched Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers to attack the Bismarck. The Swordfish, known at the “String bag” was a slow, fabric covered bi-plane that carried a single torpedo. One of these torpedoes struck the Bismarck's rudder, jamming it and causing it to steam in circles. The British fleet waited till dawn and launched the attack that ultimately destroyed one of the most feared war machines ever created.

One of the aviators that launched from the Ark Royal was Cdr. Terry Goddard of the 818 Royal Air Squadron. Cdr. Goddard and his fellow aviators took off from a pitching, rolling carrier deck, in a WWI Vintage biplane, to attack one the most dangerous warships the world had ever seen. These brave aviators knew full well that the likelihood of their returning safely was very low. These men were true heroes.

Seventy years later, a gentleman walked into a Canadian hobby store looking for a model of a Fairey Swordfish. The proprietor, Henry Dervaric, sold him the model, but later the gentleman called and asked if he could return the model. His eyesight was not what it used to be, and he was unable to build it himself. That gentleman was Cdr. Terry Goddard. Henry told Cdr. Goddard that he would build the model for him instead. Cdr. Goddard came back to pick it up a few months later.

The proprietor of that hobby shop is a member of The Cigar Box Nation, and one of the builders who has donated guitars to military service members across the globe.

Cdr. Goddard graciously agreed to autograph some cigar boxes, and Henry passed them along to other Cigar Box Nation members.

This particular box was made into a three string cigar box guitar by Dan Sleep of Humidorguitars.Com.

As of Jun 2011, Cdr. Goddard was one of only 4 remaining survivors of the attack on the Bismarck.