Introduction
1 By the outbreak of war 224’s Hudsons were operating from Leuchars and had been joined by a second squadron (233) at Bircham Newton. A third Hudson squadron (220) was also in the process of converting from Ansons at Thornaby. Over 200 Hudson Is had been delivered by the middle of 1940 and orders were placed for an additional 150 aircraft. Orders for 20 Hudson IIs and 414 Hudson IIIs followed. Over 800 Hudsons were delivered to the RAF against British contracts before the introduction of Lend-Lease. The first version supplied under Lend-Lease was the Hudson IIIA, 382 of which were delivered and were followed by 309 Hudson Vs and 450 Hudson VIs. To these were added the 30 Hudson IVs diverted from a RAAF contract. Total deliveries of Hudsons to the RAF were just over 2,000. In Coastal Command they were operated on Nos. 48, 59, 206, 220, 224, 233, 269, 279, 280, 320, 407, 500 and 608 Squadrons. Aircraft of the RAF Since 1918 by Owen Thetford (Putnam 1979).
2 So Few; The Immortal Record of the RAF by David Masters.
3 Between April 1940 and March 1943 Bomber and Coastal Commands laid nearly 16,000 mines at a cost of 329 aircraft. These mines sank 369 vessels, totalling 361,821 tons. During the same period Bomber, Coastal and Fighter Commands delivered 3,700 attacks on ships at sea at a cost of 648 aircraft that resulted in the sinking of 107 vessels, totalling 155,076 tons.
4 ‘Ginger’ Bowhill, who had originally entered the Royal Navy as in 1898 as a midshipman, had taken over as AOC-in-C Coastal Command vice Philip Joubert on 18 August 1937.
5 Term applied to Sonar equipment used for locating submerged submarines. ASDIC (an acronym for ‘anti-Submarine Detection Committee’ the organization that began research into this device in 1917) emitted a distinct ‘ping’ when locating the target.
6 The second ‘Happy Time’ for the U-boats came with the entry into the war by America following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The US Navy failed to learn from the bitter experience suffered by the Royal Navy and shipping losses off the American eastern seaboard ‘grew to ridiculous proportions’. Between January and June 1942 567 ships were sunk at a cost of 21 U-boats. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
Chapter 1 Norwegian Campaign
7 ‘Atfero,’ as the organization was known at first, was taken over by the RAF in 1941. In January 1942 two Australians and a Canadian created a transatlantic record. The Hudson was one of several aircraft, fresh from US factories, which were awaiting delivery. The two RAAF men and the Canadian were among a number of young men who had just completed training in Canada and were also awaiting transport. The RAAF men were English-born Pilot Officer G. V. Syer, pilot, who was a clergyman in civil life and Pilot Officer R. A. Stevenson, of Sydney, navigator and the Canadian was Pilot Officer A. Harris. Record breaking was not the objective of the ferry flight. The only object then, as it was throughout the war, was to ‘deliver the goods,’ but soon after takeoff Syer found he had a tail wind of 40/50 mph and stayed with it. The Hudson took off from Gander, Newfoundland at 0141 GMT, rising to 20,000 feet to surmount the heavy banks of cloud that filled the pre-dawn sky to that level. Later it rose still higher and stayed in the 20,000 to 30,000 feet band for most of the journey, using oxygen for six and a half hours because of the rarefied atmosphere. It became intensely cold. The temperature fell as low as minus 35° centigrade; the crew’s sandwiches froze into inedible rigidity and even the ‘hot’ coffee in the Thermos flask became icy. Landfall, in Scotland, was made at 0800 GMT within a few miles of the estimated point of arrival. When the crew arrived at Prestwick at 0921 GMT they had clocked 7 hours 40 minutes - 30 minutes better than the previous record set up by a Liberator. Sometime after the flight eye trouble sent Sye back to his former vocation as a padre in the RAFVR. RAAF Over Europe (Eyre & Spottiswoode 1946).
8 Task For Coastal Command by Hector Bolitho (1946).
9 On 28 May 1943 a Hudson on 608 Squadron operating from Blida in North Africa was the first RAF aircraft to sink a U-boat by means of rocket-projectiles fired from beneath the wings
10 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
11 The Swordfish drawn from 815 and 819 Squadrons embarked in Illustrious and 813 and 824 Squadrons from Eagle, temporarily embarked in Illustrious, each specially fitted with long-range tanks in the rear cockpit displacing the third crew member, took off from Illustrious, 180 miles from the target. The first strike force, of 12 aircraft, was airborne at 2030 and was followed by a second force of nine aircraft after an hour’s interval. Eleven of the Swordfish carried torpedoes, six carried bombs and four were equipped with flares to illuminate the target. The first flare-droppers arrived over the target about 23.00 and the strike force dived to the attack through the middle of a balloon barrage. Despite intense AA fire, they all hit the target and only one aircraft was lost. The second wave, which arrived at midnight, was equally successful and again only one Swordfish was lost. Next day, when the smoke cleared, air reconnaissance showed that three battleships Cavour, Duilio and Italia had all been severely damaged and two of them were under water. Also, the cruiser Trento and the destroyers Libeccio and Pessango had been hit, two auxiliary vessels sunk and seaplane hangars and oil-storage tanks destroyed.
12 Task For Coastal Command by Hector Bolitho (1946).
13 French added a Bar for his part in the attack on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. These warships made their famous run from Brest up the Channel on 12 February 1942 in an attempt to join the other German surface vessels at Trondheim. RAAF Over Europe.
14 Wellington I L4387 LG-L.
15 A second reconnaissance made on 22 April also by a Wellington covered 1,180 miles in eight and a half hours and photographed Trondheim. It saw, among much else of interest, twenty-two German aircraft on ‘a frozen lake’ at Jonsvatnet, used by the Germans as a makeshift airfield and its signal about this discovery was picked up by an aircraft carrier whose aircraft ‘bombed the lake with excellent effect.’
16 Wellingtons on 38 Squadron also operated against Sola airfield and flew the first of three operations to Stavanger on the 16th.
17 Oberfeldwebel Förster gained a further six night victories before reverting to 2./JG 27, scoring another ten daylight victories. He was KIA in North Africa on 14 December 1941 on his 287th operational flight.
18 The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt (Midland Publishing Ltd 1985, 1990, 1995). By the end of April the RN had lost four destroyers, three submarines and a sloop; five other warships suffered damage from bombs; the Rodney among them. By air and sea attack the Germans lost four cruisers, eleven destroyers, five U-boats, thirty transport and supply ships and probably ten more. Two of their battleships were severely damaged.
19 Quoted in The Goldfish Club by Danny Danziger (Little Brown 2012).
20 Jameson was awarded a half share in the destruction of the two flying-boats and he was awarded the destruction of the Ju 88, the first of his nine victories during the war.
21 Captain Guy D’Oyly-Hughes was granted permission to proceed independently to Scapa Flow in the early hours of 8 June to hold a court-martial of his Commander (Air), J. B. Heath, who had refused an order to carry out an attack on shore targets on the grounds that the targets were at best ill-defined and his aircraft were unsuited to the task and who had been left behind in Scapa to await trial.
22 Therefore the total of survivors was 40, including one each from Acasta and Ardent. The total killed or missing was 1,207 from Glorious, 160 from Acasta and 152 from Ardent, a total of 1,519. Recovering from the ordeal, Jameson was awarded the DFC on 19 July and then he was posted to command 266 Squadron at Wittering on 17 September. In early June he became Wing Commander Flying at Wittering and received a Bar to his DFC on 7 October, followed by a Mention in Despatches on 1 January 1942. On 10 March 1943 received a DSO. By late July 1944 he was commanding 122 Wing in 83 Group of 2nd Tactical Air Force in Normandy, initially controlling Mustang squadrons and then Tempests. He remained in the RAF until 6 August 1960, retiring as an Air Commodore. Aces High by Christopher Shores and Clive Williams (Grub Street 1994). In a long and distinguished career, ‘Bing’ Cross reached the rank of Air Vice Marshal K. B. B. Cross CB CBE DSO DFC.
Chapter 2 Wimpys Over The Waves
23 Wellingtons so equipped included the GR VIII, GR XI, GR XII and GR XIII variants and were known as ‘Sticklebacks’ or, on Malta, as ‘Goofingtons’. Aircraft equipped with ASV Mk.II proved so successful at detecting submarines that in August 1942 the Germans introduced the ‘Metox’ receiver to warn of approaching aircraft equipped with ASV. In late 1942 the Mk.III centimetric radar appeared. Comparable with the H2S navigation radar used by Bomber Command, in calm seas it was even capable of detecting a ‘schnorkel’ device from a submerged U-boat. The ‘Stickleback’ and Yagi antennae were replaced by a single rotating scanner housed in a radome beneath the nose of the aircraft, which in turn necessitated the replacement of the front gun turret with a Perspex cupola. It was not until the closing months of the war that the Germans introduced ‘Naxos’, a warning receiver operating on centimetric wavelengths. Even so, Naxos had a maximum range of just 5,000 metres or less than one minute’s warning of an attack.
24 Very early in the war Coastal Command had realised that its anti-submarine aircraft would need something more reliable than the quickly consumed flares they were using at night to illuminate U-boats during the last mile of the approach when ASV metre-wavelength radar was blind. As a result, in 1940 Squadron Leader Humphrey de Verde Leigh a personnel officer in Coastal Command was encouraged by the then Chief of Coastal Command, ACM Bowhill to develop the idea of an airborne searchlight. A pilot in WWI, Leigh had flown many anti-submarine patrols and had experienced the frustrations of searching for the elusive underwater craft. Locating the U-boat had become considerably easier since the introduction of ASV radar; nevertheless, the difficulties of the last mile or two of the approach remained. The target simply dropped off the radar screen, leaving the aircrew literally in the dark. Despite early difficulties, Leigh had his prototype installation ready by January 1941. The Leigh Light went into production but eighteen crucial months had elapsed between Leigh’s original suggestion and the first use of the device on operations.
25 In 1942 detachments form the Lancaster and Halifax squadrons of Bomber Command were temporarily transferred to Coastal Command. 51 and 77 Squadrons sent detachments to Chivenor in Devon to operate with 19 Group during 7 May to October. They were replaced on 24 October by Halifax aircraft and crews on 158 (five B.Mk.IIs) and 405 Squadron RCAF (15 Halifaxes) which operated from Beaulieu under the command of HQ Coastal Command. In addition to anti-U-boat patrols the Halifaxes were also responsible for convoy escort and anti-shipping strikes in open sea and in harbours along the enemy-held coast. Handley Page Halifax: From Hell to Victory and Beyond by K. A. Merrick (Chevron Publishing 2009).
26 (Henry) Hector Bolitho (28.5.1897-12.9.1974) was born in Auckland, New Zealand the son of Henry and Ethelred Frances Bolitho. A prolific author, novelist and biographer, in total, he had 59 books published. He travelled in the South Sea Islands in 1919 and then through New Zealand with the Prince of Wales in 1920, and Africa, Australia, Canada, America and Germany in 1923-1924, finally settling in Britain. He worked as a freelance journalist. At the start of WWII he joined the RAFVR as an intelligence officer with the rank of squadron leader, editing the RAF Weekly Bulletin, which in 1941 became the RAF Journal. In 1942 he was appointed editor of the Coastal Command Intelligence Review. Bolitho undertook several lecture tours of America, in 1938-39 and 1947-1949. The playright, Terrence Rattigan was posted to 422 Squadron RCAF as a Flying Officer WOp/AG and was later to be involved in the prperation of the squadron’s badge and motto.
27 Submarine: An anthology of first-hand accounts of the war under the sea, 1939-1945 edited by Jean Hood (Conway Maritime 2007).
28 On 5 June the Luigi Torelli was hastily repaired and left Aviles the next day. Sunderlands on 10 Squadron RAAF found the U-boat and after circling it realized that the Italian commander was unable to submerge. A total of 15 depth charges were dropped on the submarine by the two Sunderlands and they hounded the boat into Santander. A month later the Luigi Torelli ‘escaped internment’ at Santander and limped into Bordeaux. In 1943 the Luigi Torelli went to the Far East, was taken over by the Kriegsmarine after Italy’s surrender and retitled UIT-25. After Germany surrendered in May 1945 UIT-25 was used by the Japanese who titled her RO-504. Four months later she fell into American hands and was finally scuttled in 1946.
29 See In Great Waters: The Epic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-45 by Spencer Dunmore (Pimlico 2001). U-159 was bombed by a Martin Mariner of VP-32 210 miles ESE of Jamaica on 12 July 1943 and was lost with all 53 hands. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
30 They were formerly credited with the destruction of U-578, which was outbound on its fifth war cruise, having left St Nazaire on 6 August, for an operation in the North Atlantic. During 1942 the U-578 had sent five ships to the bottom of the sea. U-578 was lost with all 49 hands and including 40-year old Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Ernst-August Rehwinkel. When U-578 failed repeatedly to report its position, it was posted as missing in the Bay of Biscay effective 11 August 1942. However, research by Axel Niestlé (German U-boat Losses During WWII, Greenhill Books 1998) states that the attack was actually directed against U-135 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Friedrich-Hermann Praetorious, inflicting minor damage. U-135 was sunk in a Royal Naval action on 15 July 1943 when it was depth charged by the sloop HMS Rochester and corvettes HMS Balsam and HMS Mignonette escorting Convoy OS.51 between the Canaries and Africa. Five of U-135’s crew were killed; 41 survived and were taken prisoner. See U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998). The Chief Petty Officer, describing his feelings to interrogators, said ‘We felt as if we were being led to the slaughter house’.
31 Miroslav Vild, Flying With Fate by Alois Siska quoted in Thanks For The Memory: Unforgettable characters in Air Warfare 1939-45 by Laddie Lucas (Stanley Paul and Co Ltd 1989). In June 1943 311 were re-equipped with four-engined B-24 Liberators, altogether more formidable aircraft for the long Atlantic or northern waters patrols. On 24 June 1944 Flying Officer J. Vella DFC and crew attacked the U-971 which crash-dived and hit the seabed and then surfaced out of control during a depth charge attack by two TN destroyers. U-971 was scuttled and all except one of the crewmen were taken prisoner. When Miroslav Vild and the crew flew their 30th operation on 1 November 1944, their tour was over; for the radio and radar-operator it was his 106th mission. Siska was shot down three times, the third into the North Sea in midwinter while piloting a 311 Squadron Wellington. The ditching, on 28/29 December 1941 and six days in an open dinghy in arctic weather, had left him with but two companions as they were finally blown into captivity on the Dutch coast. Frostbite and gangrene had forced the German surgeons’ decision to amputate his legs. A heart attack stopped the operation as he was about to be wheeled to the theatre. Other treatment brought limited recovery. Three years later, Siska was taken by the Gestapo from Colditz to Prague, there to face trial by court-martial for ‘treason and espionage’ against the Third Reich. Only liberation by US forces thwarted the inevitable death by firing squad.
32 Wellington ‘E-for-Ela’ had sustained almost 40 bullet or cannon strikes, the starboard petrol tank had a six-inch square hole; the auxiliary oil tank was damaged; a jagged three feet by six feet hole had been ripped out in the wing fabric; wing ribs were damaged; airscrew spinners, engine nacelles, astro-dome, aerial and the length of the fuselage all bore strikes and ruptures. Exactly one month later, on 16 October 1942, Flying Officer Stanislas Targowski set off in high spirits on yet another trip over the notorious Biscay. That morning he had received his first letter from his wife, still in Poland - his first since 1939 - while only two hours after he left the squadron received notification of an award of the DFC for Targowski and immediately set about preparing a celebration party for his return. The squadron waited in vain - somewhere over the Bay that day Targowski and his crew, including four of ‘E-Ela’s crew on 16 September, were shot into the sea by the Luftwaffe.
33 In February the squadron handed its Wellingtons over to 172 and 179 Squadrons and reverted to the Whitley, which it flew until April 1943 when it was re-equipped with Wellingtons again.
34 Axel Niestlé: German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998). On 3 March 1943 Flying Officer Lundon and crew were shot down by U-333 during an attack.
35 U-333 was sunk on 31 July 1944. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998). Another 172 Squadron Wellington attack by ‘G-George’ on 22 March 1943, formerly credited with the destruction of U-665 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Adolf Dumrese, was actually directed against U-448 commanded by Oberleutnant zur see Helmut Dauter, inflicting no damage. U-448 was sunk during a naval action on 14 April 1944. Axel Niestlé: German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998).
36 West of St Nazaire on 2 May 1943 Flight Lieutenant E. C. Smith on 461 Squadron RAAF piloting a Sunderland, attacked U-465 commanded by 35-year old Korvettenkapitän Heinz Wolf, which was bound for the Atlantic. The conning tower was sighted and a flame float was dropped, followed by an aluminium sea marker and marine marker. At 1124 Smith sighted the U-boat on the surface and attacked with six depth charges. U-465 sank horizontally and then the stern emerged and disappeared vertically. Of the 48 crew, fifteen or more were seen to abandon ship but none were rescued. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
37 Axel Niestlé; German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998).
38 U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998)/Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
39 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
40 Ibid.
41 Conflict Over the Bay.
42 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998). U-134 was lost with all 48 hands. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
43 U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
44 After research by Axel Niestlé (German U-boat Losses During WWII, Greenhill Books 1998) who attributes the loss of U-669 to unknown causes. When U-669 repeatedly failed to report its position after sailing, it was posted as missing effective 8 September 1943. U-584 was lost with all 53 hands on 31 October 1943 when it was sunk by American Avenger torpedo bombers.
45 After dawn on 11 September, swarms of Hudsons and Swordfish of 48, 233, 833 and 886 (based at Gibraltar) located the abandoned hulk of U-617 and attacked with bombs and rockets. HMS Hyacinth, a corvette; British trawler Haarlem and Australian minesweeper Woollongong then arrived to destroy U-617 with shellfire. Hodgkinson, the Canadian who originally found and disabled U-617, was awarded the DFC. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
46 Brandi was later given command of U-380. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
47 See RAAF Over Europe edited by Frank Johnson (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, November 1946).
48 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
49 Later that morning, a US Navy PBY4-1 Liberator of VB 103, piloted by Lieutenant Kenneth L. Wright, found U-966 near El Ferrol. Wright made two attacks, dropping six depth charges and killing some Germans by gunfire. A PBY4-1 of VB 105 piloted by Leonard E. Harmon joined the attack. Soon there arrived yet another PBY4-1 of VB 110 piloted by Lieutenant J. A. Parrish, who dropped six close depth charges in spite of the heavy flak. Lastly, a Liberator on 311 Czech Squadron piloted by Flight Sergeant Otakar Zanta attacked U-966 with rockets about 3 miles off the Spanish coast. These attacks killed eight Germans and wrecked the boat. Wolf ran her aground off Punta Estaca and then blew her up. He and 41 other Germans reached shore in dinghies. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
50 Cornish was flying Wellington MP741 ‘Z-Zebra’ when he attacked the U-boat in the Mediterranean east of Gibraltar. All 52 hands including the commander, Oberleutnant zur see Dietrich Schöneboom perished. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
51 The crew were rescued by the Spanish fishing boat Fina and landed in Spain for return to France. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
52 It was previously believed that U-542 was sunk on 28 November 1943 by Wellington ‘L-London’ on 179 Squadron. The original assessment was changed in September 1990 following research by Axel Niestlé (German U-boat Losses During WWII, Greenhill Books 1998).
53 The variation in an aircraft’s intended track over land and sea due to winds.
54 Quoted in Out of the Blue: The Role of Luck in Air Warfare 1917-1966, edited by Laddie Lucas (Hutchinson & Co Publishers Ltd 1985).
55 On 10 March 1944 U-343 was sunk in a naval action
56 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
57 Axel Niestlé; German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998). When the U-boat failed repeatedly to show up or to signal its position, it was posted as missing, effective 31 January 1944. All 49 hands perished.
58 U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
59 U-525 was sunk with all 54 hands on 11 August by a Wildcat-Avenger team from the carrier USS Card. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
60 On 23 October 1944 U-256 was decommissioned at Bergen and cannibalised. In May 1945 the boat was captured by British forces.
61 U-629 had been damaged in an attack on 4 January 1944 by Wellington ‘C-Charlie’ on 304 Squadron. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
62 At 2214 hours on 7 June Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Owen ‘Kayo’ Moore, a Liberator pilot on 224 Squadron, took off in ‘G-George’ and at 0211 hours on the 8th a radar contact was made dead ahead at twelve miles. At three miles a U-boat was sighted on the surface in the moonlight. Moore did not need to switch on his Leigh Light and he attacked from about 50 feet with six depth charges, which straddled the conning tower. U-629 disappeared leaving wreckage and oil on the sea. It was lost with all 51 hands.
63 U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998)/Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
64 According to Axel Niestlé; German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998) it was subsequently thought that the attack by Punter was directed against U-802, inflicting no damage. U-193 failed to report its position after sailing from Lorient and it was posted as missing in the Bay of Biscay after 6 May 1944 with the loss of all 59 hands. U-802, which was presumed lost in October 1944, surfaced and surrendered on 9 May 1945. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
65 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)
66 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998). U-989 was lost in a naval action north of the Shetland Islands on 14 February 1945. All 47 hands perished. Axel Niestlé; German U-boat Losses During WWII (Greenhill Books 1998).
67 U-441 was a Type VII, the first of eight ‘Flak boats’ or ‘flak traps’ armed with two quad 20mms on bandstands fore and aft of the conning tower and a rapid fire 37mm flak gun on a second, lower bandstand aft, plus nests of machine guns on the bridge and a team of highly trained gunners, to lure and destroy anti-submarine aircraft. Their first success had come on 24 May 1943 when they shot down Sunderland EJ139/L on 228 Squadron flown by Flying Officer H. J. Debden, who also damaged the U-boat’s bow area by depth charges. None of the flying-boat crew survived. On 12 July 1943 U-441 came off worse in a gun battle with three Beaufighters on 248 Squadron who demolished its superstructure, killed ten crewmen and wounded thirteen. On 12 June 1944 U-441 was damaged by Liberator ‘S’ on 224 Squadron which was shot down. Flight Lieutenant J. E. ‘Jimmy’ Jenkinson RNZAF and crew were all killed. He sent a signal about three in the morning to say that he was attacking a U-boat west of Ushant. A Wellington returned and reported having seen a Liberator attack two U-boats and another reported seeing flak and an explosion. The ‘quiet and very nice New Zealander’ was engaged to the Jenkins’ daughter who lived in a house near his base.
68 Antoniewicz’s Wellington had a complete breakdown in its radar-search equipment and was merely relying on the ‘Eyeball Mk l’ for the completion of its patrol in the bright moonlight. Antoniewicz had been about to alter course to investigate a thin trail of vaporous grey smoke on the sea when he sighted at three miles distant, a black object which he identified almost immediately as the conning tower of a surfacing U-boat. He turned to port to get on an attacking course. At the same time he lost height. When one mile away, the 2nd pilot and radar operator in the astrodome sighted another U-boat, which had apparently just surfaced 1½ miles away. Antoniewicz kept on his course to attack first U-boat, which then started to submerge slowly. At 2257 hours six depth charges were dropped from 100 feet, spaced sixty feet and set to 14-18 feet. The rear gunner distinctly saw the first two hitting the water to starboard quarter of the U-boat about ten yards from hull and the remainder across the U-boat and on its port bow. Then he saw them explode and the explosions and plumes completely obscured the U-boat. He also saw a long black pipe-like object blown about 100 feet into the air with the depth charge explosion. When the explosion plumes subsided there was no sign of the U-Boat and the conning tower was only just visible when the DCs were dropped.
69 U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) which also states that U-988 was previously believed to have been sunk on 28 June 1944 off Start Point. Axel Niestlé (German U-boat Losses During WWII, Greenhill Books 1998) claims the ‘U-boat’ that Antoniewicz sank was probably ‘a whale’! The Admiralty later credited a Liberator on 224 Squadron piloted by Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Owen ‘Kayo’ Moore with the sinking of U-441. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
70 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
71 U-981 had left Lorient on 7 August, transiting to La Pallice in company with U-309. The two boats were approaching the rendezvous point with their escort, south-west of La Pallice when U-981 hit a mine. Unable to dive and with both engines out of action, her captain, Oberleutnant zur See Günther Keller called for an immediate escort - but Flying Officer J. Capey’s ASV operator had found the two stationary boats and the Halifax swept in and dropped flares. At that moment U-981’s engineers managed to get the electric motors restarted and the U-boat moved off slowly. Capey brought the Halifax in again and this time dropped an anti-submarine bomb at exactly the same moment that the U-boat struck a second mine. Capey then attacked again with more antisubmarine bombs and twenty minutes later Keller ordered his crew to abandon ship and as the U-981 sank, U-309 reappeared to pick up the forty survivors. One officer and eleven crewmen were lost. Handley Page Halifax: From Hell to Victory and Beyond by K. A. Merrick (Chevron Publishing 2009).
72 See RAF Evaders: The Comprehensive Story of thousands of escapers and their escape lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945 by Oliver Clutton-Brock. (Grub Street, London 2009).
73 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998). U-927 was lost with all hands.
74 In total 304 Squadron flew 2,451 sorties, attacking 34 U-boats and sighting nine others, had 31 combats with German fighters and lost 106 aircrew men killed or missing. Two U-boats were claimed destroyed and a third seriously damaged.
Chapter 3 Bombers Against the German Navy
75 So Few; The Immortal Record of the RAF by David Masters. From June 1942 Beauforts on 217 Squadron attacked Axis shipping from Malta and 39 Squadron operated from the Western Desert. In 1943 the Beaufort was superseded by the ‘Torbeau’ and the last in RAF service was retired in 1946. Total Beaufort production reached 2,129, including 700 built in Australia.
76 On the night of 8/9 December 1942 133 bombers and Path Finders including 108 Lancasters were ready to be dispatched. While bombing-up at Syerston incendiary bombs fell from the racks of a 61 Squadron Lancaster, exploded and set fire to the aircraft and the inhabitants of Newark and district were able to hear for themselves the explosion of a 4,000lb bomb. Group Captain Clive ‘Gus’ Walker, the Station Commander went out to the bomber on a fire tender and the Lancaster blew up killing two men and blew the Group Captain’s arm off. ‘Gus’, who had played rugby for Yorkshire, Barbarians and England, returned and post war became AVM Sir Gus Walker CBE DFC AFC. See Bomber Command: Reflections of War; Under Cover of Darkness 1939-May 1942 by Martin W. Bowman (Pen & Sword 2012).
77 From Coastal Command to Captivity: The Memoir of a Second World War Airman by W J ‘Jim’ Hunter (Leo Cooper, an imprint of Pen & Sword, 2003).
78 See For Valour; The Air VCs by Chaz Bowyer (first published by William Kimber and then Grub Street in 1992).
79 These warships were attacked by aircraft of Coastal Command on 63 occasions in 1941.
80 92 Wellingtons, 64 Hampdens, 37 Blenheims, 15 Manchesters, 13 Halifaxes, 11 Stirlings and ten Bostons. It was the largest Bomber Command daylight operation of the war to date.
81 The Prinz Eugen was surrendered to the Allies in Copenhagen Harbour in May 1945 and later became one of the test-ships in the Bikini Island atomic bomb test of 1946.
Chapter 5 Queen of the Boats
82 RAAF Over Europe, edited by Frank Johnson (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1946).
83 A Sunderland was lost on 17 September, Flight Lieutenant Davies in L2165 having become lost over the Irish Sea and running out of fuel when almost back to safety, the aircraft crashing near Milford Haven with the loss of all on board
84 Flight Lieutenant Harrison was killed on 7 April 1940 when he failed to return from a reconnaissance patrol off the coast of off Norway.
85 See Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
86 Thetford.
87 On 24 October Flight Lieutenant Wearne’s aircraft (P9605) having been hit by fire from an ‘unknown vessel’, was hit again. After an investigation LAC Hunter the second fitter reported that there were two large holes in the port outer tank. AC1 King the first fitter and LAC Hunter then crawled out to the port engine with some tools and plugged the holes. Hunter returned to the cabin for a five gallon drum of oil and a hatchet while the first fitter kept watch on the engine. A hole was cut in the top of the tank and the tank was refilled from the spare drum of oil. Both Fitters then returned to the cabin. While Hunter kept watch on the pressure and oil gauges, King returned to the port outer engine with a jug. He remained there for the next two hours and kept the engine running smoothly by collecting the oil from the nacelle of the engine and pouring it back into the tank.
88 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
89 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
90 After capture U-570 was re-commissioned on 19 September 1941 as HM Submarine Graph and used operationally before reverting to training duties. It was wrecked on Islay on 20 March 1944 when on passage to the Clyde from Chatham for extensive refitting. Salved and scrapped in 1961. Oberleutnant Bernhard Berndt, was held accountable in a German PoW ‘court of honour’ for the capture of the boat (the commander was beyond their reach for ‘trial’) and escaped in an attempt to scuttle the boat and regain his standing in the eyes of fellow prisoners. He was shot dead by British soldiers on 19 October 1941 whilst on the run. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
91 See U-Boat Capture! by John Drummond writing in RAF Flying Review, August 1958.
92 See Submarine: An anthology of first-hand accounts of the war under the sea, 1939-1945 edited by Jean Hood (Conway Maritime 2007).
93 A month later the Luigi Torelli ‘escaped’ ‘internment at Santander and limped into Bordeaux. In 1943 the Luiqi Torelli went to the Far East, was taken over by the Kriegsmarine after Italy’s surrender and retitled UIT-25. After Germany surrendered in May 1945 UIT-25 was used by the Japanese who titled her RO-504. Four months later she fell into American hands and was finally scuttled in 1946.
94 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
95 Squadron Leader H. G. ‘Graham’ Pockley DFC* was posted home to Australia and in early 1945 he took command of 200 Flight RAAF, a Special Duties (SD) unit formed at Leyburn airfield near Toowoomba, on 20 February 1945 using Liberators to deliver agents and supplies of the Australian Army’s ‘Z Special Operations Unit by parachute into enemy territory. Once 200 Flight was fully operational, it had six Liberators and nine eleven-man crews with about 450 ground staff. In the middle of March 1945, two Liberators, one (A72-191) captained by Pockley, left for McGuire Field on Mindoro Island in the Philippines for their first mission. Two days later they took off to drop some ‘Z’ Special ‘Semut 1’ agents into Borneo. The mission was aborted due to low cloud. A second attempt on 21 March also failed due to bad weather. Finally on 24 March they were able to drop men into Borneo. A72-191 and Pockley’s crew did not return from this mission. It is believed that it may have been shot down by a vessel that it was seen to be attacking.
96 ‘Bruce Sanders’.
97 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
98 Task For Coastal Command/Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996). Ensor would later take command of 224 Squadron.
99 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
100 Kapitän zur See Karl Dönitz, a former World War I submarine commander, was appointed Commanding Officer for U-boats in September 1935. His primary task was to develop fighting tactics for his craft. One of the first post-1918 German commanders to believe that Germany’s future enemy would be Britain, Dönitz, remembering his own experiences during the war, was sure that in the event of a war the Royal Navy would again institute merchant shipping convoys as the best method of protection for Britain’s vital sea routes. Accordingly, he aimed from the beginning to introduce groups of U-boats - wolf packs - for offensive operations against such massed ship formations as a prime tactic.
101 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
102 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
103 U-441 was lost with all 51 hands in June 1944. On 4 June 1943 U-594 was attacked west of Gibraltar by a rocket-firing Hudson flown by Flying Officer H. C. Bailey DFC DFM on 48 Squadron and was lost with all fifty hands.
104 Wing Commander Oulton had sunk U-266 north of the Azores on the night of 14/15 May while escorting Convoy SC.129. ‘We had a lengthy patrol in Halifax HR746/M and were feeling pretty brassed off. We had dived down several times to investigate suspicious-looking objects on the sea, all of which turned out to be small trawlers. Then we saw yet another wake. ‘Another trawler’ we thought, as I pushed the control column forward, ‘but we’d better have a look anyway’. I had my lunch on my knees at the time and was munching bread and butter and tomatoes. At four miles’ range I suddenly realised it was no trawler but a U-boat. I tensed and sat up straight without a thought to my lunch; the plate flew off my knees and spilled all over the cockpit floor. As we ran in to starboard I saw the U-boat ploughing through rough seas, which were occasionally breaking over the conning tower. There seemed to be no one on the deck or conning tower - I think no one could have stood that rolling without being pitched over-board. Probably the crew were keeping dry below deck and maintaining only a periscope watch. When we passed over the sub just for’ard of the conning tower, the bomb aimer let go the depth charges. For a few seconds I thought we’d overshot and felt like swearing hard. Then the rear gunner’s voice came over the intercom, ‘Right against her port side, sir. Good show.’ I started to turn, with the gunner burbling comments into the microphone, ‘Her bow’s lifting ... the whole fore-part is out of the water ... she’s going down!’ A few seconds later I saw it for myself. It was an astonishing sight. Straight up in the air stuck the bows of the U-boat, some 50 feet of them. It looked just like Cleopatra’s Needle. Then, as though a giant hand was slowly pushing it down, the bow - still vertical - started to sink in the water. Soon only 20 feet of it were left and in about three minutes it had disappeared. We saw no survivors at all and I believe Jerry must have been caught flat-footed. The depth charges must have torn his hull open at the stern before he even knew he was being attacked and the rush of water into the rear compartments pulled the stern straight down. They must have all died like rats in a trap.’ Quoted in Coastal Command At War by Chaz Bowyer (Ian Allan Ltd 1979)/U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998). U-266, which was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Ralf von Jesson, was lost with all 47 hands.
On 16 May Flying Officer Anthony J. W. Birch sank U-463 commanded by 47-year old Korvettenkapitän Leo Wolfbauer off Cape Ortegal. The Type XIV tanker had left Le Verdon on 10 May on its fifth war cruise. Approaching out of the sun, Birch swung HR746/M around to starboard and began his run-in from 1,000 yards while the navigator opened fire with the 0.5-inch nose gun. Six Mk XI Torpex depth charges were dropped and the Halifax’s gunners raked the U-boat with machine gun fire. The depth charges were well-placed and as the spray subsided, the U-boat suddenly jerked upwards and the whole forepart rose vertically out of the sea as a large light blue oil patch appeared ahead of the bow of the stricken submarine. Two minutes later U-463 slid beneath the waves with all 56 hands. The next day HR774/R intercepted and sank the Italian submarine Tazzoli. Handley Page Halifax: From Hell to Victory and Beyond by K. A. Merrick (Chevron Publishing 2009) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
105 Handley Page Halifax: From Hell to Victory and Beyond by K. A. Merrick (Chevron Publishing 2009) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
106 In response to Borchardt’s appeal for help, the inbound, fuel-low U-621 commanded by 24-year old Kapitänleutnant Max Kruschka briefly searched for survivors and was herself attacked by Liberator ‘Q-Queenie’ on 224 Squadron piloted by Robert V. Sweeny, an American, who toggled twelve depth charges in two runs. These severely damaged U-621 but she reached Brest on 3 June and was subsequently converted to a ‘flak boat’. U-621 was sunk with depth charges by RCN destroyers, Ottawa, Kootenay and Chaudiere with the loss of all 56 hands on 18 August 1944. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
107 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998).
108 U-415 was finally lost on 14 July 1944 when it detonated an RAF mine west of the torpedo net barrier off Brest Harbour and sank. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
109 All five crew members on the Whitley were taken prisoner. Fielder was killed on 31 July 1944 while in command of U-333 which was sunk in a Royal Navy action. U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
110 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998)/Conflict Over The Bay by Norman Franks (Wm Kimber 1986, Grub Street 1999). Flight Lieutenant H. W. Skinner and all 12 crew were killed on 18 August when Sunderland W3985/T was shot down in the Bay by Ju 88s. At 1845 hours HQ received an SOS from him but nothing else.
111 Conflict Over the Bay by Norman Franks (William Kimber 1986 and Grub Street 1999).
112 The Halifax was HR792 ‘A Able’ which flew its first operational flight on 15th July 1943 and its last on 9th December 1944, flying 67 operational sorties. After a crash on 13 January 1945 HR792 was SOC and stripped and dismantled and taken to a scrap yard, where it lay until being spotted by a Mr MacKenzie, a crofter from Grimshader. He thought the fuselage would be ideal for keeping his hens in. Mr MacKenzie removed the long range fuel tank, which served the people of Grimshader as a water tank until mains supply became available in the late 1970s. This Halifax later became Halifax ‘Friday 13th’ at the Yorkshire Air Museum.
113 U-613 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Helmut Köppe and was sunk with all 48 hands on 23 July by a US destroyer. Rupprecht Fischler Graf von Treuberg was killed on 24 August 1944 when U-445 was sunk by a Royal Navy frigate in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of all 52 hands. U-Boat Fact File; Detailed Service Histories of the Submarines Operated by the Kriegsmarine 1935-1945 by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
114 U-Boat Fact File; Detailed Service Histories of the Submarines Operated by the Kriegsmarine 1935-1945 by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
115 Short Sunderland: The Flying Porcupines in the Second World War by Andrew Hendrie (Airlife 1994, Pen & Sword 2012).
116 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
117 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
118 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
119 Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998)/Short Sunderland: The ‘Flying Porcupines in the Second World War by Andrew Hendrie (Pen & Sword 2012).
120 U-546 was abandoned during a naval action on 24 April 1945. Hitler’s U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (Random House 1998)/U-boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
121 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
122 Coastal Command Review 111/4, April 1944.
123 Coastal Command Review III/4, April 1944/They Shall Not Pass Unseen by Ivan Southall (Angus and Robertson, 1956).
124 Coastal Command Review III/5, May 1944 and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
125 On 18 July 1944 U-672 was depth charged to the surface by the RN frigate HMS Balfour 27 miles south of Portland Bill and scuttled due to damage. 52 crew were rescued by an ASR launch and the Commander by an ASR Walrus aircraft. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
125 Coastal Command Review III/5, May 1944. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996). Niestlé lists U-240 as lost to unknown causes.
127 In May 1945 U-995 surrendered to the Allies at Trondheim. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
128 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996). On 30 September 1944 U-921 was bombed by Swordfish ‘F’ of 813 Squadron FAA on the HMS Campania escorting Convoy RA 60, 280 miles WNW of the North Cape and SW of Bear Island and was lost with all 51 hands. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
129 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998) and Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
130 On 31 May 1942 Sergeant Baveystock was Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser’s second pilot on the Thousand Bomber raid on Cologne when their Manchester was hit by light 20mm flak and set on fire. And then the port Vulture engine suddenly burst into flames. Oberleutnant Walter Barte of 4./NJG1 had intercepted the Manchester at low level and he delivered the coup-de-grace with a burst in the engine before flying off to submit his claim for his fifth victory. Manser feathered the propeller and ordered Baveystock to try to put out the fire with the extinguisher. Baveystock did but it was no use. Although he and his crew could have safely bailed out Manser was still determined to try to get them home. Manser steered for Manston on the Kent coast. ‘Go aft and jettison everything you can’ he ordered Baveystock. He stuffed everything moveable that he could find down the flare chute but it was clear that there was no hope of reaching England. Manser ordered the crew to put on their parachutes and prepare to abandon the aircraft. One by one they bailed out. Baveystock shot a glance at the flying instruments and realized that with the speed down to 110 knots they were almost on the point of a stall. He tried to hand Manser a parachute but his Skipper waved it away. ‘For God’s sake get out - we’re going down’ he shouted. He could only hold the aircraft steady for a few seconds more. Baveystock crawled down to the front hatch, doubled himself up and dropped though the hole. The aircraft was now at 200 feet; no time for his parachute to open fully. Baveystock incredibly, survived the 200 foot jump when he hit a dyke. The four or five feet of water broke his fall. Baveystock evaded capture and on the night of 12/13 June he and two others were taken across the Pyrenees and into neutral Spain. Finally, on 6 July all six men sailed home from Gibraltar. They were each awarded the DFM. The award of a posthumous Victoria Cross was made to Leslie Manser on 20 October 1942 after testimonies from all five of the crew. See RAF Bomber Command; Reflections of War; Cover of Darkness 1939-May 1942 by Martin W. Bowman (Pen & Sword 2011). The award of the DFC to Baveystock followed on 25 January 1944. The citation said: ‘This officer was the pilot and captain of an aircraft which sighted an enemy blockade runner on December 27, 1943. After signalling the position, Flying Officer Baveystock determined to attack the vessel. In the face of considerable anti-aircraft fire he raked the ship with machine-gun bullets and then attacked it with bombs which he released on his third run over the objective. His aircraft had been hit but he flew safely back to base. Visibility was extremely poor and the flare path could not be seen; nevertheless, in absolute darkness, Flying Officer Baveystock brought his aircraft down on to the water close to the shore with masterly skill; no further damage was sustained. This officer displayed outstanding keenness, efficiency and determination.’ Baveystock received a bar to his DFC on 25 August 1944.
131 Coastal Command Review III/6 June 1944.
132 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
133 Task For Coastal Command.
134 Ketels survived and later took command of another U-boat.
135 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996) and U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
136 Coastal Command Review III/7 July 1944.
137 Coastal Command Review III/7 July 1944/Task For Coastal Command.
138 On 19 July Lieutenant B. Thurmann-Nielson on 330 Squadron RNWAF attacked and damaged U-387 which had left Narvik seven days’ earlier. On 9 December 1944 the U-boat was sunk 25 miles north of Kola while operating in the Arctic by depth charges dropped by RN corvette Barnborough Castle. U-387 was lost with all 51 hands. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
139 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
140 Coastal Command Review III/8 August 1944. Ivan Southall is the author of They Shall Not Pass Unseen (Angus And Robertson 1956).
141 Hitler’s U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939-1942 by Clay Blair (Random House, New York 1996).
142 U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
143 Short Sunderland: The ‘Flying Porcupines in the Second World War by Andrew Hendrie (Pen & Sword 2012).
144 On the Step.
145 U-246 was previously believed sunk on 29 March 1945 by the 3rd Escort Group west of the Lizard. U-Boat Fact File by Peter Sharpe (Midland Publishing Ltd 1998).
146 RAAF Over Europe, edited by Frank Johnson (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946).