Down in the drink

Beershark · Post by **Beershark** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:20 am

I was surprised recently when reading a book devoted to the tales of aircrews who had to ditch in the sea during WW2. What I found remarkable was that the three man crew of an RAF Beaufort torpedo bomber which crashed in the North Sea after a search for German capital ships early in the War and spent several days in a dinghy, had the experience of a rescue Walrus amphibian land on the sea by them, only to be asked by the Shagbat's crew if they were the crew of a Wellington of no.504 Squadron. "No" replied the Beaufort's crew, only to then have the Walrus taxy away and take off without them !

Surely this is a most bizarre occurence ?

phylo_roadking · Post by **phylo_roadking** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:51 am

Bizarre...but not unknown! The Walrus was actually almost useless in its role as air-sea rescue, really struggling to get into the air with extra heads onboard....let alone stay above water itself!!! The Shagbat wouldn't hav got into the air if it lifted three extra bodies, I've read of a resuce of similar numbers where the pilot just couodn't get unstuck....and had to TAXI the 100 miles home to land! I'm assuming that whatever picked them up in the end it was bigger than a Walrus!

Beershark · Post by **Beershark** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:59 am

Fair comment ! But since the Shagbat was detailed to look for the crew of a downed Wimpey, one would have thought that they could have managed the three from a Beaufort.

phylo_roadking · Post by **phylo_roadking** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 7:48 am

Well, I'd assume if they KNEW about the Wellington crew, then they'd been specifically tasked to it, and had to work on the assumption that once they radio'd in someone would be similarly tasked to the Beaufort survivors...which MUST have been what happened if someone suvived to record the event!

It certainly couldn't have taken both lots, and if it was out and already searching for the first crew, they'd been in the water longer...a "cascading" of priorities.

Air-Sea rescue in the Channel, North Sea and Northern and Western Approaches was a fine art all of its own that part from the planes and boats hasn't received the recognition or recording it deserves. Especially of events, daily procedures, how searches etc were conducted. We all have assumptions, but I'm sure the reality - like in all things - was very different.

Carl Schwamberger · Post by **Carl Schwamberger** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:25 pm

phylo_roadking wrote:Bizarre...but not unknown! The Walrus was actually almost useless in its role as air-sea rescue, really struggling to get into the air with extra heads onboard....let alone stay above water itself!!! The Shagbat wouldn't hav got into the air if it lifted three extra bodies, I've read of a resuce of similar numbers where the pilot just couodn't get unstuck....and had to TAXI the 100 miles home to land! I'm assuming that whatever picked them up in the end it was bigger than a Walrus!

There was a incident in the Pacific where a two seater Kingfisher amphib aircraft taxied a couple hundred kilometers with a large downed aircrew draped over its wings. I believe that was the resucue of Rickenbacker.