Courtesy Profile Pub A few snippets re u-boat attacks and aerial combat. further info The Short Sunderland Flying Boat
My Uncle 1376106 PO J Hawkes joined 77 Sqn. 5th March 1942 as a Navigator he was posted missing 9th Sept 1942 (See below.) Sometime in between he was in an aircraft that was ditched As a child I remember being shown pictures of him and the rest of the crew in a rubber dingy being rescued by a Sunderland flying boat. The pictures were in a magazine Picture Post /Illustrated News or similar . Are there any war diaries that might record this incident? I have been chasing this for a while without success have tried 77 Sqn. Assoc but they cannot help..At this time 77 Sqn. were flying out of Chivenor attached to Coastal Command flying anti U Boat patrols over Bay of Biscay. 77 Sqn. Bomber Command (Working with Coastal Command) RAF Chivenor Whitley Bomber Z 9209 Coded G for George Missing in Action 09.09.42 Op: (Anti Submarine Patrol), Took off RAF Chivenor Failed to return. Last heard on w/t at 13:53 hrs but believed to have been shot down by Hptm P Heide of 13. /KG40. Hptm Paul Heide (St Kap)-F +, Ogefr Rudi Wiencke –BF +, Fw Karl Gruendler-BS, M + Probably shot down in combat with Whitney Z9209 of 77 Sqn.
CL1 yes I think I went as far as possible with that thread. It is the ditching and rescue I am trying to follow up on.
Whitley Z6876 coded D of 77 Sqn 7/7/42. starboard engine cut after glycol leak. Sent SOS at 16:28 then ditched into Bay of Biscay. Badly shaken when seat harness broke under impact. Reached dinghy before aircraft sank 7 mins after impact. Ditching reported by other 77 aircraft and picked up on 8th by Sunderland of 461 Sqn. Landed at RAF Mountbatten. As an aside his personal number as a commissioned officer was 128405 - the service number you show was only for his OR.NCO service. Ross
Had an itch in the memory that I'd seen a post about the pickup. 2006! RAFCommands :: Old Forum Archive Ross
Thank you Ross very likely the one gives me more to go on the date may help in a trawl of publications.
Not likely - it is the loss (or droids) you are looking for! Only document you need is the squadron ORB. Squadron Number: 77 Records of Events: Y | The National Archives Use the preview bottom left to page through to view for free the detail - then download if you want a copy without the watermark Ross
