MERCY MISSION

John Greeves recounts the remarkable exploits of Sunderland flying boat T9114

- John Greeves

The rescue of two downed aircraft crews, by Sunderland flying boat T9114 from Pembroke Dock is one of the most remarkable of its kind undertaken during World War Two.

RAF Pembroke Dock, on the south side of Milford Haven Waterway, was Britain's largest base for flying boats during World War Two. In 1943, 99 seaplanes occupied the waterway or were located on land.

In the early 1940s, Pembroke Dock and the town suffered heavily from German air raids due to its military importance and location of the nearby oil refineries.

Despite this, British military operations continued at a pace to win the crucial Battle of the Atlantic.

On 28 May 1943, Sunderland flying boat JM675 (codenamed UT-O), from Royal Australian Air Force No 461 Squadron, took off on an operational patrol to rescue the crew of a downed Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber.

These flying boat squadrons which operated from Pembroke Dock undertook numerous wartime roles including reconnaissance, tracking enemy shipping, anti-submarine warfare, air-sea rescue, and convoy escort. Patrols could last up to 12 or 13 hours where a solitary aircraft might patrol 500 miles out into the Atlantic.

At 5.30pm, the operational Sunderland spotted a dinghy with survivors and radioed in for permission to land. The Sunderland then began to land over moderate seas, but bounced off three swells, stalled and finally dived vertically into the next. The bow of the cockpit was ripped off, killing Captain F/Lt Dods and leaving the first pilot badly injured. The survivors managed to clamber into a "J" dinghy and joined up with the survivors of the downed Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. They then lashed their dinghies together and waited.