British pilots relied on German sea rescue service during Battle of Britain
RAF pilots shot down over the Channel during the Battle of Britain had to rely on German search and rescue services to save them from drowning, new research has unveiled.
31 Aug 2010
The German service, that had been set up in 1935, became so effective that RAF chiefs ordered fighters to shoot down the Luftwaffe Dornier 24 seaplane that were unarmed and painted in white with a large red cross. However, it is thought that the Germans might have been using the aircraft for illicit reconnaissance missions.
“This was one of the most shameful and disgraceful episodes of the entire war,” said Dr North, author of ‘The Many’ to be published next year.
“For an RAF airman to be shot down over the sea was an almost certain death sentence if the German rescue services were not close at hand...
“Many a good fighter pilot was lost who would have been invaluable in the days that followed.”
An estimated 80 per cent of downed pilots died over the sea whereas the rate dropped to 50 per cent over land. On Aug 8 it is believed 15 out of 18 airmen who bailed out were lost at sea.
Frustrated at the poor rescue effort a New Zealand pilot, Flt Lt RF Aitken, “scrounged” a Walrus flying boat from the Fleet Air Arm and saved 35 British and German airmen over the summer...
On the day that celebrated Winston Churchill’s speech on “the few” on Saturday the RAF were once again without a full-time search and rescue service with its Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft mothballed to save cash...
