RAF Coastal Command | Wartime documentary (1944)
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- An instructional film that describes the strategic principles and actual practice of Coastal Command's system of convoy protection by anti-submarine patrols as it evolved during World War II. It depicts a wide variety of aircraft and weapon systems, ranging from Spitfires to Sunderlands to Hudsons and Liberators. The impact of surface detection radar (ASV) , as along with the effects of Leigh Light spotlights, convoy formations and patrol lines, is detailed in the war against Nazi Germany's U-boat blockade of the British Isles and key shipping lanes supporting the war in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Original release date: 1944
My wife's father was on a Corvett out of Halifax during the same time. He was a mid ship Lutenant. We have his photos when on board and as they were decommissioned [ he was given commanders permission / orders to do so.] He passed at 99 plus [just short of 100]. He was the last surviving member of his crew of the HMCS Ferguss, at the time 2015.
Respects to his service and memory Brenda.
My father flew in Coastal Command from 1942 as flight crew. Navigator and Wireless operation
A proud son.
My dad also flew with Coastal command, from Northern Ireland, Iceland, and at the end of the war our to India. He was a Flight Engineer.
So did mine!
Have just come across this film. Coincidence, since I have just commenced reading Leo McKinstry's new book, only just published, 'Cinderella Boys' about the tragedies and triumphs of Coastal Command. About a quarter of the way through and suitably impressed. The title being very apt since it perfectly encapsulates the struggles, both internal and external, that Coastal Command had to overcome in order to emerge as the formidable fighting machine that it became. A welcome tribute to a much overlooked branch of the Royal Air Force.
My father Sqd/Ldr Donald McRae DFC (RCAF) flew Leigh Light equipped Wellington Mk XIV out of Gibraltar and the Azores. He and his crew accounted for 2 U-boats sunk and one so badly damaged it was interned in Portugal.
That’s a fine effort
My Grandfather was with 458 Sqd RAAF (Wellington) which was with bomber command in Europe and coastal command in the Mediterranean. He served overseas from 1940 to 45. While he was overseas my grandmother died and my father was put into boarding school till he returned.
My Uncle Gordon was with 90 Squadron out of Tuddenham - he was only 21 when he gave his life - im so,so,so proud to be his neice,but i do wish he'd been here so i could have known him - his plane was shot down over Sylt Island on 29th January 1944 as they were laying mines - in memory of my brave Uncle and the rest of the crew of EF 443 (short sterling bomber) . 🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🫡
Thanks for his service.
Thanks for his service & sacrifice.
What a fabulous film! I never thought about what these guys did and how well it was organised. The Azores, Iceland and Gibraltar! Wow!
Superb content 👏👏👏
"1/3 of aircrews ditching at sea get picked up". That is a low rescue rate by today's standards. To loose 70% of aircrews that survived a shoot down over sea is tragically painfull.
My Father was a navigator in RAF 53 Squadron Coastal Command B24's based at St. Eval. His aircraft Liberator EW306 crashed into the sea July 31st 1944 in the Bristol Channel while on a training exercise. He was one of four survivors, with four of his mates perishing. He was twenty years old and spent nine months in hospital recovering from injuries. He was saved by his Mae West inflatable life jacket and as a result became a member of the Goldfish Club. I was privileged in 2018 to visit the twelfth century church at St Eval which holds the insignia of all the squadrons that operated out of that RAF base in WW2.
I would say the Boeing Flying Fortress is my favourite aircraft in the RAF coastal command.
Agree! Best paint scheme for the B-17
But the most interesting variant of it was flown by 100 (Bomber Support) Group.
Sunderland!
Beaufighter! The most underrated plane.
@@crusader5989
That is the coolest looking paint job I've ever seen on one.
I thank here for the chance to learn (07.02.57) Sad and dramatic these dark times! Thanks to those who worked on this task.
Very laid back , which differs from the in your face approach of American films.
The B-24 was the game changer , its enormous range and endurance gave the submarines no hiding place.
S/L Terry Bullock an Ulsterman had the most successful crew , three confirmed kills and a hatfull of damaged. 350 operational sorties and 1800 hrs in Liberators.
Short Sunderland had a greater range and armed with more potent surface attack weapons.
@@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve The VLR Liberator with extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay were the only aircraft capable of patrolling the Atlantic Gap..
Another very important asset that B-24's had that Sunderlands lacked was Leigh Lights .
@@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve
Battlefield - The War Against U- Boats - The U-Boat Menace
ua-cam.com/video/49zTDDum6FQ/v-deo.html
@@jameswebb4593
Right now the UA-cam channel "WW2 US Bombers" is doing a series of videos on the navalized versions of the Liberator and their roll in submarine hunting, he also covers the different specialized detection equipment and weapons used by them for destroying subs, you should check them out, I'm sure you'll find them very interesting.
My dad flew with Terry Bullock as a WOP a/g then Navigator . I recently posted a video about him on you tube : ua-cam.com/video/r7P_-eHkRDw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=GrahamFitzjohn
Wing Commander Richard Atkinson, DSO, DFC (bar). 235 Sq RAF Banff (Banff Strike Wing). Killed Dec 1944 in combat attacking German shipping in Askvoll fjord in Mosquito Mk VI.
Had the privalge to get to know afew Coastal boys with one or two B17 crew aswell as others along with the Banff Boys. But had the great Honour to meet John Cruickshank V.C. on one of his rare public outings .
Thank you for the upload.
An ancestor of mine, a Granduncle if such a title exists (grandfather’s bro) was lost an operations with 279 Sqn, the Air Sea Rescue squadron in 16 Group, Coastal Command. They dropped the big lifeboats as shown at 2:16. They were flying Hudson’s and got pounced on by 110’s somewhere over the North Sea, looking for a ditched RAF aircraft from one of the Berlin Raids (the August 1943 one I think).
Would love to see footage of one of those VLR B-24 Liberator MkV’s armed with the RP-3 rockets on mounting winglets. Imagine one of those behemoths thundering towards you to release a rocket salvo. Terrifying.
My dad was a navigator in Avro Ansons (like the one at 11:55) with 280 Squadron, Coastal Command and flew on air/sea rescue patrols over the North Sea. He said the first time he ever realized he was in a "shooting war" was when he'd found an airman floating in a dinghy and had to break radio silence to call an RAF launch. The Germans heard the signal too, and sent a formation of Me 110's to shoot him down. His pilot did the smart thing and climbed into the clouds to hide, dropping down occasionally to see what was happening.
They outwaited the Messerschmitts who were forced to return to base. But then, just as the launch was coming into view, my dad saw one of the Me 110's drop out of formation, turn around, fly straight at the dinghy... and blow it out of the water...
War is ugly.
btw, your grandfather's brother's unit, 279 Sqn. was a sister squadron to my dad's unit, 280 Sqn.. According to the autobiography of my dad's CO, ("All Weather Mac" by W/Cdr. R.H. McIntosh), 280 Sqn. was originally supposed to be equipped with Hudsons like 279 Sqn. was, but in the early days of the war there weren't enough to go around. So 279 Sqn. operated Hudsons closer to the enemy coast while 280 Sqn operated Ansons closer to home. That changed when 280 Sqn.'s Ansons were finally replaced in October 1943 with much more capable Vickers Warwicks, like the one at 2:16. 279 Squadron also re-equipped with Warwicks, beginning in November 1944.
Cheers
Thanks for the information, David. Aircrew rescue and helping men in the water appears to have been fair game on all sides in Europe in WW2. Even back in the Battle of Britain the RAF used to treat the Heinkel seaplanes the Luftwaffe used for rescue as legit targets. I believe Dowding even went on the record defending the policy, arguing that as rescued Luftwaffe pilots would be back attacking the UK the next day they were definitely fair targets etc. War is indeed, as you say, ugly.
There's a UA-cam channel called "WW II US Bombers" that's doing a series of videos right now on the navalized versions of the B24 used for sub hunting and the specialized equipment and weapons they used for it, there's a video that covers those rockets used by them, you should check them out I'm sure you'll like them they're very interesting.
Grand uncle = great uncle.
Like great grandfather, but for uncles, starts a generation earlier. :- )
Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous film footage 🏁🇬🇧🇺🇲🏁🇬🇧☯️🌈🇦🇺🇨🇦🏁🌏an awesome world effort
Coastal Command, often referred to as the forgotten command I believe. Certainly the least well equipped due to Bomber Harris's attitude. CC certainly did punch above their weight.
Thank you so much for this channel. There is something deeply satisfying about the energy they brought to the problems back then. Most inspiring!
Incredible information that was in this video that honestly I have never seen in detail like this
..Thank you so much for these fantastic gems really appreciated❤.
I liked the parts about the Azores and Lajes Field. I was stationed there in 1975-1981 and explored the old British bunkers and control center on Praia Ridge.
Not Plymouth Bay, but Plymouth Sound.
Thanks from India.
A great programme that dismisses the myth that RAF coastal command was somehow the ugly duckling of the RAF!
While not an ugly duckling, Coastal did tend to be viewed as "the bottom of the pile" by the Air chiefs.
very good documentary. Little known fact that the B17's were "donated" to coastal command from Bomber command as the B17 was found to be useless to them.
Not far from me is Chateau Trevarez. Officers from U boats spent their R and R there. Mosquitos visited it of a dayy. There is a 50 second video of the attack. Interesting but depressing.
Interesting. I didn't realize PR Spitfire operations were under Coastal Command.
Initially yes but I think the PR units of army cooperation were transferred to the 2 tactical air force in 1944?
There was even a film staring Alec Guinness in which he was a pilot in a PR Spitfire. Can’t remember the name of it.
I didntknow the British flew the B 17
The Catalina and B24 I knew about.
Bomber Command was given a few B-17 for appraisal. The plane didn't meet their needs so they gave them to Coastal Command.
@@bobmcrae5939 thanks, the b17 in RAC maritime colors looks good.
@Bob McRae 214 Sqn continued to fly them from RAF Oulton.
162 B17's Lend Leased to Britain plus 6 to Canada.
@@nickdanger3802 hey,you're the guy from firesign theater
Like many of this type of wartime documentary, they never mention the help that came from the deciphering establishment at Bletchley Park. The German enigma code was broken but the Kriegsmarine never thought that their code could possibly be broken.
I suppose this being produced, I think in 1944, the not mentioning the help from Bletchley Park would be normal this being such a sensitive issue at the time.
The British government didn’t even admit to Bletchley until the 1970's.
@@georgegauci8454 . . . . and for many, many years post-war too.
The kriegsmarineassumed that theenigmacode could and would be broken.so they modidiedd their coding machinewith an extracodin gwheelandxhanged their codesvery ofyten.so the kriegsmarinemessages remainedsecretand unbrokenrirght upto theend ofthe war😮
The RAF has always been at the top of their game. And there's nothing like the sound of a WW2 Spitfire ripping through the skies.
And those Merlin engines are like sweet music. ❤️ 🎵 🎶 💜
Of course they all sound amazing... And yes, even the Messerschmitt planes. They sounded quite wicked if I'm being honest. That turbine making the deliberate screaming sounds as they would dive bomb during blitzkrieg attacks was some serious psychological warfare that was quite effective.
The mid-Atlantic, the RiffRaf gets confused about the word - coastal.
Spoiled by the narrator and his pronunciation, which is strange and stilted even for the 1940s
The Republic of Ireland refused to permit use of its airfields or ports - but expected Britain to provide it with food and fuel.
€ire is a foreign country to which we have no allegiance, nor it to us. It has never been a friend to us, never will be. It is dangerously delusional to think otherwise.
Thank you.....excellent.
This uses the wrong aircraft in the picture. That is a Boeing B17 and NOT a Sunderland! This offering has it corrected: ua-cam.com/video/gEE2nsxlKDU/v-deo.html
Different show. This is a documentary. The other is a movie.
They played a key role in saving UK during WW2.
A great watch and goes into so much detail! Well done.
Another great Video, Thanks
Could a Lancaster with extra fuel tanks have flown the same distance as a Liberator with extra fuel tanks? Why was the protection of convoys by Coastal Command placed second to carpet bombing Germany? Even Churchill acknowledged the UBoat peril. Why was the long term given priority over the immediate?
There were a few other considerations.
I don't know about long range fuel tanks for Lancasters. But there were plenty of valid targets within their range.
And extra Coastal Command air craft would not have achieved much more. Uboats had already been driven below the surface in waters with air cover. That is why the Uboat attacks were mostly in the ever-shrinking mid-Atlantic "Gap".
Even this "gap" vanished once enough escort carriers were built.
What I do know is the Lancaster carried a much heavier bomb load than a Liberator (14,000 pounds versus 8000).
And the much faster Mosquito could carry a useful 4000lb at a much reduced risk ...
Per Adua ad astra..Through difficulty
to the stars ?
Singular - to star. Plural := ad astris
I always heard "adversity" when I was in the RAF.... it just sounds better.
Great 👍 History Thanks
PS Can you believe the US Navy initial turned down the Catalina. Wicky it. Just goes to show that the US has just as many D.Heads as we do. Come to think of it - we are the best.
That opening tune. It is about the River Clyde flowing through the shipbuilding area of Glasgow known as the Gorbals where all the men wash their socks.
Naturally the Clyde gets dirtier on its way to the sea where the estuary passes the Tail of the Bank.
A genuinely dirty song.
Although cleaned up a bit now.
"Fortresses" - aka B-17. "Liberator" - aka B-24
The British traditionally name aircraft, especially back then, including those acquired through lend-lease. The Douglas C-47 was known as the Dakota. Post WW2, the RAF operated a few B29 Superfortresses and they were named Washingtons.
The Algeciras Bay as the narrator calls it is really the Bay of Gibraltar as any history books would say. A great documentary loved it.
Like that reloading facility on the Sunderland. Fascinating video.
We where so lucky the Germans never realised early on how good the Dutch snorkel design was (recharge the batteries and air at periscope depth)
Are you pissed?
@@JohnSmith-ei2pz do you understand what I’m talking about 🤔
It is mind-boggling how the Germans thought they come overcome the sheer mass that the Allies were capable of.
Until America entered the war, there was no "sheer mass". Hitler's biggest blunder was declaring war on the US, even bigger than the invasion of Russia.
That is a really BEAKY Wimpey crew
Agreed... ;-)
Please stop sending this message constantly
I don't send any messages.
My Dad was in Azores Coastal command wireless operator, I think it 247 group, 1943 onwards. would love to hear from anyone who knew more, as he died when I was young and never got the chance to learn more about it
Do ypu mean 247 sqn?
No I have his War records.
247 Group coastal command.
They operated 2 Squadrons in the Azores.
Does not say which my dad was in.
Just that he was a wireless operator
@@glenfletcher4962 Respects to his service and memory, Glen.
@@glenfletcher4962 Respects to his service and memory, Glen.
Es " Ad ardua per astra" ....
If the U-boats were sailing from east-to-west from Europe, it seems to me
that the anti-uboat grids should have been flying a east-to-west or a west-to-east
pattern ? This would give them a higher probability to find a U-bout during their patrols.
The north-to-south pattern would be less likely to encounter a u-boat, I would think.Of
course this is a theory by a totally unschooled amateur.
By cutting across all possible submarine tracks the north-south track is more effective and efficient with resources. Getting the subs to submerge slows them down and wears out the batteries reducing range.
No coastal command based in Scotland ? Wick, Crail....usual English bias.
It was Britain at war, not individual parts of it. Scottish nationalism had yet to rise; the English version still hasn't . . .
Pitreavie, the then HQ 18Gp, is in Scotland. Also, the 18 Gp designator was retained after the war as the coastal arm of RAF Strike Command. An unnecessary comment.
Happy to take English tax payers money to pay for your squatt and Methadone, aren't you!
Kinloss had Liberators and kills of U-Boats
@@JohnSmith-ei2pz the Scots had a great input and sacrifice in ww2, one of my relatives was an English sergeant who served in two fine , brave Scots regiments in the desert, Sicily, Italy and on into Austria and Germany, another was a Royal Marine Commando who landed on D-Day with many fine Scots. Lord Lovat, David and William Stirling of the SAS were Scots and many great Scots men and women continue to serve today.
Bill Rowebottom, or Bill Owen, as briefly seen on the stage in this picture was in a lot of WW2 movies.
Also I’ve been led to believe this may not only US release on coastal command the clue is the B17 (the American aeroplane) was used quite extensively and these movies are to try to get the isolationists to swing there opinions to help the British.
RAF Coastal Command: Where the only turbulence came from deciding who got the last teabag!
Tea-bags - back then?