Recent content by Bigbird

The Type VIIB boat U-55 left Kiel on 16 January 1940 for its first war cruise, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Werner Heidel, and sank three merchant vessels. In the early afternoon of 30 January 1940, when about 90 miles south-west of the Scilly Isles, it was spotted on the surface by the...

On 13 June 1941 several Beaufort Mk 1s of No. 42 Squadron were despatched from Leuchars in Fife to hunt the German heavy cruiser Lutzow, which was known from Enigma decrypts to be off the coast of south-west Norway. One of these, (L9939) flown by Flight Sergeant Ray H. Loveitt, came across the...

The Type VIIA boat U-31, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Johannes Habekost, was the first U-boat to be sunk by the RAF in World War 2. At midday on 11 March 1940 Blenheim Mk.IV (P4852) of No. 82 Sqd, flown by Squadron Leader Miles V. Delap, from Watton, Norfolk, was on patrol off Borkum, when the...

The Type VIIA boat U-31 left Lorient on 21 October 1940 for a war cruise under the command of Kapitanleutnant Wilfried Frellberg, but was depth-charged to the surface on 2 November 1940 when north-west of Ireland by the destroyer HMS Antelope, as shown here. The crew abandoned the U-boat before...

Shown here is a Liberator Mk 11 waiting to be tested in April 1942 by the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. ref: AIR 15/933

Shown here is a Catalina Mk 1 of Coastal Command in flight. Photo courtesy of Roy Conyers Nesbit

Shown here is Catalina Mk 11 (AM266) having a torpedo fitted underneath the port wing while engaged on trials with the Torpedo Development Unit at Gosport. Ref: AVIA 16/59

The Type VIIC boat U-70 left Heligoland on 20 February 1941 under the command of the highly experienced Kapitanleutnant Joachim Matz, bound fo the North Atlantic. Six days later it sank a Swedish merchant vessel. Then, on 7 March, it danaged two more vessels, one British, one Dutch, which were...

The Type VIIB boat U-76 left Bergen on 28 March 1941 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich von Hippel, bound for the North Atlantic. On 3 April, when south of Iceland, it sank a Finnish merchant vessel and then a British merchant vessel on the following day. It was then pursued by...

Shown here is the Type VIIC boat U-570 after surrendering to the British. U-570 left Trondheim on 23 August 1941 for its first war cruise, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Hans Joachim Rahmlow. Four days later, when south of Iceland, it was spotted by a Hudson of No.269 Sqd, flown by...

Shown here is a photo taken by Catalina (AH545) of No.209 sqd, flown by Flight Lieutenant B. Lewin, from Reykjavik, Iceland. It shows at bottom right the anti-submarine trawler HMS Kingston Agathe, at centre is the surfaced U-570, and in the background the destroyer Burwell. Ref: AIR 15/473

Shown here is an aerial photo of the moment Lieutenant H.B. Campbell of the armed trawler HMS Kingston Agathe crossed in an inflatable dinghy to accept the surrender of U-570. All the German crew members were taken off and the U-boat was to towed to Iceland. It yielded some intelligence but the...

Shown here are German soldiers disembarking at around 0730 hours from the destroyer KMS Wilhelm Heidkamp at Postkaia, Narvik. Photo from the collection of Geirr H Haarr

Shown here are the two old panserships Norge and Eidsvold at anchor in Narvik harbour during the afternoon of 8 April 1940. Photo Forsvarsmuseet

Shown her is the destroyer KMS Erich Koellner (Z13) aground while manoeuvring in Herjangsfjorden, but damage was slight. Photo from the T Eggan collection