RAF chiefs ordered their fighters to shoot down the German rescue seaplane that were unarmed and painted in white with a large Red Cross. Downed RAF pilots were abandoned by the British with little hope of rescue, relying on German search and rescue services to maybe save them from drowning.
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.
An estimated 80 per cent of downed pilots died over the sea whereas the rate dropped to 50 per cent over land
Photo: PA
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.”
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.
Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk
But by August 19, Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Park, who commanded the fighter
group in the south east, ordered his flight controllers not to vector pilots
over the sea because “too many were getting drowned”.
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