Tobruk at dawn on June 21 Francis’ aircraft
was intercepted by a Fiat CR 42 of the 90å
Squadriglia flown by Tenente Franco Luccini,
later one of the leading Italian aces. His
gunfire blew a large hole in the hull and
damaged the fuel tanks that the enterprising
crew plugged with Plasticine. Soon after
they alighted at Alexandria at 0830hrs, the
Sunderland was hauled onto the slipway
for repairs. The gunners claimed one of the
attacking fighters destroyed.
A week later on June 28, 230 returned
the ‘compliment’ – and with interest. Flying
L5804/S off western Greece after departing
from Malta, Flt Lt Bill Campbell’s crew spotted
a narrow white track of a periscope ‘feather’.
The submarine was attacked, the bombs
straddling it, with the vessel believed sunk.
It turned out to be the Italian Navy
submarine Argonauta that had been sunk. To
attack a submarine was a rare occurrence,
but Campbell’s crew did it again the followingafternoon. Once more flying to the west of
Zante they spotted the Italian submarine
Rubino on the surface. The vessel was
unable to dive having been previously
damaged. Attacking from 1,000ft Campbell’s
Sunderland dropped two bombs that fell
either side of the stern, following which the
submarine immediately broke up and sank
leaving four survivors struggling amidst the
debris. Seeing them, Campbell alighted in
the choppy waters to rescue them. The day’s
adventures were not over as en route back
to Malta they spotted another submarine
that they strafed, having used all their depth
bombs. Campbell subsequently received the
DFC for these exploits.
Patrols and convoy escorts continued
with L5803/T flown by Flt Lt P R Woodward
bombing an Italian destroyer on July 1,
narrowly missing the stern, whilst on the
23rd a merchant ship was attacked and
damaged.It was certainly not one-sided, however, as
a few days later Sqn Ldr Charles Ryley’s crew
in L5804/S were attacked by four Macchi 200
fighters for almost an hour. They managed
to shoot one down, however the Sunderland
was badly damaged and only saved by the
courage of LAC Campbell who crawled inside
the wing to plug holes in the fuel tanks.
More success came for 230 Sqn
Sunderlands on September 30. Aircraft
L2166/U flown by Flt Lt Pat Alington’s crew
sank the Italian submarine Gondar that was
carrying three ‘chariot’ human torpedoes
in concert with the Royal Australian Navy
destroyer HMAS Stuart. At the time, 230
Sqn was the RAF’s most successful anti-
submarine squadron by some margin.ROYAL EVACUATION
Following the Italian invasion of Greece,
230 Sqn was ordered to move some of its
Sunderlands to Scaramanga near Athens.
This started on December 12, 1940 while
aircraft were also sent on detachment as
required to Souda Bay in Crete. Operations
were conducted from these locations into- Flying from the latter location on March
27, Flt Lt Ian McCall’s crew located part of the
Italian battle fleet off the coast of Sicily.
Sunderlands continued to shadow the
Fleet and although the Italian battleships
withdrew, in a night action off Cape Matapan
the Royal Navy sank the cruisers Fiume,
Zara and Pola and two destroyers, Alfieri
and Carducci. However, within days the
Germans invaded Yugoslavia and Greece,
which immediately changed the situation
and Allied forces were soon retreating.
An evacuation of Greece and later Crete
began, with the Sunderlands of 228 and 230
64 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft February 2016Sunderland Mk III EJ143/S shown on a take-off run in the Indian Ocean. EN-ArchiveOn delivery to 230 Sqn in 1938, Sunderland Mk I L2166 was named Perak and wore the state’s black, yellow and white flag on the tail and name in
Arabic script on the nose. T Thewlis63-67_sunderlandsDC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 64 07/01/2016 10:48