BRISTOL BEAUFORT 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 47Above left
Fg Off Ken Campbell’s
Beaufort I N1016 of 22
Squadron spring 1941.
It is carrying an
18in torpedo.
© ANDY HAY
http://www.fl yingart.co.ukLeft
The RAAF Museum’s
Beaufort is an
amalgam of the
remains of three
ex-RAAF Australian-
built Mk.VIIIs
salvaged from Tadji,
Papua New Guinea,
and handed over in- To the right is
a Leigh retractable
searchlight, as fi tted
to Coastal Command
Wellingtons.
RAF MUSEUM
http://www.rafmuseum.org
Below left
Beaufort I L9878,
built in 1940, served
217 Squadron at
St Eval until it was
retired in the spring
of 1943.“The ship was in a position
protected by a stone mole bending
round it, and rising ground behind
on which stood batteries of guns.
Other batteries clustered thickly
round the two arms of land which
encircled the outer harbour, while
three heavily armed anti-aircraft
ships moored nearby guarded the
cruiser.
“Even if an aircraft penetrated
these formidable defences it would
be almost impossible, after attacking
at low level, to avoid crashing into
the rising ground beyond. Knowing
all this, Fg Off Campbell ran
the gauntlet of the defences and
launched a torpedo at point-blank
range,severely damaging the battle
cruiser below the water-line, so that
she was obliged to return to the dock
she had left only the day before.
“By pressing home the attack
at close quarters in the face of
withering fire, on a course fraught
with extreme peril, this officer
displayed valour of the highest
order.”“The ship was in a position
protected by a stone mole bending
round it, and rising ground behindwith extreme peril, this officer
displayed valour of the highest
order.”Only one other Beaufort from 22
Squadron found Brest, half an hour
after Campbell’s strike. By then, the
harbour defences were on full alert –
the pilot sought cloud and returned
to base.
Campbell and his crew, Canadian
Sgt J P Scott, Sgt W C Mullis and
F/Sgt R W Hillman, did not survive
the onslaught from the harbour’s
defences. They are buried at a local
cemetery.
Campbell was awarded the Victoria
Cross and the London Gazette of
March 13, 1942 described how he
was: “...detailed to attack an enemy
battle cruiser in Brest Harbour at
first light...