August 2018 August 2018 August 2018 August 2018 August 2018 August 2018 FLYPAST 83SPOT FACT The Sunderland made its
rst ight on October 16, 1937Men Behind
the Sunderland
749749
We had to be quite accurate
as, although it looked to be all
jungle from above the tree canopy,
there were breaks where rubber
plantations were established. The
plantation manager’s house would
be on clear ground – often they
would put out a white sheet, or
stand with the family waving
a Union Jack!
It was very difficult to establish the
target area. The army did all it could
to help with smoke pots marking
the boundaries.Throwing grenades
The Sunderland had considerable
firepower, using the four-gun
forward and rear turrets, and
machine guns from beam positions.
The bomb racks could be loaded
inside the aircraft in the large centre
section; the side panels would be
lowered and then the racks would be
run out to their position under the
wing roots. This system had been
designed for use with depth charges.
This was not suitable for our
needs, far too time-consuming, sowe developed a simple solution.
All the spare crew members would
be in the bomb loading area, with
the side panels down. One member
would take a 20lb bomb out of the
crates, pull out the fuse, hand it to
somebody standing at the open side
panel, and he would toss it out.
With four or more crew in the
centre section we got the job done,
although it was a bit scary. It was
like throwing grenades! We would
get about 240 bombs off in the raid.Enemy coast ahead
A more serious operation was our
part in the Korean War. Sunderlands
were deployed to a flying-boat base
at Iwakuni on the Inland Sea of
Japan, used jointly with the US
Navy's twin-engined Martin PBM
Mariner flying-boats.
We would have three Sunderlands
on station throughout the year,
rotating aircraft and crews at about
four-weekly intervals. We would
support the US Navy operation
in the shores off Korea – up as
far as the Yangtze River. TheseSunderlands
were built in total