COMMUNITY A Catalina at Gibraltar during WW2, Image courtesy The Catalina Society
A Catalina in RAF Service during WW2, Image courtesy The Catalina Society
George McNaughton the Australian Navigator, Image courtesy Don Taylor
Struggling to keep control, the pilot turned the aircraft into a sharp bank... It crashed down into the cliffs, exploded and disappeared below the Atlantic waves.
RAF Heroes Honoured
BY PHIL EGGINTON
On 22 March 1943, World War Two dramatically came to the Algarve. Tragically 10 RAF aircrew lost their lives, but in doing so, saved many locals in Sagres. These heroes are now being honoured. Anyone who visits Sagres at the far western tip of the Algarve will know it is a very beautiful place. In summer the views out to sea from the lighthouse at Cape St Vincent are spectacular. But it can be very windy. During the winter months, it may be bleak and wild. Storms can blow straight in from the Atlantic, as indeed one did on 22 March 1943. A cold front extended right over Sagres. Visibility was very poor; the cloud cover extending down almost to sea level. Locals in Sagres reported that just before 4 p.m the sudden and loud noise of engines could be heard at Tonel Bay. People rushed out to see an aircraft emerge very low from the mist. Suddenly seeing the vertical cliffs in front of them, the aircraft lurched upwards under power. Skimming the cliff tops, the pilot was then faced with the houses of Sagres right in front of him. Struggling to keep control, the pilot turned the aircraft into a sharp bank. Some locals reported that one of the engines stuttered. The aircraft quickly lost lift, technically called a stall. It crashed down into the cliffs, exploded and disappeared below the Atlantic waves. Locals including fishermen, rushed to help the crew. Sadly, only two bodies were recovered. The other eight crew remaining, to this day, beneath the waves at Tonel Bay. The aircraft was a Catalina of 210 squadron, RAF Coastal Command. The aircraft carried the squadron code letter D. A detachment of 210 squadron had been sent to Gibraltar in 1942. Convoys from the UK to the Mediterranean were being harassed by German submarines (U-Boats). The Catalina was a flying boat with radar, special searchlights and anti-submarine weapons. Catalina D was built by the Consolidated
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Aircraft Corporation at San Diego, California being handed to the RAF in July 1942. It arrived with 210 squadron in Gibraltar in late 1942. The crew of 10 consisted of Flying Officer M.J.French who was first pilot and commanded the plane. He had Sergeant E.McKim as second pilot, Pilot Officer G.E.McNaughton (an Australian) who was navigator, Flight Sergeant R.J.Campbell and Sergeants C.Field, G.J.Orton, G.Gibson, E.J.Smith, E.H.S.March and I.L.McLean as flight engineers, weapons operators and air gunners. French and his crew had taken off from Gibraltar at 8.12 a.m on an anti-submarine patrol off Cape St Vincent. The Gibraltar base radioed them to return at 3.23 p.m which they acknowledged. Tragically they crashed only 19 minutes later at 3.42 p.m. The bodies of Sergeants Gibson and Orton were recovered. George Gibson came from Lockerbie in Scotland, he was 23. Gilbert Orton came from Birmingham, he was 21 years of age when he died. They were buried with full military honours in Sagres municipal cemetery. Their well-tended graves, with Commonwealth War Graves headstones, can be visited today at Sagres cemetery just off the N268. The crew were all young men, the oldest being only 31 years of age. On 9 April 2019, Vila do Bispo council inaugurated a monument (Monumento de Homenagem aos Combatentes) in memory of local servicemen. The council included the names of the Catalina crew in homage to their sacrifice in saving local lives. Clive Jewell, the British consul and Peter Rayner, the Australian ambassador to Portugal attended. î ƒ
