Flt Lt Walker RAAF; a Bay of Biscay Battle, 1943

In this heroic encounter during World War Two, a Short Sunderland III of 461 Sqdn RAF, captained by Flt Lt C.B.Walker, RAAF, shot down three and damaged two of eight German Ju88 long-range fighter-bombers which attacked it in the Bay of Biscay. Later, the crew believed that a fourth attacker was also destroyed and two more damaged; none of them reached their home base.

Marshall’s painting shows the Sunderland mid-battle with the flight-deck wrecked, the port outer engine on fire and the propeller shot away, corkscrewing to the instructions of the navigator Flt lt Simpson in the astrodome on top of the fuselage. Two Ju 88’s have just made their passes, one of them hurtles past in flames. An earlier victim smokes on the sea in the far distance where two more attackers are about to commence their curves of pursuit. Undoubtedly, Simpson’s masterly calls to the skipper, Flt Lt Walker and the two other pilots, Dowling and Amiss, were fundamental to the eventual escape from their adversaries’ courageous and well-coordinated attacks.

Nine of the crew were Australians, two British. The badly damaged Sunderland returned to England riddled with holes and with the port outer engine out. The hull was so badly punctured that the Sunderland could not alight on the sea when it reached home. There was one more indignity thrust upon them; on the approach to forelanding ashore, another engine cut out. The crippled Sunderland could not stay airborne on the two remaining engines. Walker put the aircraft down just off a beach in Cornwall, giving the crew a chance of departing the aircraft safely in shallow water. One crew member, however, Ted Miles, an engineer, had been killed in the battle.

The Sunderland was nicknamed “The Flying Porcupine” by the Luftwaffe because it bristled with guns. Normally, it carried four .303 machine guns in the rear turret, two in the dorsal turret, and two in the front. This particular crew fitted yet another pair of guns in the galley hatches each side of the hull, beneath the wing. In addition, of course, the flying boat could carry its normal ordnance of bombs or depth charges. It was equipped with air-to-surface radar. Its principal task was to find and sink German submarines.

The Short Sunderland was derived from the highly successful Short “C” Class Empire flying boats which entered service with Britain’s Imperial Airways in October of 1936. (See below for an illustration of “Canopus”, the first machine to enter service.) They operated on the England to South Africa and England to Australia routes.

"Canopus", the first of the Short “C” Class flying boats of 1936 to enter service. The Sunderland was a military development of these luxurious flying boats.

The first Sunderland, which first flew in 1937, was designed with the mainplane of the “C” Class boat. However, it was found that the inclusion of military equipment sent the centre of gravity too far aft. Rather than repositioning the wing or redesigning it, Shorts simply swept the whole wing back from the trailing edge! This gave the characteristic “engines pointing outward” appearance of the Sunderland compared to the 24-seat “C” class passenger boats. It was a happy solution that incurred a small drag penalty but gave better asymmetric handling when an engine failure occurred.

This splendid machine operated throughout WW2 on long-range ocean patrols, submarine hunting, air-sea rescue and convoy protection operations. Post WW2 they took part in the famous Berlin Airlift and also the Korean War. Pilots reported that the great machine was light on the controls, apart from the rudder which was a little heavy. Along with the extremely robust construction and heavy defensive armament, the ease of handling allowed the Sunderland to mix-in with attacking aircraft with surprising agility–as the Bay of Biscay story confirms.

The Sunderland was large for its day; wingspan, 34.4m (112’9”), length 26m (85’). Five major variants were produced during World War II. The Mark III which featured an improved planing hull, had a gross weight of 26,300kg (58,000lb) and a maximum speed of 213mph (343km/h). Range was 2,900 miles (4070km). Bristol Pegasus radial engines of 1,010hp fitted to earlier models were later replaced by four 1,200hp Pratt and Whitney Twin-Wasps.