Preparing for an anti U-boat patrol

31 March 1943: An Australian airman describes setting out on his first flight 'on Operations' - a long patrol over the Bay of Biscay

Sunderland Mark III, DD867 ‘2-G’, of No. 423 Squadron RCAF based at Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh, in flight

A Sunderland crew being briefed for a patrol over the Atlantic

The flight engineer at his bench on the flight deck. He has to keep a log and watch the cylinder head temperature and the oil pressure and temperature. He must note the petrol consumption every quarter-hour while the machine is in flight, and report to the pilot each hour how long the aircraft can remain in the air according to the amount of petrol available

Sunderland Aircraft manned by members of the Royal Australian Air Force, which daily operate on convoy and offensive patrols each of 1000 miles or more - from this Coastal Command station. The navigator of a Sunderland seen at work with his charts and instruments plotting the next change of course.

In the spring of 1943 the U-Boat war was reaching a peak, with the Allies bringing forward a range of new measures to protect convoys coming across the Atlantic. At the same time the Germans were bringing into operation many new U-boats.

For the men in RAF Coastal Command this meant more patrols over the Bay of Biscay, trying to catch the U-boats either leaving or returning to their French bases on the Atlantic coast. Even if they did not catch any U Boats they were forcing them to remain submerged for much longer periods over a critical part of their patrol, impeding communication between boats and base, making the formation of wolfpacks more difficult.

The Australians were to make an important contribution to this battle. At the outbreak of war they had had two RAAF Squadrons in Britain, forming up with newly built Sunderland aircraft. It was decided to keep them in Britain to contribute to home defence.

This was, of course, long before Japan entered the war. For the rest of the war there were still many Australian airmen fighting the European war, even if most Australian troops had returned to fight the Japanese.