N/461
PREFACE
The story of Sunderland N/461 (EJ134) R.A.A.F. and the battle which ocurred over the Bay of Biscay on June 2nd 1943, is considered by many aviation historians to be one of the epic aerial encounters of the Second World War involving a single allied aircraft.
Much of the material presented here has been obtained from first hand sources, including BBC interviews made with members of the original aircrew, logbook and diary entries, official combat reports, letters and photographs. Newspaper articles have also been included as they give an insight into the media of the time in relation to the the shooting down of the civil airliner on June 1st carrying British film star Leslie Howard on his return to Britain from Lisbon. In addition, the Luftwaffe’s plans to intercept the aircraft transporting Winston Churchill home from Gibraltar, during the first week of June, resulted in the highest state of alert that existed over the Bay of Biscay for the entire war.
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