CSAR Series Part 3: Chivalry at Sea

Continuing the series on how we developed a capacity for combat search and rescue...

In December 1939, a flight of 24 British Wellington bombers embarked on an assault against Germany. As luck would have it, the bombers' targets were obscured by thick clouds. The Wellingtons returned for home, still fully loaded. As the British aircraft headed back over the sea, Luftwaffe fighter planes attacked from overhead. More than half the Wellingtons plunged into the ocean. As we discussed yesterday, Britain did not have a sophisticated rescue mission. It could not rescue its downed airmen. Instead, the drowning crews were saved by German Seenotdienst boats and float planes.

The following year, during the Battle of Britain, the Seenotdienst again lent a hand to the enemy. Germany's Heinkel pilots were just as willing to land atop the sea in order to save a British pilot as to retrieve one of their own. The chivalry worked both ways. British HSL boats rescued Luftwaffe pilots. Each side simply worked to save imperiled airmen, even when the man's nation of origin was not clear. The famed British ace Geoffrey Page, for example, went down in the English Channel when his Spitfire burst into flames. The fire was so extensive that even Page's uniform was destroyed. A British rescue crew did not know Page's nationality until the agonized airman began to curse in English.

The mutual chivalry soured somewhat when a Heinkel rescue plane was forced down in the course of an air battle. The Heinkel, clearly marked with the universal red cross of the so-called Sanitary Services, was found to be a reconnaissance craft. Afterwards, Britain considered the German rescue planes to be combatants and subject to attack. In response, Germany painted its rescue craft in camouflage color schemes, and sent them out with fighter escorts. The Luftwaffe began targeting British HSL rescue boats.

As the crucial Battle of Britain progressed through the summer and into the fall of 1940, both Germany and Britain beefed up their rescue missions. In October 1940, the Seenotdienst installed a series of rescue buoys in the English Channel. The buoys resembled miniature tugboats, with a flat deck and an enclosed cabin. The floats were stocked with blankets, food, water, medical supplies, changes of clothing, and other items. The buoys proved popular with German and British airmen alike. At times, aircrews from the opposing sides shared the lifesaving stations simultaeneously. Here, there resumed the old spirit of mutual aid. There emerged an unspoken agreement, whereby the HSL boats arrived at certain times, and the Seenotdienst craft at others. Still, the pilots never knew if they were going to be picked up and brought home, or if they would spend the rest of the war inside a POW camp.

After the Battle of Britain, British defense chiefs realized that unless the nation changed its approach to aircrew recovery, future battles would result in the loss of far too many men. Britain would have to develop a dedicated rescue mission.

Tomorrow: The Air/Sea Rescue Service