CSAR Series Part 4: Britain's Air/Sea Rescue Service

Our series continues...

In February 1941, Britain formed the Air/Sea Rescue Service. For inspiration, the fledgling organization turned to the German Seenotdienst. Emulating the enemy's example, Britain installed resuce floats around its coast. But even though German rescue buouys worked well in the English Channel, the British version did not succeed in outlying waters. Royal Air Force historians report that the British buoys attracted few human customers, but provided a great resting base for seals. Other German inventions, such as flourescent sea dye, translated well into the English.

The British service launched an all-out effort to create original techniques and equipment. The RAF equipped certain aircraft, for example, with feathered crewmembers: homing pigeons that could deliver hand-scrawled messages reporting the location of a downed plane. Inventors devised a number of temporary survival kits that could be airdropped to men awaiting rescue. These kits went by such quaint names as the Thornaby Bag, the Bircham Barrel, and the Lysander Rescue Outfit. The Lindholme Dinghy Dropping Gear included balloons and kites. Later models contained radios.

British fighter pilots were issued a dinghy attached to their parachute harnesses. The so-called "K-type" dinghy inflated automatically in the water. The dinghies brought mixed results: they inflated well, but a number of pilots climbed into the tiny rafts, only to float aimlessly for days on end until they died from exposure. The RAF added masts with sails, to enable pilots to naviagte their K-types toward land.

The British rescue service activated a tightly run dispatch system, and even assigned rescue craft to hover near the scene of air battles in anticpation of what lay ahead.

Within a year, British loss statistics changed dramatically. By 1942, the RAF recovered more than one third of its aircrew members lost at sea. Now, both Britain and Germany had the full-fledged ability to conduct air-sea rescue missions.

Tomorrow: What about the Yanks?