Date:	Saturday 26 August 1944
Time:	02:10
Type:	Short Stirling Mk IV
Owner/operator:	196 Sqn RAF
Registration:	EF311
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, 8 miles South of Selsey Bill, Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Short Stirling EF311 of 196 Squadron was an SOE (Special Operations Executive) aircraft and had suffered engine failure over occupied Europe. It was involved in clandestine missions dropping supplies to the French Resistance fighters. The port engine failed over its French Drop Zone, and the propeller broke loose, hitting port outer engine. Pilot, Flying Officer D.R. Campbell RCAF, nursed the aircraft across the Channel on two engines but was finally forced to ditch in the English Channel about 7 to 8 miles off Selsey Bill, Sussex. No one injured

The six man crew took to their dinghy and started to battle the heavy seas. This was at 2.10 am. The seas were very rough.

Crew of Stirling EF311:
F/O D R Campbell
F/O O E B Leadlay
F/O A L Capes
Sgt S McQuillan
Sgt E Dodds
F/Sgt F J Gladwin

They were eventually spotted at 9 am by two fishermen who took all six exhausted crewmen aboard their small 13 ft long fishing boat. The two fishermen were retired life boatmen. The small fishing boat was very overcrowded and the rough sea nearly finished all eight men - but, having run out of petrol and then rowed the remaining distance to shore - the crew were saved. According to a couple of contemporary local newspapers ("Chichester Observer" - Saturday 21 October 1944):

"RESCUE
Some weeks ago, two Selsey fishermen, Jim and Jack Lawrence, were out in their boat looking after their lobster pots, in a heavy sea, when they saw something bobbing up and down about quarter of a mile away. As they got neater, they found six wet and exhausted airmen crowded together in a small rubber dinghy. With some difficulty, they transferred the men, British and Canadians, into their 13 ft punt and made for the shore. Owing to the heavy seas and the heavy load, they had to bale out continually, and when the petrol ran out, had to row the rest of the way to the Thorney Coastguard Station, where they eventually landed the weary men.

Both the Lawrence brothers were members of the lifeboat crew for many years, and both have sons in the Services: Jim’s son, Bert, is in the R.A.F., and Jack’s son, Sandy, is in the Navy".

"West Sussex Gazette" - Thursday 26 October 1944;

"There is a fine story of the rescue of six British and Allied airmen by two Selsey fishermen, Jim and Jack Lawrence, who, despite a very rough sea, managed to transfer the exhausted men from their small raft to a punt and make for shore. Petrol ran out, and the difficulty of rowing with such a heavy load and in such stormy weather was great, but by bailing and endurance, Thorney coastguard station was reached".

From RNLI Records of Services 1944:

"SELSEY, SUSSEX. On the 28th of August, 1944, a Stirling aeroplane, owing to engine-trouble, crash-landed on the sea seven or eight miles from land, and at eight o’clock her six men in their rubber dinghy were seen by two fishermen, both old life-boatmen, who were out in a 13-feet out-board motor boat to re-bait their lobster pots. A fresh to strong westerly wind was blowing ; the sea was rough. The fishermen were three miles west of Thorney coastguard station when they saw the airmen. They went at once to their help. With considerable difficulty they got the six men into their boat, but had to abandon the rubber dinghy. With eight men on board the 13-feet boat was well loaded, and it took her an hour and a half to reach shore, as her petrol was exhausted and the men had to row. They also had to bale all the time. - Rewards, £2 15s., with 2s. 6d. for fuel used and £1 15s. for repairs of engine".

F/O Donald R. Campbell (RCAF) was awarded a DFC following the ditching incident. The citation itself is very bland; the recommendation (Air 2/9160) is puzzling, for it reads, in part:

"Again on the 27th August 1944, Flying Officer Campbell was detailed for an SOE operation in northeastern France. Shortly after leaving the R.V. his port inner engine cut and he was unable to feather it. He carried on, however and dropped his containers at the DZ."

1. Chichester Observer - Saturday 21 October 1944
2. West Sussex Gazette - Thursday 26 October 1944;
3. 196 Squadron ORB for August 1944: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1167/3 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8392123
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 2/9160: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2634957
5. https://sas.raf38group.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=508
6. https://www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Aircraft-lost-on-Allied-Forces-Special-Duty-Operations.pdf
7. https://aeropedia.com.au/content/short-stirling/
8. https://www.key.aero/comment/1546187#comment-1546187
9. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19944.0
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/02853.php
11. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
12. https://wight.hampshireairfields.co.uk/iowc.html
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._196_Squadron_RAF#Reformation_and_World_War_II

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