Lehké a střední bombardéry

There were eleven crewmen on board the Sunderland, including nine Australians and two Britishers.

The Sunderland was under the command of Australian Flight Lieutenant Colin Walker. The crew was on an antisubmarine patrol and also searching for remains of an airliner that had left Gibraltar the day before, to be shot down over the Bay of Biscay with the loss of all crew and passengers, including British film star Leslie Howard, known for his starring role in THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL and supporting work in GONE WITH THE WIND.

In the late afternoon, one of the crew spotted the eight Ju-88s. Bombs and depth charges were dumped while Walker redlined the engines. Two Ju-88s made passes at the flying boat, one from each side, scoring hits while the Sunderland went through wild "corkscrew" evasive maneuvers. The fighters managed to knock out one engine.

On the third pass of the fighters, the top-turret gunner managed to shoot one down. Another Ju-88 disabled the tail turret, but the next fighter that made a pass was bracketed by the top and nose turrets and shot down as well.

Still another fighter attacked, smashing the Sunderland's radio gear, wounding most of the crew in varying degrees and mortally wounding one of the side gunners. A Ju-88 tried to attack from the rear, but the tail turret gunner had managed to regain some control over the turret and shot down the German fighter.

The surviving fighters pressed home their attacks, despite the losses. The nose gunner chewed up one of the fighters and set one of its engines on fire. Two more of the attackers were thoroughly shot up, and the other two finally decided they'd had enough and departed. Luftwaffe records indicate these were the only two that made it back to base.

The Sunderland was a wreck. The crew threw everything they could overboard and nursed the aircraft back to the Cornish coast, where Walker managed to land and beach it. The crew waded ashore, carrying their dead comrade, while the surf broke up the Sunderland.

On 16 September 1943 Dudley was on patrol when his plane was attacked by six Ju 88 fighters. Dudley and his crew battled the fighters for more than an hour, but the Sunderland was riddled with bullet holes and had lost three engines. The aircraft made an emergency landing along a 15-foot swell and sank. Shrapnel had damaged two of the dinghies and the 12-man crew had to fit into one.

“We were sitting in the remaining dinghy like petals of a flower, with some of the crew wounded, on our backs with our feet in the middle,” Dudley remembered. After several hours, a British warship rescued them. Dudley was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), for his “inspiring leadership, great courage and determination” in the air battle, and two of his crew were awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal.