D-Day: A time of courage and sacrifice

Royal Air Force Coastal Command squadrons played a role with little fanfare

Eighty years ago today, over 160,000 Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy suffering losses of some 73,000 casualties in a battle that played a key role in the outcome of World War II. Many movies, documentaries, speeches and stories of individual heroes have been based on the events of that day and the days that followed.

None of those celebrations of victory have paid much attention to the vital role of the RAF Coastal Command in keeping the English channel free of German U-Boats during the Normandy invasion and stifling Hitler’s strategy to flood the channel with U-Boats to destroy the English fleet from both sides. In the event, not a single ship was lost to U-Boats on the day of the invasion while in the week following D-Day 49 U-Boats were sunk and another 6 damaged.

My Dad was a wireless operator - gunner (WOP/AG) on 500 squadron, one of the squadrons comprising Coastal Command Flying anti-submarine Hudson aircaft. In March 1943, Dad’s crew sunk U-Boat 83 in the Mediterranean Sea. 500 Squadron sunk a handful of U-Boats in 1942-1943 with the loss of many Hudson’s, but saw little action on D-Day. Other Coastal Command units did participate in the Normandy invasion.

162 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), another Coastal Command unit, flew Canso’s. 201 and 228 Squadrons flew Sunderlands. 224 Squadron flew Liberators.

Canadians in the RCAF or seconded to the RAF were among those who took part.

Here is their story:

U577 - On June 3, 1944 a Canso flown by RCAF pilot R. E. MacBridge attacked and sunk this U-Boat in the Norwegian Sea. All 51 of the U-Boat crew perished.

U955 - On June 7, 1944 a Sunderland flown by Flight Lieutenant L. Baveystock DFC attacked and sunk this U-Boat in the Bay of Biscay. All 50 of the U-Boat crew perished.

U970 - On June 8, 1944, a Sunderland flown by Flight Lieutenant C.G. Lancaster DFC attacked and sunk this U-Boat in the Bay of Biscay. Only 13 of the 51 U-Boat crew survived the attack.

U629 and U373 - On June 8, 1944, a Liberator flown by RCAF Pilot Flight Lieutenant K.C. Moore attacked and destroyed both of these U-boats in the English channel. The 101 German crew members of these submarines all perished.

U740 - On June 9, 1944, a Liberator flown by Flight Lieutenant A.K. Sherwood attacked and sunk this U-Boat in the English channel with all 51 of the German crew dying in the attack.

U821 - On June 10, 1944, a Liberator flown by Flight Lieutenant D.S. Saunders joined in an attack by several Mosquitos of 248 Squadron sinking this U-Boat in the English channel with all Germans aboard killed, some in the Liberator attack and others by machine gun fire from the Mosquitos.

U980 - On June 11, 1944, an RCAF Canso flown by Flying Officer L. Sherman sunk this U-Boat in the North Sea with the loss of all 51 of the German crew.

The role of Canadian airmen in the D-Day invasion gets little ink in the historical records, attention in Canada largely focused on the 18,700 Canadian soldiers who were among the Allied Forces in the Normandy battle of which 5,000 were killed. My ex-wife’s uncle Ted Harris was among the 14,000 Canadian soldiers who landed on Juno Beach, and against the odds Ted survived.

Lest we forget.