REVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA: 5 DECEMBER

As expected, this rare and unusual Great War ‘seaplane incident’ George Cross (exchange A.M.) and Second World War C.B.E. group of eight to Acting Flight Commander Paul Douglas Robertson (RNAS) proved a leading highlight of this auction with a hammer price of £18,000.

Previewed in detail in the last Noonans' newsletter, it was just pipped to the post of top lot by another group that recalled the exceptional courage and stoicism of a wounded British pilot as his crew set their guns on a U-Boat in the Greenland Sea north of the Arctic Circle almost 200 miles off Norway in 1944.

 

The outstanding Second War Coastal Command Immediate D.F.M. group of four awarded to Flight Sergeant J. S. ‘Jack’ Garnett, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, went over top estimate at £19,000.

As Second Pilot to Flying Officer J. A. Cruickshank in a Catalina of 210 Squadron on 17 July 1944, Garnett’s name is indelibly linked to one of the finest Victoria Cross actions of the war: but for his own stoicism in facing off his wounds and taking over the controls, none of his crew would have reached safety.
The London Gazette of 29 September 1944 revealed just how daring and dangerous the mission's exploits were:

"This N.C.O. was the Second Pilot of a Catalina aircraft which sighted and attacked a fully surfaced U-boat on the 19 July 1944. The attack was pressed home at a very low altitude by the Captain in the face of heavy and intense flak which killed the navigator/bomb aimer outright, severely wounded the Captain and front gunner as well as slightly wounding Flight Sergeant Garnett. Immediately after the attack the Captain collapsed in his seat. Flight Sergeant Garnett, promptly took over the controls, righted the aircraft and climbed into a fog patch ahead of him."

Garnett assumed the captaincy of the damaged flying boat and organised the crew for the homeward journey of five hours.
"Although not qualified as a First Pilot on Catalinas he brought the damaged aircraft safely back to base and successfully landed it in difficult water conditions (glassy calm) in the half light of early morning.

"Owing to the damage sustained to the hull, it was necessary to effect an immediate beaching, which operation he conducted with conspicuous success and beach it finally in an extremely well chosen spot."

The Gazette was fulsome in its praise: "From the moment he took charge he handled the situation in the manner of an experienced First Pilot. By his prompt action immediately after the attack, his skill in flying the aircraft back to base without a navigator, his successful landing and well-judged beaching he undoubtedly saved the lives of his crew and was responsible for the safe return of his aircraft."

The action is best summarised in Chaz Bowyer’s For Valour – The Air VCs:

"… At 1.45 p.m. Cruickshank got airborne from the Sullom Voe base to start a patrol calculated to last at least 14 hours. For the next eight hours the Catalina swept its patrol area, seeing little of importance, and its crew were reaching the point of thinking ahead to the return to base at the end of yet another monotonous sortie.

"Then, at 9.45 p.m. the radar showed a contact at 6821N, 0556E – a surface vessel some 43 miles ahead. The flying boat at that moment was flying at 2000 feet above the ocean and Cruickshank’s immediate reaction to the sighting report was to approach the unidentified ‘contact’. Further on he suddenly saw the vessel – a submarine, doing approximately 14 knots on the surface. At first the crew thought it must be a ‘friendly’ sub, but Cruickshank ordered a recognition cartridge to be fired and the code letter of the day to be flashed to the submarine to ensure identification. His answer was an immediate heavy box barrage of flak – it was a German U-boat.

"Cruickshank’s response was to pull the Catalina into a complete circuit around the U-boat and begin his first run-in, descending from 1,000 feet to 50 feet as he nosed towards his target. At 1,000 yards’ range the Catalina’s front gunner commenced firing to make the German gunners take cover, and his tracers splashed around the submarine’s conning tower and ricocheted away in crazy parabolas; then the waist blister guns joined in the attack.

"Roaring over the U-boat the Catalina’s depth charges failed to release, so Cruickshank turned to port, climbing to 800 feet and continuing his turn to begin a second attack. Shouting to his crew “Everybody ready?” Cruickshank paused to hear the responses and then yelled, “In we go again.” The U-boat was now nearly stationary, giving its gunners a more stable platform as they prepared for the Catalina’s second attack.

"Flak shells began to slash along the flanks of the flying boat as it bore in; then as the U-boat came directly under Cruickshank’s vision, one shell exploded inside the Catalina, creating havoc. The navigator, Dickson, was killed instantly, Appleton [an Air Gunner] was hit in the head by shrapnel, and Harbison [the Flight Engineer] wounded in both legs. In front of Garnett’s second pilot seat the windscreen shattered, and further inside a fire broke out.

"Cruickshank received wounds in both legs and his chest, but gave no indication of his injuries, intent as he was on completing his attack. From 50 feet above the U-boat Cruickshank personally released a stick of six depth charges in a perfect straddle of the submarine, then pulled up into the clouds of sea fog ahead of him.

"The aircraft crew saw no more of their target, but behind them the U-347, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Johnann de Bugr, was rapidly sinking – Cruickshank’s aim had been true. U-347 had been one of an Arctic flotilla, and this was only her second patrol. In the Catalina, the crew took stock of the damage and crew injuries. The hull was riddled with flak damage, with a foot-long gash along the waterline. The aircraft radar set was out of commission, and one of the main petrol lines was leaking fuel steadily. The latter was particularly worrying; in their immediate location, 190-degrees west of the Lofoten Isles, north-west of Norway, the crew realised that it was at least five hours’ flying back to base at Sullom Voe.

"The various holes in the main hull were stuffed with various canvas engine covers and ‘Mae West’ preserver life jackets by various crew members; while up front Garnett took over the controls from Cruickshank and told Appleton to come and tend to the skipper’s wounds. Appleton began to cut away the legs of Cruickshank’s uniform trousers to staunch the obvious flow of blood, and then Cruickshank’s face went white and he fainted. Garnett and Appleton managed to lower the unconscious pilot from his seat and carried him aft to the only remaining unburned rest bunk; then Garnett returned to his forward seat.

"Appleton began to dress Cruickshank’s leg wounds and only then discovered the several chest wounds suffered by his captain – Cruickshank had not said anything about these. As the pilot regained consciousness soon after, he immediately made a move to go forward to his seat at the controls, being anxious about the fuel state, but Appleton restrained him gently, explaining that Garnett had everything under control there.

"Cruickshank’s next thought was for his navigator, but from the look on Appleton’s face, realised that Dickson must be dead already; indeed, he must have unconsciously known this after the explosion in the aircraft during the second attack run, and had instinctively taken over the release of the depth charges.

"During the five and a half hours’ journey back to Scotland, Cruickshank refused morphia in case it fuddled his brain, and several times he lapsed into unconsciousness due to continuing loss of blood weakening him. Each time, as he regained his senses, his first thoughts were for the safety of the crew and the state of the aircraft. Garnett was still in the captain’s seat in front, in spite of his own wounds, and remained there until the Catalina finally reached Sullom Voe.

"It was still dark then and when Appleton went aft to tell his skipper they were over the base, Cruickshank insisted on being helped forward to the front cockpit where, propped up in the second pilot’s seat, he took over command again. Only able to breath with difficulty and in great pain, Cruickshank ordered that they must continue circling base until first light to ensure a safe landing.

"For the next hour the Catalina droned in large circles over Sullom Voe, while her crew jettisoned guns and other equipment to lighten the ship in preparation for the landing; then between then Garnett and Cruickshank brought the flying boat down onto the sea. No sooner had the hull begun to settle than the fuselage became part-flooded with sea water pouring in through the myriad of shell holes. In a final bid to save the crew and machine throttles were opened fully and the Catalina flown right up on a beach.

"The waiting medical officer climbed aboard and found Cruickshank, who collapsed and had to be given an immediate blood transfusion before he could be removed from the aircraft. Then, strapped on a stretcher, he was taken directly to hospital, where a thorough examination revealed that John Cruickshank had received a staggering 72 individual wounds, the most serious being those in his chest and legs."

On 1 September 1944 the London Gazette announced the award of the Victoria Cross to John Cruickshank, and a Distinguished Flying Medal to Jack Garnett for his splendid part in the whole action; and on 21 September both men attended an investiture at Holyrood House to receive their awards from the hands of King George VI.’

Garnett was in fact the only member of crew to be decorated other than Cruickshank. He died at Poole, Dorset in 1998, aged 86.