Date
Location
Force
Aircraft
From-To
Crew
14-03-1943
Póvoa do Varzim (half mile from the coast)
RAF 1 OADU
Bristol Blenheim V EH332
Portreath (GB) → Gibraltar
Sgt J.P. Hutton GB
Sgt R. L. Graham GB
Sgt R.W.A. Lindsey GB
They took off around 6.30 hours and three hours later the starboard engine started to have problems and had to ditch in the sea five miles north of Póvoa do Varzim, near a beach.
They jumped into a Dingy that flipped because of bad sea and for two hours they tried to reach the beach where a crowd had gathered and helped them as they could.
One police officer took them to his quarters in Póvoa where they received coffee and clothes.
The aircraft was found in a beach four hours later.
The crew was warned by the British Consul of Oporto to not try to escape. On 11 march two officers from the Portuguese International Police escorted them to Elvas, where they stayed in the Hotel Central.
On the 24th of May the same police brought them back to Lisbon from where tehy were repatriated on the 27th.
The entire crew became missing on September 9, 1943 in another ferry flight and are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.
Resources:
* Evade & Escape Report - National Archives - London Kew
* rafcommands.com
*Portreath ORB - National Archives - London Kew
