normandy strikes...

Of the 11,590 Allied aircraft earmarked for participation in the Normandy campaign, 1,070 were from RAF Coastal Command. These latter aircraft performed a number of vital functions including a maritime strike role against German surface warships and other affiliated vessels. Amongst the weapons available to Coastal Command in prosecuting this effort, none was more important than the Bristol Beaufighter (pictured here). Whether armed with bombs, torpedoes or rockets, the versatile Beaufighter was the RAF’s most prolific ship-killer in a direct attack role and saw service as such in every major theatre of the war including Northwest Europe where it excelled in strike wing operations. Some early successes scored during the campaign included the destruction of three E-boats and a motor minesweeper that were sunk by Beaufighters off Boulogne on 13 June. Two days later Beaufighters scored another notable victory when they sank the 7,900-ton transport Coburg, the 3,500-ton depot ship Gustav Nachtigal and the fleet minesweeper M103 off the Ems estuary. Coastal Command would continue this onslaught through the duration of the Normandy campaign (until 31 August) eventually contributing to some 70 German vessels worth 78,792 tons that were sunk in the home theatre by direct attacks. Royal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Flt Lt) [Public domain]. For more information regarding this and the contributions made by all of the Allied services in the Atlantic theatre, see The Longest Campaign, Britain’s Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe, 1939-1945.

brian walter