Does anyone have any info and/or links about the floating shelters that the British put in the English channel for downed pilots and MTB crews? I remember reading about them in elementary school, but I don't remember anything about them other than they contained beds and food and other emergency supplies, and other than one visual "reference" in an old black and white movie about MTB crews, I have never seen anything about them. Thanks for all your help!

Take care and have a great day....


ciao,
john.

As an old war veteran I have never heard of anything like that...I am sure that I would have, had they been in existence. We did have MTB rescue craft spread around the South Coast. But Shelters? NO NO...
Sapper

You've got me wondering now, Mock26 !

I reckon that Sapper's right, the RAF and Royal Navy relied on fast Air-Sea Rescue launches.

BUT - I have definitely seen a drawing somewhere of a Luftwaffe air-sea rescue buoy , numbers of which were supposedly moored in the Channel for use by downed Luftwaffe pilots. Inside was room for one or two men with supplies.

Problem is, I'm going purely from memory and can't find any references to support this....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Thanks, Martin, for your Luftwaffe reference. I just ran another search on Google, and I turned up this:

The RAF, and later the AAF, benefited from observation of German equipment. The German rescue service perfected a one-man dinghy before it was a feature of British fighter planes. They were the first to use fluorescine as a sea coloring to aid searchers in finding downed airmen, and the first to discover that yellow was the best color for sea-rescue equipment. In the fall of 1940 German sea rescue floats began to appear in the English Channel. These had bunks for four men, blankets, food, water and distress signals. The RAF copied the example.(19)

I found it here: http://nobadlie.tripod.com/asr.htm

Unfortunately, the web page is incomplete and it doesn't give the info for footnote 19. I will continue my search, though!

ciao,
john.

Thanks, John.

I must say that I've never seen a picture or reference to the RAF using such buoys before. Possibly the biggest 'graveyard' of missing airmen is the North Sea which is a very large area of water indeed.

Certainly during the Arnhem airborne operation, a line of RAF air-sea rescue launches was positioned across the North Sea in case of need by gliders/transport aircraft - a sight which was much appreciated by the crews and airborne men.

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

WooHoo! I just did a search and found this incredible link! It is awesome!

http://www.bob-ma.org/modules.php?na...rticle&artid=4

Excellent stuff, Mock26 ! At least I have now converted a vague notion into knowledge.....

Interesting to see the reference to He59 floatplanes : these vulnerable aircraft often became caught-up in the Battle of Britain.

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Another wonderful discovery here in the forums. A great idea that I never knew existed. I am sure these were much more welcome than floating in an open one-man float or life jacket.

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL