Downed airmen who survived 11 days at sea
Diary tells forgotten tale of lost U-boat killers forced to fish with their pants and sail life raft with shirts
A DIARY that describes how six airmen survived 11 days at sea in a life raft by using their underpants for a fishing net and their shirts for a sail has come to light 73 years later.
The daily log of Fg Off Eric Hartley described a struggle for survival which also involved sucking rain-soaked handkerchiefs for water.
They created a sail by sewing two of their shirts together and kept up morale by praying twice a day.
On September 27 1943, their Halifax bomber was part of a team from 58 Squadron on the trail of the notorious U-221 that had sunk 11 Allied ships.
The U-boat’s captain was Hans-Hartwig Trojer, a German hero who had been awarded the Knight’s Cross and was known as Count Dracula because he was born in Transylvania.
The squadron tracked down their target and sunk it with the loss of all hands. But in an exchange of fire at 50 yards, their Halifax bomber was hit, forcing the crew to abandon it in the Atlantic, 400 miles south-west of Ireland. Fg Off Hartley wrote in his logbook: “Sighted and attacked U/boat. Sustained hits in fuel tank burst into flames and ditched 1 min later. U/B straddled and ‘kill’ observed.”
The front and rear gunners, Sgt Robert Triggol and Sgt Maldwyn Griffiths, were killed, but the surviving six crewmen managed to climb into the dinghy. However, the plane had sunk so quickly that the survivors had not been able to retrieve any rations or other survival aids.
During their 11-day ordeal they battled huge waves while using their boots to bail out seawater. Fg Off Hartley’s diary spoke of “bad, cold nights” and the “great discomfort” suffered by the crew. At one point a wave overturned the dinghy, soaking their remaining kit.
They tried to supplement a meagre ration of a few chunks of soggy chocolate by using a pair of underpants to catch fish. But all they could scoop up were foul-tasting “slimy, salty” jelly fish. Although they kept up their morale by praying twice a day, two of the crew became so delirious that their condition was deemed “critical”. Fg Off Hartley and the other survivors, his co-pilot, Capt Roger Mead, navigator Sgt T Bach, engineer Sgt George Robertson, mid-upper gunner Sgt Ken Ladds and wireless operator Sgt A Fox, waited close to the crash site for a week, hoping a search party would spot them.
But when nobody came, the journal notes: “We felt we should hoist some sort of sail and make better use of westerly winds to carry us nearer convoy routes.” The men sewed two of their shirts together to make the sail.
After four more days, they were spotted by a Royal Navy destroyer and given a hero’s reception on board.
Their epic story of survival has come to light after the family of Fg Off Hartley sold the Distinguished Flying Cross he was awarded for more than £3,000.
A black and white picture of the airmen in the life raft at the time they were rescued was also included in the lot.
Simon Nuttall, of auctioneers Wright Marshall, said: “It is the most remarkable collection that tells an extraordinary story of heroism and survival. The logbooks, diary, letters and telegrams cover almost every emotion.
“One can’t even begin to imagine the feeling of hopelessness and despair the men felt as day after day went by with no sign of rescue and with no food or water.”
‘One can’t even begin to imagine the feeling of hopelessness and despair the men felt as day after day went by with no sign of rescue’