Library Reference Number: 076
The Lone Survivor
For many years I have spent the winter months in Spain. On one occasion I was sitting outside of my caravan in Estepona when a neighbouring German caravaner who wished to have a talk with me approached. His name was Charles and in the course of conversation it turned out that Charles was a flying man during WW2. The conversation proceeded as follows:-
"What planes did you fly Charles?"
"I flew Junkers 52"
"Where about Charles?"
"In the Middle East"
"What type of operation?"
"We were carrying fuel in drums from Sicily to Tripoli to meet the demand of Rommel and his tanks during the North African Campaign"
"How did you get on Charles?"
"One morning the five Junkers were late in getting over the Straits in darkness and when only midway across, we were caught by a single Beaufighter which shot down all five of our planes. I was the only survivor of all five aircrews and was in the sea for five hours suffering from burns and injuries. Eventually an Italian E boat came to the rescue, and being in such a bad state, I had to be taken back to Germany."
"Charles - you would be finished with the war having gone through all that?"
"No Harry, when I was better, I joined Dornier as a test pilot, testing a new push/pull fighter, and the war ended while I was there."
"What did you do Harry?"
"I was in the RAF as a Pilot. I was in the Middle East during that time. Among other planes I flew Beaufighters."
Pointing his finger, Charles said, "Was it you in that Beaufighter?"
"No! Charles, I was not the pilot who shot you down"
Charles ended the conversation by saying "We are friends of the air"
By coincidence, 15 years later, I was given a book named "Aerial Combat, Facts and Feats" and casually looking through it I came across this paragraph:-
"The greatest number of planes shot down in a single sortie, was carried out by a Sgt Pilot of the RAF flying a Beaufighter in the Middle East, shooting down 5 Junker 52s in the Straits of Sicily."
Now! - if the Sgt Pilot is still with us and reads this, he will learn what eventually happened to the Lone Survivor.