Local/ Location
Força/ Force
Avião/ Aircraft
Origem - Destino From - To
The aircraft, from the Gibraltar detachment of the squadron, was on a anti-submarine patrol. There was a very cloudy weather and the aircraft almost crashed in the Sagres Village, before recovering height again, and going in a straight to Tonel Bay, where it crashed and exploded. The inexperience of the pilot and the bad visibility were considered probable causes of the accident. Only the bodies from Orton and Gibson were recovered and are buried in the local cemetery. The rest of the crew was never recovered.
O avião, integrado no destacamento de Gibraltar do esquadrão, encontrava-se numa patrulha anti-submarina. O dia estava bastante nublado e o aparelho quase se despenhou sobre a localidade de Sagres mas conseguiu recuperar altura, voando em direcção à Baía do Tonel onde explodiu. A falta de experiência do piloto aliada à baixa visibilidade foi apontada como causa para o acidente. Só os corpos de Orton e Gibson foram recuperados e estão enterrados no cemitério daquela localidade. Os restantes tripulantes nunca foram encontrados.
22-03-1943
Sagres – Baía do Tonel
RAF 210 Sqn
Consolidated Catalina IB FP154
Gibraltar a Gibraltar
F/O Martin Joseph French GB +
F/Sgt Robert Joseph Gordon Campbell GB +
Sgt Gilbert Joseph Orton GB +
F/Sgt George Tod Wright Gibson GB +
Sgt Cyril Field GB +
Sgt Ian Lockarbie Maclean GB +
Sgt Ernst Hugh Strathearn Marsh GB +
Sgt Eric Mckim GB +
Sgt Eric Joseph Smith GB +
F/O George Eriksen Mcnaughton Australia +
* “Aviões da Cruz de Cristo” – Mário Cannongia Lopes
*Personal File Macnaughton – Australian National Archives
* Newspaper "The Algarve Resident"
* 210 ORB - National Archives UK - London, Kew
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Copyright: 2010 Carlos Guerreiro