Short Sunderland 228 Squadron Aviation Art print by Stephen Chard GAvA
On 18 Sep 1939 the
unescorted Kensington Court (Master
Joseph Schofield) was stopped by the German U-Boat U-32 with 13 shots of gunfire about 120 miles west of
Lands End. The ship was sunk by a coup de grâce at 14.00 hours. The master and
34 crew members were rescued by two Short Sunderland aircraft, the first from
228 Sqn (pilot F/Lt Thurston M.W. Smith) and the second from 204 Sqn RAF (pilot F/Lt John Barrett). On 2 November,
each pilot was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for their feat.
