WW2 flying boats, Irish neutrality & secret deals | Season 2 – Episode 67

The Catalina flying boat, that distinctive large vintage aircraft with a fuselage in the shape of a boat, had a hugely important role in World War 2 (WW2).

Ireland was major hub for its operations keeping the Allied navy and cargo boats safe as they crossed the Atlantic. What prompted this story was a near 80-year-old plane we saw gracefully flying across the sky at the Bray Air Spectacular. Right from the start of WW2 Lough Erne, became an important Royal Air force (RAF) flying boat base for Coastal Command due its close proximity to the Atlantic, just about 30 miles away.

Unfortunately, those 30 miles lay across County Donegal a part of neutral Eire, the present day Republic of Ireland. However, a secret deal was struck between Britain and the Irish Republic that allowed the aircraft to overfly Donegal along a narrow corridor to reach the Atlantic. This concession gave the Catalina’s an extra 100 miles range, which was crucial to the protection of the Atlantic convoys.

Also, in the secret agreement a British rescue boat, the Robert Hastie, was stationed in Killybegs, Donegal. Ireland was not the only country that had to compromise its neutrality to aid the War effort. When the flying boats arrived from the US, America was still neutral and to make matters more difficulty for President Roosevelt the Catalinas arrived with supporting US Navy aviation support staff. To send American military personnel directly into the combat risked an international incident, and if discovered would give ammunition to Roosevelt’s enemies at home. “If Congress finds out”, Roosevelt told the Navy fliers, “I will be impeached.”

The main mission of the Lough Erne Catalinas was the detection of enemy ships and submarines. During WW2 there were a number of flying facilities on the eastern shore of Lower Lough Erne. Lower Lough Erne was the most westerly flying-boat base in the UK.

Opened in February 1941, its HQ was at Castle Archdale with a training base at Killadeas with extensive facilities and capacity. Castle Archdale had a control tower, station headquarters, hangars, flying-boat pens, a slipway, workshops and a machine-gun range. It also provided accommodation, canteens and recreation facilities and stores.

There were 108 flying-boat moorings offshore as well as 40 boat moorings. One of the earliest and most notable successes of the Lough Erne Catalinas was linked to the German battleship The Bismarck. It was located and chased by the them until the navy honed in on the German boat. An entry in the Castle Archdale log for 27 May 1941 reads: ‘German battleship sunk at 11.00 hours. Aircraft of 209 and 240 squadrons operating from this station were responsible’.
The Consolidated Catalina (PBY-5/PBY-5A) or Catalina flying boat was described by one original WW2 pilot as being built like a tank with very reliable engines.

There were numerous incidents where Catalina’s went off course and landed outside the Donegal corridor into areas of the neutral Republic. For example, on the 19th of November 1942, a Catalina flying from Lough Erne was forced to make an emergency landing on the Shannon Estuary. Notification was made to the flying boat base personnel at Foynes and a vessel was sent to tow the aircraft into the flying boats slipways. The crew reported that they had experienced radio trouble and an engine fault. The crew disembarked from the aircraft for a few hours but following some rest, they departed Foynes at 13:45 hrs.

There were approximately 162 wartime incidents involving various Allied aircraft crashes or forced landings in southern Ireland. With such a high use facility there were some fatal incidents. A Catalina crashed on the 30th December 1942 resulting in the deaths of all on board. It was from the Training Unit of the RAF based at Killadeas, County Fermanagh. A memorial can be found on Reaghan Road between Omagh and Newtownstewart.

It is worth noting that the Catalinas flew in parallel with Belfast built Short Sunderland MKIII flying boats. We will focus on these in a future story.

The last operational patrol from Castle Archdale was on 3 June 1945. Catalinas from other areas were assembled at Killadeas and, on 18 August, Castle Archdale closed down. Many of the Catalinas were scrapped, but some Catalinas were scuttled on the lake in 1947. Any sub-aqua divers want to explore?

Sources of information:
Caledonww2.com
Historyireland.com
Independent.ie
Irelandseye.com
Irishwaterwayshistory.com
Iwm.org.uk
Pbycatalina.com
Seawings.co.uk
The Second World War in Northern Ireland Facebook page
Ww2irishaviation.com