BOAC Flight 777

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BOAC Flight 777

Summary
Date	1943, 1 June
Type	Attacked by German Junkers Ju 88s, crashed into the sea
Site	Bay of Biscay, off the coast of Spain and France
Fatalities	17
Injuries	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-3-194
Operator	British Overseas Airways Corporation
Tail number	G-AGBB
Passengers	13
Crew	4
Survivors	0

BOAC Flight 777 was a scheduled civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to an airport at Whitchurch near Bristol, United Kingdom. On 1 June 1943 the Douglas DC-3 was attacked by eight German Junkers Ju 88s and crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing several notable passengers, including actor Leslie Howard. It has been speculated the plane was attacked because the Germans believed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was aboard the flight.

Contents 1 Historical background 1.1 BOAC flights 1.2 KLM pilots and planes 1.3 Attacks on BOAC aircraft 2 Flight details 2.1 The plane and crew 2.2 The passenger list 2.3 Possible spies on the plane 2.3.1 Leslie Howard 2.3.2 Wilfrid B. Israel 3 The attack 3.1 7:35 am – 10:54: Takeoff and flight 3.2 The attack: Time magazine account 3.3 The attack: German pilots account 4 Theories for the attack 4.1 Churchill assassination attempt 4.2 Assassination of Leslie Howard the propaganda figure 4.3 Howard mistaken for R. J. Mitchell 5 Legacy of the disaster 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 Links

[edit] Historical background

[edit] BOAC flights

When war broke out in Europe the British Air Ministry banned all domestic and private airline traffic except for those flown by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Domestic flights were moved from London to an airstrip at Whitchurch, just outside of Bristol. During the war BOAC routinely flew aircraft from Britain to North America and Portugal. All aircraft were restricted to flying a low altitude of between 1,000 and 3,000 feet and could only fly during daylight in order to ease identification. The British government also placed passenger restrictions on BOAC flights and designated them open to only diplomats, military personnel, VIPs, and anyone else who received government approval.^[1]

[edit] KLM pilots and planes

In May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands and pilots at KLM, the Netherlands Royal Aviation Company, took their planes and flew to England. The British government attached the Dutch planes and crew to BOAC and assigned them to Whitchurch, where four times a week they flew return (roundtrip) flights to and from an airfield at Portela just outside of Lisbon, Portugal.^[1] This route had been in service since September 1940 and by June 1943 had carried over 4,000 passengers.^[2]

British and German civilian aircraft operated out of the same facilities at Portela and the incoming and outgoing traffic was heavily watched by both Allied and Axis spy networks, including British, German, Soviet and American. This was especially the case for the Lisbon-Whitchurch route, which frequently carried secret agents and escaped POWs back to Britain. German spies were routinely posted at terminals to record who was boarding and departing flights on the Lisbon-Whitchurch route. Harry Pusey, BOAC's Operations Officer in Lisbon between 1943 and 1944 described the area as being “like Casablanca, but twenty-fold."^[1]

[edit] Attacks on BOAC aircraft

Planes flying along the Lisbon-Whitchurch route had been left unmolested since the beginning of the war. Both Allied and Axis powers respected the neutrality of countries such as Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland and refrained from attacking flights in and out of those nations. But the air war over the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain and off the west coast of France, began to heat up in 1942. The Germans opened the Atlantic Command at Merignac and Lorient near Bordeaux to attack allied shipping.^[1] In 1943 fighting over the area intensified and the RAF and Luftwaffe saw increased losses.^[2] This meant increased danger for the BOAC planes running the Lisbon-Whitchurch route. On 15 November 1942 the same BOAC plane that was to be destroyed in the downing of BOAC Flight 777 was attacked by German fighters while flying between Lisbon and Whitchurch.^[3] On 19 April 1943 the same plane was again attacked at coordinates 46 North, 9 West by six German planes. Captain Dirk Parmentier evaded the attackers by dropping to fifty feet above the ocean and then climbing steeply into the clouds.^[3][4] Despite these attacks BOAC continued to fly the Lisbon-Whitchurch route.

[edit] Flight details

[edit] The plane and crew

The Douglas DC-3-194 was first delivered to KLM on 21 September 1936 and originally carried the registration number PH-ALI. On 10 May 1940 the plane was flown to England after the German invasion of the Netherlands and 25 July 1940 the registration number was changed to G-AGBB.^[3] The aircraft was named the Ibis, the bird venerated in the ancient world.^[3][4][5] It had received material damage in the two above mentioned attacks.

There were four Dutch crew members on the flight: Captain Pepas, Flying Officer Ben Kalning, wireless operator van Brugge and engineer Rosenbink.^[6]

[edit] The passenger list

The passenger list included stage and film actor Leslie Howard; Alfred T. Chenhall, Howard’s friend and accountant; Kenneth Stonehouse, Washington correspondent of Reuter news agency, and his wife Peggy Margetts Stonehouse; a Mrs. Rotha Hutcheon and her daughters, Petra, 11, and Carole, 2; a Mrs. Cecelia Emilia Paton; Tyrell M. Shervington, director of Shell-Mex Oil Company in Lisbon; a Mr. James Sharp, an official of the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation; Wilfrid B. Israel, a prominent Jewish activist working to save Jews from the Holocaust; Francis German Cawlrick; and Gordon Thomas MacLean. ^[6][7][8][9] It has been widely reported that Annette Sutherland Burr, the wife of actor Raymond Burr, also perished on BOAC Flight 777. But Burr’s biographer Ona L. Hill writes that “no one by the name of Annette Sutherland Burr was listed as a passenger on the plane” and that Sutherland was on a separate commercial plane traveling between Lisbon and London around the same time as BOAC Flight 777, which was also shot down by the Germans. ^[10][11]

BOAC Flight 777 was fully booked and several people who wished to board the plane were turned back, including British Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook, whose bomber was shot down over Belgium in April 1943. Lashbrook had managed to evaded capture and escaped to Portugal, but when he attempted to board BOAC Flight 777 he was refused.^[2] There were also three passengers who were seated on the plane, but had the good fortune of getting off before departure. The young son of a British diplomat and his nanny were bumped from the flight to make room for Howard and Chenhalls, who had only confirmed their tickets at 5:00 pm the night before the flight;^[5][4] a Catholic priest also left the plane after boarding it.^[5]

[edit] Possible spies on the plane

There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether some of the passengers on BOAC Flight 777 were actually spies working for the British government.

[edit] Leslie Howard

The most intense intrigue has surrounded actor Leslie Howard, who at the time of his death was at the peak of his career and had world fame after appearing in such cinematic classics as The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) and Gone with the Wind (1939). Aside from his screen accolades Howard was prized by the British government for his anti-Nazi propaganda and a number of films produced in support of the war effort. During the weeks before his death Howard had been in Spain and Portugal on a lecture tour promoting his film The Lamp Still Burns. What is known about this trip is that the British Council had invited Howard on the tour^[4] and that after initial qualms he received further encouragement from British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to undertake the trip;^[5][4] Within the British National Archives there are correspondence between Howard and Eden regarding his trip to Spain.^[12] This has led to speculation that Howard’s trip was actually a cover for espionage.^[5]

[edit] Wilfrid B. Israel

Another passenger on BOAC Flight 777 was Wilfrid B. Israel, a member of an important British Jewish family and a strong supporter of Zionism who had close connections to the British government. On March 26, 1943 he left Britain for Portugal and spent the next two months investigating the situation of Jews in Spain and Portugal. By the end of his trip Israel had found as many of 1,500 Jewish refugees living in Spain, many of whom he aided in obtaining Palestine certificates. Before Israel left the peninsula he had proposed a plan to the British government to aid the Jewish refugees in Spain.^[7]

There has also been speculation that Shervington, Stonehouse, Sharp, amongst others, may have also been spies working for the British government.^[4]

[edit] The attack

[edit] 7:35 am – 10:54: Takeoff and flight

The 1 June 1943 British Overseas Airways Corporation flight from Lisbon-Whitchurch was assigned to the Ibis and given the flight number 777-A. At 0735 hrs GMT BOAC Flight 777-A departed from Portela Airport at Lisbon. Whitchurch received a departure message for the flight and continued regular radio contact until 1054 GMT. At that time, while the plane was roughly 200 miles north of the coast of Spain, Whitchurch received a message that the DC-3 was being followed and that it was fired upon at 46.54N, 09.37W. Shortly after the plane crashed and sank into the Bay of Biscay.^[2]

[edit] The attack: Time magazine account

In its 14 June 1943 issue Time magazine carried a brief story on the downing of BOAC Flight 777. The most valuable information from that article was the details of the final radio broadcast from the Dutch pilot. "I am being followed by strange aircraft. Putting on best speed. …We are being attacked. Cannon shells and tracers are going through the fuselage. Wave-hopping and doing my best."^[13]

[edit] The attack: German pilots account

One of the most detailed versions of the attack was revealed in Bloody Biscay: The History of V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40 by Christopher H. Goss. This book states that BOAC Flight 777 was not intentionally targeted and was instead accidentally shot down when it was confused for an enemy aircraft. The account is composed of the author’s analysis of events and interviews, conducted decades after the war ended, with some of the German pilots involved in the attack.^[2]

According to this account eight Junkers Ju 88s from the air unit Staffel 14/KG 40 took off from Bordeaux at 1000 hrs local time to find and escort two U-boats;^[2] these aircraft belonged to the long range fighter group known as Gruppe V Kampfgeschwader 40^[14][4]. The names of four of the eight pilots are known: Staffel Führer Oberleutnant (Oblt) Herbert Hintze, Leutnant Max Wittmer-Eigenbrot, Oblt Albrecht Bellstedt and Oberfeldwebel (Ofw) Hans Rakow. The pilots claim that before setting out they were unaware of the presence of the Lisbon to Whitchurch flights. Due to bad weather the search for the U-boats was called off and fighters continued a general search. At 1245 hrs BOAC Flight 777 was spotted in P/Q 24W/1785 heading north. Approximately five minutes later the German planes attacked. Hintze retold his account for Goss as the following: A "grey silhouette" of a plane was spotted from 2-3000 meters and no markings could be made, but by the shape and construction of the plane it was obviously enemy. Bellstedt radioed "Indians at 11 o'clock, attack attack.” BOAC Flight 777 was attacked from above and below and the port engine and wing caught on fire. At this point Heintze recognized the aircraft as civilian and called off the attack, but the plane had already been severely damaged. Three parachutists exited the craft, but their chutes did not open; the aircraft then crashed into the ocean where it floated and then sunk. There were no signs of survivors.

Hintze states that all of the German pilots involved expressed regret for shooting down a civilian aircraft and were “rather angry” with their superiors for not informing them that there had been a scheduled flight between Lisbon and Britain. Goss writes that official German records back up Hintze's account that Staffel 14/KG 40 was carrying out normal operations and that the day's events occurred because the U-boats could not be found; he concludes that “there is nothing to prove that [the German pilots] were deliberately aiming to shoot down the unarmed DC-3;”^[2] this account of the German pilots and Goss’s conclusions are challenged by some authorities.^[4]

The following day German aircraft returned to the area of the downing of BOAC Flight-777 and engaged in a fight with an Australian Short Sunderland, which was on patrol searching for survivors from the previous day’s incident. The Sunderland was severely damaged, but managed to shoot down six of the eight Junkers Ju 88s that attacked it. (For more on this incident see the Short Sunderland article)

[edit] Theories for the attack

There are several theories as to why BOAC Flight 777 was shot down by the German pilots. All of these contradict the claims by the German pilots that they were not ordered to shoot down the plane, either because the theories were formulated before the testimonies of the German pilots were recorded in the 1990s or because the authors disbelieve the German accounts.

[edit] Churchill assassination attempt

The most popular theory surrounding the downing of BOAC Flight 777 is that German intelligence mistakenly believed Winston Churchill was on the plane. This theory appeared in the press within days of the incident and is supported by Churchill himself. In late May 1943, Churchill and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden had traveled to North Africa for a meeting with US general Dwight D. Eisenhower.^[15]

The German government was eager to assassinate Churchill on his return flight home and monitored flights in and out of region in case the Prime Minister tried to sneak home aboard a civilian airliner. This scenario was plausible as Churchill had flown to Britain from Bermuda in January 1942 aboard a scheduled commercial plane.^[5] Rumors had circulated since early May that Churchill might fly home from Lisbon. Some have speculated that these rumors were planted by the British Secret Intelligence Service in order to mask Churchill’s travel itinerary.^[4]

According to the Churchill assassination theory, as passengers were boarding BOAC Flight 777, German agents spotted what Churchill described in his memoirs as "a thick-set man smoking a cigar", whom they mistook for the Prime Minister.^[15] This man was later identified as Alfred T. Chenhall, Howard’s accountant and portly travel companion. In addition, some have speculated that the tall and thin Howard may have been mistaken for Walter H. Thompson, Churchill’s personal bodyguard who had a similar profile.^[5] There is an even more elaborate version of this theory that argues Chenhall was employed by the British government as Churchill’s 'deliberate double' and that he and Howard boarded BOAC Flight 777 knowing they were going to die. An alternative version of this is that the British government had intercepted German messages via the Ultra code breaking operations, but failed to notify the BOAC Flight 777 for fear of blowing Ultra’s cover.^[4] Both Flight 777 (1957), a book by Ian Colvin about the incident, and In Search of My Father (1981), by Leslie Howard’s son Ronald Howard, lend credence to the idea that BOAC Flight 777 was downed because the Germans thought Churchill was on the plane.^[5]

Churchill appeared to accept this theory in his memoirs, though he is extremely critical of the poor German intelligence that led to the disaster. He wrote, "The brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents. It is difficult to understand how anyone could imagine that with all the resources of Great Britain at my disposal I should have booked a passage in an unarmed and unescorted plane from Lisbon and flown home in broad daylight.”^[15] As it was, Churchill traveled back to Britain via Gibraltar, departing on the evening of 4 June 1943 and arriving in Britain the next morning.

[edit] Assassination of Leslie Howard the propaganda figure

The theory that Leslie Howard was targeted for assassination because of his role as an anti-Nazi propaganda figure is supported by journalist and law professor Donald E. Wilkes. Wilkes writes that Joseph Goebbels could have orchestrated the downing of BOAC Flight 777 because he was “enraged” by Howard’s propaganda and was Howard’s “bitterest enemy.”^[5] The fact that Howard was Jewish would only further buttress this theory. In fact, Germany’s propaganda machine boasted at Howard’s death and Josef Goebbels propagandist newspaper Der Angriff ("The Attack") ran the headline "Pimpernel Howard has made his last trip;”^[4] which was a reference to the 1941 film Pimpernel Smith that starred Howard as a professor who rescues victims of Nazi persecution.

[edit] Howard mistaken for R. J. Mitchell

One of the less credible theories that circulated at the time was reported by Harry Pusey. Before the attack on BOAC Flight 777 the film The First of the Few about the life of R. J. Mitchell, the creator of the Supermarine Spitfire; the film starred Howard as Mitchell and was playing widely in Lisbon cinemas. The gossip on the streets of Lisbon was that German agents had mistakenly thought Howard was Mitchell and ordered the downing of BOAC Flight-777. Pusey debunked this theory: “But you would have thought someone in German Intelligence would have known that Mitchell had died in 1937, wouldn't you?”^[1]

[edit] Legacy of the disaster

The downing of BOAC Flight 777 elicited headlines around the world and there was widespread public grief, especially for the loss of Leslie Howard, who was championed as a martyr. The British government condemned the downing of BOAC Flight 777 as a war crime. But World War II was filled with untold numbers of tragedies and the public’s attention soon shifted focus.

In 1957 journalist Ian Colvin published a book on the disaster entitled “Flight 777: The Mystery of Leslie Howard” and in 1984 Howard’s son, Ronald Howard, published a biography of his father, including an account of his father’s death. In 2003, the 60th anniversary of the downing of BOAC Flight 777, a pair of television documentaries on the subject was released. The BBC series Inside Out produced a document as did the History Channel, which broadcast a documentary entitled Vanishings! Leslie Howard — Movie Star or Spy?

[edit] See also

• Accidents and incidents in aviation

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Colvin, Ian (1957) "Flight 777: The Mystery of Leslie Howard." Evans Brothers. ASIN B000L6HXQM

Ronald Howard. In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312411618

(July 1991) "Leslie Howard death on KLM Flt 777 1943." FlyPast. Issue #120.

[edit] Links

• Inside out documentary on BOAC Flight 777
• The History Channel - VANISHINGS: Leslie Howard - Movie Star Or Spy?