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A sermon preached on 16 March 2004 at Westminster Abbey on the occasion of
the Dedication of the Coastal Command Memorial in the presence of HM the
Queen. The Sermon was conducted by The Venerable Brian Lucas formerly Chaplain in Chief, Royal Air Force.
Some words from the first reading:
"Who created these?
He who brings out their host, and
numbers them, calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing." [Isaiah 40 v 26 ]
These words were written by a Prophet known to us as Isaiah, who was
living with the Jews in exile in Babylonia in the 6th century BC. He is
trying to raise the morale of the people by pointing to the nature of
Yahweh – God the Incomparable. And as Babylonia was the centre of
star-worship he meets it head-on and asks who created the stars? Without a
pause for breath he affirms that it is the Lord. Not only that, but there
is a martial tone to the verse. God leads the stars out each night.
When God calls, "By the right, number", they all number
– not ONE is missing!
The Prophet is making the point that the incomparable God never
faints or grows weary, and even though they are in slavery, those who keep
the faith, and trust in the Lord shall be renewed in strength, and rise
like eagles on new wings!
We have come here to honour all those who served in Coastal Command
and its Allied Formations and their successors. In particular we remember
those who gave their lives in doing their duty. As we hold them in our
heart before that same God, our confident belief is that "not one of
them is missing."
In the summer of 1936 three new RAF commands were formed: Bomber,
Fighter and Coastal. Just before the outbreak of war, Coastal Command
Headquarters, moved from Lee-on-Solent to Northwood, to be nearer the
Admiralty The C-in-C, ACM Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte, was soon
convinced of the need for the air staff and the naval staff to work
closely together, and established a combined headquarters at Northwood
with attached Naval officers and close contact with the Admiralty. The RAF
Maritime Air Staff have been there ever since, until, earlier this month,
they joined the rest of No. 3 Group at RAF High Wycombe.
It is important to bear in mind that during the war, in addition to
its RAF and Auxiliary AF squadrons, Coastal had under its command : a
Polish Sqn, a Czech Sqn, a Netherlands Sqn, two Norwegian Sqns, squadrons
of the R Canadian AF, the R Australian AF, the R NZ AF, the S African AF
(operating Ventura aircraft from Durban and Madagascar), and the US Navy
and the US Army Air Force (operating Liberators and Catalinas from
Northern Ireland, Iceland and Gibraltar). It was a combined Allied effort.
Wherever they served, they were all of one company.
Over 30 years ago, on a sunny Friday afternoon in the Officers’
Mess at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, excitement was in the air. The station
was hosting an Open Day for the general public on the morrow. Display and
static aircraft had been arriving for some hours and their aircrews were
now enjoying a convivial party in the bar.
The Red Arrows were there in their smart red flying suits; the
Patrouille de France in their distinctive blue flying suits, and the
Diable Rouge team from Belgium in orange. Everywhere you could see pilots
using their hands to explain their display routines.
From my perch at the corner of the bar I saw a resident Shackleton
crew from No. 42 Squadron enter from the terrace in their drab,
olive-green flying suits. They had returned from a long and tiring sortie
over the Atlantic and were ready for a beer.
From the door they looked in disbelief at the cabaret in full swing
in their Mess. After a moment’s pause, their Captain, Flight Lieutenant
Colin Hughes*, led them into the middle of the crowd, where they extended
their forearms, and began to make a low growling sound, as they
slow-marched in a circular movement, their hands absolutely level,
mimicking the relentless monotony of a Shackleton sortie, when compared
with the short, dazzling sprint of a display team’s routine. It didn’t
take long for the chaps in the pretty flying suits to get the message that
the maritime air force was a world away from tight formations and
breath-taking cross-overs.
*(Webmaster comment - At that very point a whispered
"Huggis" could be heard from many parts of the Nave....)
I have related this episode because it indicates that to serve in
Coastal Command and its successor formations required a certain type of
personality. At the very least one had to possess an inner conviction that
you were doing a worthwhile job, even if it went largely unremarked. From
the beginning it was known as the Cinderella Command.
There was no glamour in flying in a Whitley or a Beaufort at low
level over the ocean, day after day, searching for U-boats; not much
evidence of sports cars and Brylcream attributed to the crews of the
Catalinas and Wellingtons, who spent long, lonely days and nights flying
over trackless waters, searching, hunting for the enemy at sea, eyeballs
raw from trying to spot a tell-tale plume of water from the periscope or
the aerial of a submarine. How much easier that became when Sqn Ldr Leigh
designed his 24 inch airborne searchlight. Although one wag wrote:
"At one mile switch on the light. If you are astern you will see the
target’s wake; if you are ahead just follow the dotted line from the
U-boat’s flak."
One also had to possess the courage to operate and fight in extreme
conditions, such as flying in Venturas from Wick on Meteorological Recce
sorties, when aircraft wings could ice up on take-off.
And then there was the loneliness and endurance. A 20 hour sortie
was common and took you far out over the Atlantic, Arctic or Indian
oceans. Coastal crews did not have the solace of flying in a large
formation, with comrades watching your back. It was all down to you, your
crew and your aircraft. The interdependence was absolute.
If you were shot down it was rarely death in a sudden, frantic
encounter, but a slow death on the empty, savage sea, often alone in a
dinghy.
A total of 10, 875 aircrew were killed in Coastal during the Second
World War. It is that kind of sacrificial airmanship that we remember
today with gratitude.
During the Second World War, in the North Atlantic Vigil of the Cold
War, in Korea, Malaya and Indonesia, in Aden and the Arabian Gulf and in
recent conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq - maritime air power has played a
vital part, together with its air/sea rescue Helicopter Squadrons and,
until they were disbanded, its Marine Craft Units. They were all of one
company, and in the sight of God "not one of them is missing."
Yet, despite the loneliness, the lack of glamour and the monotony of
it all, maritime aircrew have always worked to the very highest
professional standards.
We are seeing daily in the media that there is no quick and easy end
to conflict and terror. Constant Endeavour, the honour granted to Coastal
Command by the War Cabinet shortly after the war, goes on and on.
Constant, certainly, and an endeavour most grave. Yet we thank God
for those who in their day were willing to do their duty and who paid the
supreme sacrifice. As we think of them during the poignant anthem that
follows, let us resolve to grasp the torch for freedom, which they bore,
and present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, so
that through us, their sacrifice will have purpose. And that by keeping
the faith and trusting in God we, too, shall be renewed in strength, and,
like the Israelites of old, rise like eagles on new wings, confident that
in doing our duty we are serving God.
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