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Catalina Z/209 Squadron.

This page and map trace the flights as they pass the North Mayo Coast

LOP_63_03 page65, documentation courtesy of Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin

Incident 729 dated 26.5.41

03.34 Sighted Aircraft 1 mile S.E of post going West Altitude 2000 ft

04.30 Sighted high winged monoplane 6 miles North of post going N.W. Altitude 2000 ft

Catalina Z/209 Squadron.

Two Catalinas flew from the Lough Erne Sea plane base in Northern Ireland, they were sighted, reported and recorded passing LOP63 on 26/05/41.

These were Catalina Z/209 Squadron and Catalina M/240. The two flights that were in search of the German Battleship, The Bismarck, which was inflicting heavy damage on Allied shipping in the Atlantic. They pass LOP63 at 3.45am (incident no 729 LOP_63_03 page 65) and 4.30am. Onboard Catalina Z is Flying Officer Denis Briggs and his Co-Pilot Ensign Leonard B Smith. It was not until the following December that the United States entered the war, however "Tuck" Smith was an American and part of a secret arrangement where U.S. aircrew were gaining operational experience while passing on their knowledge of the Catalina Flying Boat. A dull shape, the Bismarck had been spotted by and reported by Smith, subsequently the Bismarck which had evaded Allied forces was attacked and sunk, on 27/05/41.

Reference Guarding Neutral Ireland, Dr Michael Kennedy, pages 144 /145.