OPERATION SKUA.
By Lt A. G. LINSLEY. RN 
The Article was printed in the May issue of AEROPLANE MONTHLY in 1975.

At 0730 on the morning of August 27, 1974, Blackburn Skua Mk II L2940 "landed" 
from the Landing Ship (Tank) HMAV Audemer at the slipway at HMS Daedalus, 
the Royal Naval Air Station at Lee-on-Solent, exactly 34 years and 4 months "overdue." 
This is the story of the loss and recovery of the only known example of this unique aircraft 
in aviation history.

Three Skuas of 800 Sqn took off from HMS Ark Royal, at a position 140 miles west of 
the Norwegian mainland, at 1230 on April 27, 1940. 
The flight was led by Capt Richard T. Partridge, DSO, DSC, RM, piloting A6A, 
serialled L2940. His observer was Lt Robin S. Bostock, RN. They had been briefed to 
carry out an offensive patrol along the latitude of 62° North, 40 miles South of the port 
of Åndalsnes, which was being used to re-supply the British forces which had been 
landed there. Skuas 6B and 6C formed up on their leader and the trio headed inshore.

Earlier that forenoon HMS Flamingo, under the command of Capt Huntley, RN, had 
moved alongside at Åndalsnes and commenced unloading the urgently needed ammunition 
and supplies that the sloop had brought from Scapa Flow for the British troops.

During that same morning Unteroffizier Hans Hauck, the navigator of Heinkel 111H 
1H+CT werke Nr. 3178, belonging to anti-shipping Sqn KG 26 (Löwen-Geschwader), 
finished his breakfast at their base and climbed aboard his aircraft, together with the three 
other members of his crew, including Leutnant Horst Schopis, the pilot. 
After a refuelling stop they continued on their way. Their mission - to attack allied shipping 
in Åndalsnes harbour. Just after noon the formation of Heinkels commenced what appeared, 
at first, to be a regular "turkey shoot", similar to all their previous raids over Norway 
at this time. Indeed, the only resistance that they had met in the air of late had been a few 
Gloster Gladiators of 263 Sqn, based down the road at Lesjaskog. 
However, by the morning of this day they were out of ammunition, and especially oxygen, 
so they could not climb effectively above "angels 10".

Surprise attack.
Imagine their surprise when they came under fire from three British fighters. "The rear 
gunner returned the fire at first, but then stopped - presumably having been killed. 
The port engine was set on fire and the Heinkel started to go down" - Thus ran 
Partridge's report. At this moment the Perseus XII engine on 6A stopped for some 
unknown reason. The only way now - down! The crew of L2940 scanned the unfriendly, 
snow-clad countryside for a possible landing site. They found a valley running west/east 
with a collection of huts and a larger building at the end of what appeared to be a frozen 
lake. Turning the Skua west into wind, a successful wheels-up landing was made 2.5km 
from the eastern end of the lake. The two remaining Skuas saw the crew of L2940 get 
out, wave to them, and set out to destroy their aeroplane as previously briefed. 
Then 6B and 6C returned to Ark Royal, landing back aboard the carrier at 1540 
and reporting what had happened to 800 Sqn's CO.

Meanwhile, back on the lake, Bostock had taken the fire axe and hacked holes in the 
fuselage fuel tanks. They then set the Skua alight by firing a Very cartridge into the remains. 
As they still had 40 percent of gas on board, the blaze was very intense. 
The crew then set off to walk back down the lake to where they had seen the huts. 
In temperatures well below freezing this took them several hours. However, they eventually 
made it, and broke into the larger of the huts where they were very pleased to find some 
sleeping bags, a primus stove and some oatmeal. 
They set to make a meal for themselves. After about an hour they heard a whistle 
blast outside. Partridge went out, there, clad in fieldgrey, stood a figure, with two others, 
similarly dressed, following on behind. Partridge invited them in to the hut and 
they were offered some food.

Whilst they were eating. Partridge asked them what had happened. They said 
they had been shot down by "three Spitfires." The British crew, when asked the same 
question, realising exactly what had happened and who the 'three Germans were, 
explained that they were part of the crew of a Wellington bomber that had been shot 
down two days earlier - the Germans were all armed with Lugers! 

The nose gunner from the Heinkel was seriously injured through one elbow, and 
using this as a pretext Partridge went on to try and find help. He walked about a mile north 
down the road, where he found an hotel. 
On investigation, it proved to be intact but damaged and deserted. Having "liberated" a tin 
of biscuits and some cigarettes from a cabinet on the wall, Partridge returned to the other 
four. He gave the Germans his finds and took Bostock back with him to the hotel. 
There - in true Fleet Air Arm' tradition - they spent the night in the best room (22) in the hotel!

Next morning they cooked a breakfast of bacon and eggs in the kitchen, where 
they were again joined by the three Germans. After they had eaten Partridge went 
with Feldwebel Karl-Heinz Strunk, to try and find help for the injured member of the 
Heinkel crew. Partridge had found an old set of skis, and he soon outdistanced 
the German. Then a rifle shot rang out, and a bullet passed close by his head. 
When he turned round, rooted to the spot, Strunk lay dead in the snow, with a group 
of Norwegians round him. Luckily, Partridge was able to prove his identity by means 
of' a 'two-shilling piece - with King George V’s head on it. 
He was then taken back to the hotel, where the two remaining Germans surrendered 
without a fight and Bostock proved his identity by the maker's label on the inside of 
his uniformjacket - Gieves of London!

Amidst a machine-gun attac by a low-flying Heinkel the Norwegians took the two 
Englishmen to a nearby house, and they all sat outside and ate a meal. That evening 
the party made its way from Grotli, 33 miles on foot and down 3,000 ft to Stryn. 
Here they were given another meal, and after other adventures succeeded in reaching 
Åndalsnes, being repatriated back to Scapa Flow in HMS Manchester, 
a Town class cruiser, on May 1, 1940.  
               
The remains of L2940 lay on the ice; for about six weeks until the annual spring thaw 
set in, melting the ice around the edge of the lake and preventing the Germans from 
reaching the Skua. Eventually it sank in 75ft of water, remaining there until 
August 5. 1973, when it was rediscovered by two Norwegian divers who reported 
it to the British Embassy in Oslo.

There then commenced 12 months intensive activity on the part of the author as 
Project Officer for the Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club (NACSAC), setting up 
the recovery operation as an adventurous activity for his organisation. This would not 
have been possible without the help of many people and the financial support of 
Charterhall Productions, who undertook the making of a documentary of the story 
of the loss and recovery operation of the aircraft.

A party of 24 left Newcastle-on-Tyne in the MV Jupiter on July 11. 1974, 
and made their various ways to Grotli via Bergen, with an HIAB crane-equipped, 
7-ton lorry, a Land-rover and trailer and 4,5 tons of very essential stores, including 
an under-water camera.

Arriving on July 13, they set up home in a building next door to where the two 
British aircrew had had that meal over 34 years ago. The Skua was raised in two 
sections, by means of nylon rope and lifting bags. 
The slipway was prepared with the help of a bulldozer and "a local driver with a liking 
for good Scotch whisky.' The Perseus engine was dismantled from the airframe 
underwater by the divers, the whole aircraft having been towed down the lake to 
the shallow, eastern end beforehand by an inflateable boat which had its engine 
run-ning backwards continuously for 6,5hr. The sectionalised aeroplane was then 
loaded on to a specially constructed sledge and cradle, which the team had brought 
with them from England, and winched clear of the water. As soon as the parts were 
removed they were washed with fresh water and treated with water dispersant fluid. 
This was applied not only to the exterior, but also to as much of the interior 
and fittings as possible.

Whilst this work was in progress ashore, the divers returned to both the deep and 
shallow sites and "wombled" in water at 1°C for any small parts of the Skua that they 
may have missed in their initial surveys and recovery. It is to their credit that they 
recovered such things as the remains of all the Lewis and Vickers magazines 
"cooked off" in the fire in 1940, and all three pieces of the glass from the dock face 
which had been at the heart of the fire and had found a final resting place in nearly 
two feet of mud at the bottom of the lake! This resulted in the salvageing of something 
like 80 percent of the aircraft - all that is left of that most successful "burn-up" in 1940.

Bringing her home.       
August 15 saw the arrival of HMAV Audemer, from her base in Portsmouth, at Stryn, 
which was to be the chosen place for the embarkation of the team and their historic cargo. 
The ship brought a flat-bed trailer and tug unit belonging to the Mobile Air-craft 
Recovery Transportation Unit (MARTSU) based at Lee-on-Solent, whose job 
it was to preserve the aircraft and transport it back to their base. 
This trailer was off-loaded, taken 3,000ft up into the mountains by a most 
tortuous route, loaded with L2940, and brought all the way back down again.

In the meantime, the Audemere had gone off to collect more cargo from Trondheim. 
The Project Officer had been asked if he could help to bring home more history, 
a Heinkel 111 and an Mel09E for the Imperial War Museum.

On August 20 Audemer returned, and the ticklish job of loading the Skua remains 
began. Fortunately this went without a hitch. The team received an added bonus when 
three Norwegians arrived on board to return two of the four Browning machine guns 
which they had removed from the wreck in 1940, together with a cross 
from the wing of the Heinkel and a propeller blade pierced with bullet holes. 
They will all make very interesting exhibits for the Fleet Air Arm Museum 
at Yeovilton, Somerset, where they are to be displayed later this year.