"None can tell how long it will before the hour of deliverance which the coastal command has the end of 1940, submarines were sighted on 260 occasions and attacked Convoys are guarded from the air by day and by night when there moon, On these trips the crew of the Lockheed Hudson, an American-Duilt aircraft and land base plane, may Aly 400 miles out in the Atlantic, perhaps never more than 1,500 feet Jabove the sea. The weather may: be onl, but the patrol goes on, Though submarine may never show itself the very presence of aircraft often is enough to protect a convoy.
"Phoney War" wore of the, coastal command that Brilsh som trade. could landed, built up in pre war
safeguarded, But each major change inthe war situation, has brought more and more different work. -During the first few months of the war, When some people were calling We "phone Wat?" the aircraft coastal Jcommand "flew thousands of miles watching. Brilsh "ocean going and Jeoastal convoys and keeping a lookout for: German commerce raiders.
The first change came when the Germans. obtained bases in Norway. Then Dritish aircraft-on taels North [Sea sweeps had to flying the face high performance fighter aircraft operating. from. a. Norwegian Jarome, "The eoastat command shared vith the, avy the task of protecting our tecopships and convoys bound for Norway. By June, 104 roromes and harbours in. Norw Reconnaissance Hudsons were up Jand bombed and' dropped tons of ex: [plosives on bases in Stavanger, Bergen and other places, An attack ws made on the shipping of food and British aircraft carried out further raids on aerosrom tions in southern The evacuation from Dunkirl threw Jmere work on to the shoulders of the coastal command. Aireratt originally intended to guard"trade routes were thrown into the vital task of hething cover the return of BEF, return: ing home. Then a fifth phase came Jwith the Nazi air attacks on British shipping from bases in France,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.