I was reading here about Commander Peter Savage, former Fleet Air Arm pilot, who passed away recently.
I was interested to read this:
“On October 16 1940 Savage was leading a flight of three Blackburn Skua dive-bombers of 801 Naval Air Squadron from the carrier Furious in a raid on shipping at Tromsø in northern Norway when his aircraft was hit by flak; unable to find the carrier in poor weather, he turned inland and nursed his aircraft over the mountains into neutral Sweden.
Circling low over Gällivare as dawn broke , he was fired on by Swedish artillery defending a mine. To avoid being hit, Savage flew below the rooftops of the main street and, very low on fuel, ditched in a lake.
As the aircraft slowly sank, he and his navigator, Lt Homer Hayes, threw documents and a secret bomb-aiming sight into the water before climbing into their dinghy; they were met on the shore by a Swedish army patrol.”
Does anyone know if any consideration has been given to locating and raising this Skua?
By: Dave Homewood - 6th June 2011 at 09:45
Me too.
By: Wyvernfan - 6th June 2011 at 09:39
Thats a shame. I was starting to get excited about this one still being down there complete.
By: wieesso - 6th June 2011 at 08:43
Here you can find a slightly different story
http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Squadrons/801.html
“Events in Norway October 1940 with Blackburn Skua Mk II, L2902 801 Sqn, Fleet Air Arm Crew: Lt H. Hayes, and Lt E. Graham during the Norwegian campaign and their internment in Sweden
On 13th October HMS Furious left Scapa Flow for the Norwegian waters again, this time to strike against Tromso. In the early hours of the 16th, the aircraft of 801 squadron were prepared for another sortie. At 0405 hours GMT+1 (B.S.T.) six Skuas from 801 Squadron flew off the deck to attack the harbour at Tromso. L2902 released its load, sometime after this the decision to head for Sweden was taken. The reason for this is not known, but several factors may have contributed to the decision; one being the difficulties in finding HMS Furious again.
The aircraft crossed the Swedish border on a southerly course. Over the village of Malmberget the aircraft was fired at by Swedish anti-aircraft batteries (located there in defense of the mining facilities). This happened at 0856 hours GMT+1 and caused the crew to fire Verey-lights. The aircraft eventually ditched in Lake Vassaratrask near Gallivare. Taking to their dinghy, the crew reached the beach, where they were met by a Swedish Army patrol. After questioning, Lieutenant Hayes and Graham were sent by train to Framby for internment. They were released for repatriation in December.
The Skua L2902 was salvaged and was put into storage at F4 Froson. It was kept there until the end of 1944, when it was decided to scrap the aircraft. As no British aircraft were taken back to the United Kingdom, they were disposed of in various fashions. L2902 ended up as a gunnery practice target for the Swedish Air Force J26 Mustangs at Brynaset on Ason island, which was first used in 1947. The first attack was made by the first Division (Flight) of the F4 Wing.”
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June 6, 2011 at 7:49 am