Seconded To The RAF
He was seconded to the RAF in August and trained as a pilot, joining No 53 Squadron to fly Bristol Blenheims with RAF Coastal Command, attacking U-boat bases along the French Atlantic coast.
In 1941 Cundy joined No 120 Squadron, with the new long-range American-built B-24 Liberator. On 11 January 1942 while on patrol over the Bay of Biscay when he saw a twin-engine seaplane, and manoeuvred his aircraft so his gunners could bring their fire to bear> The seaplane escaped into cloud with an engine on fire.
On 22 May 1941 Cundy sighted a U-boat refuelling alongside a large tanker. Cundy immediately attacked both craft with depth charges and machine gun fire. The submarine (U-373) was damaged but dived, leaving a large patch of surface oil. Cundy was then attacked by an enemy Heinkel He 115 seaplane but the Liberator's gunners drove it away damaged. As a result of this patrol Cundy was awarded an immediate DFC.
In May 1942 he and his crew were detached to America to assist in the development of a new air-to-surface radar. They then joined No 224 Squadron in October 1942, flying the maritime version of the B-24 Liberator from St Eval in Cornwall on patrols in over the Bay of Biscay.
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Famous quotes containing the word seconded:
“And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey
And last eat up himself.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)