6 Group Unavailable
In March of 1942, the ever-growing needs of the RAF in the Middle East saw hundreds of replacement aircraft making the trip from Britain, many in the hands of No. 44 Group Ferry Service. There are some things we know about the final flight of Beaufort I (W64 7 4) by piecing infonmation together.
The crew of Thornton, Brinkworth (navigator), Sgt. Cyril Bohling, and Sgt. Andrew Brigstocke (both listed as wireless air gunners) took off from RAF Portreath, in southwest Cornwall, on the morning of March 18, headed south for Gibraltar. That meant transiting the dangerous skies over the Bay of Biscay.
They were nominally listed as member of No. 86 (Coastal Command) squadron, but the Operational Record Book for that month shows neither the aircraft nor the crew, on strength, or the flight itself recorded.
Once W6474 cleared English air space, the crew were never seen again.
The patrol boat off Lisbon identified a Beaufort and enemy aircraft, but there is no confirmation it was the Thornton crew, though a letter sent to Brinkworth's mother does say the RAF believes it to be so.
source: SPROG, Author Malcolm Kelly
