Arthur Steel recounts the day his Beaufighter aircraft crashed into the North Sea
In July 1944, our Beaufighter Wing set off to attack shipping off the Norwegian coast. The crew of our aircraft comprised myself as navigator and Flight Lieutenant Tony Adams as pilot.
Over the North Sea our port engine started giving trouble, so we set course back to base. Forty miles off Flamborough Head, our engine was vibrating so badly it was increasingly difficult to do anything.
Arthur Steel during his RAF days.
We struggled on for a few more miles, until the engine finally tore itself from the mounting, causing the aircraft to flip over and dive vertically into the sea. I noted the air speed indicator showed 280 knots – about 320mph – as we fell, and I knew we should both be dead within a few seconds. Nobody ever survives such incidents.
Bristol Beaufighter. ©IWM
I regained consciousness deep under water, trapped in cables and torn metal, struggling to hold my breath and furious that I was drowning instead of being instantly killed on impact.
Ultimately, I could hold my breath no longer, and took three deep breaths of seawater. By a miracle I broke the surface, coughing and spluttering. After a time I became conscious of my surroundings, and watched the tail of the aircraft disappear under the sea, and our dinghy, which had released from the wing, set off for the horizon in a brisk wind.
I managed to stay afloat partly by my Mae West jacket, but mainly by using the fuel tanks which had floated loose when the aircraft disintegrated. Tony was nowhere to be seen, although I kept calling but with little hope he could still be alive. My right leg was swinging about from the knee joint, and I wasn’t in great shape, but had to stay conscious if I had any hope of surviving. Many miles out at sea, injured, no dinghy and with only a fuel tank under each arm, I wasn’t optimistic.
After some time, I noticed a vessel heading my way. I blew my whistle, which was supposedly audible nearly a mile away, and managed to keep afloat until this wonderful trawler got close – then passed by as it had too much way.
When it came back, a man dived in and tied a rope around me. As I was pulled in there was a nasty moment as I approached the still-turning propeller, but I was hauled aboard and promptly lost consciousness.
While I was out, the boat’s Skipper got someone to kneel on my thigh while he pulled my dislocated knee back into place. He told me later that he would never have attempted it if he had known the leg was also broken, but he certainly saved my whole leg – and my life.
The trawler crew searched for Tony but there was no trace, so they started back to Grimsby. I was transferred to an Air Sea Rescue launch and taken to Immingham, then to Grimsby Hospital and various RAF hospitals, where I spent seven months before returning to North Coates.
The boat’s Skipper, Ern Rogers, and his wife visited me in hospital to bring a gift from the crew, and we corresponded regularly until his death. I only saw James Daykin – the man who dived in to rescue me – once more. He was usually at sea when I was able to call, but his wife told me his skin had come away in large flakes, as had mine, due to immersion in aviation fuel and salt water. Later, I learned the crew had piloted their trawler into a minefield to reach me.
This was nearly 80 years ago, and now aged 105 I continue to enjoy life thanks to these brave men. I remember them daily with gratitude and respect. Without them I should not be here, but with my pilot, and our aircraft, at the bottom of the North Sea.
Arthur Steel served with 254 Squadron at RAF North Coates during the Second World War, and wrote above account of the Beaufighter crash for Air Mail in 2023. He died in November 2024, having been a member of the RAF Association for more than 70 years.
Arthur Steel aged 105 in 2023.
Air Mail
Arthur’s story first appeared in our Air Mail magazine in 2023. To receive Air Mail, which is the RAF Association’s quarterly members’ magazine, become a member and opt for Air Mail as part of your membership.
