Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

FLGOFF Albert Coomes (Profile, 3rd from the left) was born on the 6th of March 1918 in Islington, London, England, to Henry James Coomes and Catherine Coomes, soon after Albert’s birth, the Coomes family moved to Catherine’s home city of Melbourne, Victoria.  It was in Melbourne that Albert was to live in early life until he enlisted and later commissioned into the Royal Australian Air Force on the 29th of March 1941 at the age of 23 (Department of Veterans' Affairs, 2002).   Shortly prior to this date he married Dulcie Gwen, they did not have any children.

At Coomes’ time of joining, the RAAF was in the process of providing essential support to the United Kingdom which at the time was embroiled in the Battle of Britain.  This support would take the form of the deployment of whole RAAF squadrons to the UK as well as the training numerous aircrew.  After his enlistment, Albert Coomes was sent to the Navigation School of the Empire Air Training Scheme.  The Empire Air Training Scheme was a program proposed and created by the British Government upon the realization that they would require far more aircrew for a European conflict than they were able to train (Australian War Memorial, 2016).  The scheme consisted over a series of schools teaching the skills of flying, navigation, air gunnery and general airmanship across the Dominions of the British Empire.  Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Rhodesia all participated in this scheme with the elementary training being conducted in their own countries with the more advanced skills being taught in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.  This Scheme would prove essential to the British War Effort as it provided a steady supply of well-trained pilots to conduct the ever more crucial aspect of air warfare (Australian War Memorial, 2016).  At the Navigation School, Coomes’ would receive instruction on the fundamentals of air navigation on the ground before moving into practical training which took place in the air.  During 1941 when Albert was in training, the aircraft that was utilized for the practical application of air navigation was the Airspeed Oxford.  The Airspeed Oxford was a versatile twin-engine militarized model of a civilian light passenger aircraft which was utilized for a variety of training purposes in WW2 including pilot training, navigation training, air gunnery and maintenance training (RAAF Museum Point Cook, 2009). 

After having completed his navigation training, Albert was sent to the United Kingdom and posted to No. 10 SQN, RAAF (Australian War Memorial, 2017).   No. 10 SQN, RAAF was formed on the 1st of July 1939 as a maritime patrol squadron to be eventually equipped with Shorts Sunderland flying boat aircraft and holds the distinction of being the only RAAF squadron to have been deployed continuously to the European Theater throughout the 2nd World War (Royal Australian Air Force, 2016).  The SQN was already conducting training on the new aircraft when war broke out and was ordered to integrate into RAF Coastal Command, 16 Group, as an Australian contribution to the British War Effort.  Based at two locations, Pembroke Dock and Mount Batten, No. 10 SQN was to spend the war engaging in anti-submarine warfare operations against German U-Boats attempting to transit into the wider Atlantic Ocean from their French bases. The SQN also proved quite proficient in maritime rescue operations, transport operations and fleet escorting.  No. 10 SQN has continued to exist to the present day, it is based at RAAF Base Edinburgh and has continued to serve Australia through their daily patrolling of our coastlines utilizing the AP-3 ASW aircraft (Royal Australian Air Force, 2016).

FLGOFF Coomes, his crew and No.10 SQN, RAAF, all took part in one of the most crucial theatre of the Second World War; the Battle of the Atlantic.  The Battle of the Atlantic was a protracted and intense naval-air conflict for dominance over the North Atlantic Ocean from 1939-1945, making it the longest running campaign of WW2 (Hughes, n.d.).  Allied success in this campaign was crucial for victory, as the supplies required to fight the war and maintain the United Kingdom’s population had to transit through the ocean from the United States.  It was during this vulnerability of transport that the Kreigsmarine (German Navy) saw the chance to force Britain into submission by starvation through the widespread sinking of vital transport vessels.  The threat was considered so grave as to prompt comment from Winston Churchill regarding a U-Boat blockade of the Atlantic to be the only effective way for Germany to have defeated the Allies (Hughes, n.d.).  The primary weapon of warfare utilized by the Kreigsmarine was the U-Boat series of submarines, supported by various surface vessels and long-range aircraft.  As one of the means with which to counter this threat to Allied convoys, the British Royal Air Force tasked RAF Coastal Command to patrol the areas around the Atlantic on search and destroy missions against U-Boats.  These missions required considerable skill on the behalf of the RAF and RAAF aircrews as although U-Boats had to stay on the surface during transit for air to power their diesel engines, they would dive immediately upon sighting any aircraft.  As such aircrews needed to be able to spot U-Boats and manoeuvre into an attack position prior to themselves being detected by the U-Boat crew (Australian War Memorial, 2016).  In addition to the difficult nature of his mission, FLGOFF Coomes’ and his crew would have to face the Atlantic weather where high-winds and storms occur on a frequent basis.  Another further danger faced by the aircrews of No. 10 SQN was relatively unique to their operating area, the Bay of Biscay.  The Bay of Biscay, along the coastline of northern France, was a crucial area of operations within the wider Battle of the Atlantic as it was the transit zone between the U-Boat bases along the French coast and the North Atlantic.  Operating within the Bay of Biscay however was highly hazardous as it put allied aircraft within the range of Luftwaffe long-range fighters and as such, squadrons which operated there had relatively high casualty rates in comparison to other RAF Coastal Command areas (RAAF Museum Point Cook, 2009).

The aircraft utilized by No. 10 SQN and which FLGOFF Coomes flew in combat as a part of the crew was the Short Sunderland flying boat.  The Shorts Sunderland was originally a 4-engine, propeller driven, civilian flying boat created to act as an airliner (Turner, J. F. 1975).  However due to the Sunderland’s size and take-off capacity, it was soon to be found suitable for military service in maritime aviation environments.  The aircraft was highly versatile and was utilized for a wide variety of maritime operations including ASW (anti-submarine warfare), Search-and-Rescue Operations, Convoy Escorting, Anti-Ship Strike, Reconnaissance and Transportation.  In its military configuration, the Sunderland was equipped with an array of weapon systems; 12x .303 Machine Guns, 2x .50cal Browning Machine Guns and up to 2000lb of ordnance such as bombs, torpedoes or depth charges (Turner, J. F. 1975).  As a result of this large number of weapon systems, the Shorts Sunderland had a large crew of 11 in order to operate them in addition to flying and navigating the aircraft.  Many later variants of the Sunderland were equipped with RADARs used to detect U-Boats which had surfaced.  The primary aerial adversary of the Short Sunderland’s of No. 10 SQN, RAAF was the Junkers Ju-88C long-range fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe.  These aircraft operated out of bases in Northern France and the Norwegian Coast and frequently attacked RAF Coastal Command aircraft in order to secure the safety of Kreigsmarine U-Boats.  The Junkers Ju-88C was a twin-engine, heavy but fast aircraft armed with 20mm cannon and 7.92 machine guns (Lepage, J.-D, 2009). The Ju-88C was significantly more agile and in combat would attack in groups to overwhelmed the lone or paired Short Sunderlands that they faced. This dangerous combination of overwhelming firepower, agility and numerical superiority would often prove lethal to the aircraft of RAF Coastal Command however they would quite often face incredibly stubborn and determined resistance from the RAF and RAAF crews despite the seemingly helplessness of their situation (Australian War Memorial, 2016).

FLGOFF Coomes flew in Shorts Sunderland aircraft identification number RV959, which was nicknamed by the aircrew a ‘K-Katie’.  FLGOFF Coomes’ fellow crew (as seen in the profile image) with whom he flew throughout his whole time as a part of No.10 SQN consisted of SGT D.G. Keating, SGT B. E. Stehr, SGT E. J. Stavert, FLGOFF R. W. Humble (Captain and Pilot of the aircraft), SGT J. F. Cureton, PLTOFF A. G. Hartwig, FSGT T. H. Burns, WOFF T. N. Price, SGT C. S. Cameron and SGT C.M, Copeland (Australian War Memorial, 2016).  Together this aircrew would take part in numerous anti-submarine warfare patrols, convoy escort activities and search & rescue operations.  FLGOFF Albert Lawrence Coomes and his aircrew faced numerous lethal threats on every mission they undertook, from enemy aircraft, from the anti-air systems mounted aboard Kreigsmarine U-Boats and E-Boats and the North Atlantic weather (Hughes, n.d.).  It was in 1943 of that the majority of the No.10 SQN’s engagements, kills and losses to enemy fighters were to occur, particularly over its primary area of operations, the Bay of Biscay.  On several occasions during this time period, FLGOFF Coomes’ aircraft came under attack from multiple Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-88C aircraft while carrying out their mission (Australian War Memorial, 2016).  Tragically, it was during one of these engagements on the 21st of September 1943 that Flying Officer Albert Lawrence Coomes, along with the entire crew of Shorts Sunderland RV959 ‘K-Katie’ was shot down and killed in action.   The exact time and location in which their aircraft was shot down is not known, nor is the wreckage of the aircraft or bodies of the crew (Department of Veterans' Affairs, 2002).  The members of the crew of ‘K-Katie’ were classified as Missing-In-Action for 2 weeks after they failed to return from their fateful mission on the 23rd before being declared as Killed-In-Action casualties. 

Flying Officer Albert Lawrence Coomes’ cemetery memorial may be found at Runnymede Air Forces Memorial, in Surrey, the United Kingdom.  His name can also be found at 99 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial.