Torpedo Bombing at Brest

Kenneth Campbell enrolled straight from the University Air Squadron and sunk several enemy vessels before falling to anti-aircraft artillery.

Born in Ayrshire on April 21, 1917 and educated at Sedbergh School, Kenneth Campbell moved south to Cambridge University in 1935 to study Chemistry at Clare College. It was here that he learned to fly as a graduate of the Cambridge University Air Squadron.

At the outbreak of war in September 1939 Kenneth was mobilised for RAF service and after further training was awarded the rank of Flying Officer. In September 1940 he was allocated to 22 Sqn, flying the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber.

His first victory came in March 1941 when he successfully torpedoed a merchant vessel near Borkum in Northern Germany but just days later his aircraft was badly damaged by a pair of Messerschmitt Bf110twin-engined fighters. Despite extensive damage to his aircraft he landed safely and two days later he torpedoed another vessel, off Ijmuiden in the Netherlands during a ‘Rover’ patrol.

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