The photograph is of a Supermarine Walrus, an amphibian aircraft flown by the late Noel Langdon when he was stationed with 278 RAF Squadron at Martlesham Heath during World War Two. Noel was a very modest man and never considered what he did during his war service as anything exceptional.
The Walrus was considered obsolete at the beginning of the war but became invaluable as a sea rescue aircraft enabling the pilots to reach men who had ditched into the sea. On a fateful January night in 1944, Noel was sent out in his tiny plane to try and find any survivors of a Canadian Air Force Halifax bomber which had run out of fuel having been damaged in a raid over Kiel in Germany. The eight crew had managed to get into a small dinghy and when Noel found them were hauled on board his plane, but it was too heavy to take off, so it taxied through rough seas. A naval rescue launch later arrived and took everyone on board towing the Walrus. As darkness fell, a German E-boat was spotted and Noel remembered seeing star shells in the sky, so the men knew the enemy planes were looking for them. The Walrus was cut adrift, and the rescue boat rushed towards Great Yarmouth finally arriving at 2am on 17th September. The Royal Navy sent out a search vessel, found the Walrus still bobbing on the waves and a few days later Noel flew the plane back to Martlesham Heath.
Noel was awarded the Air Force Cross in King George VI Birthday Honours for his part in more than 60 rescues.
