Supermarine Walrus

On 17 June 1940, General De Gaulle left France for England but his wife and children were still in Carantec, Brittany. Due to German troops moving through Brittany, De Gaulle obtained help from Winston Churchill who sent a special aircraft to Carantec to pick up De Gaulle's family. After receiving orders from the Government, Captain Norman Hope joined RAF Mount Batten and transmitted to his crew the goal of this high secret mission. On 18 June 1940, the float plane departed RAF Mount Batten, near Portsmouth, at 0300LT. It arrived over Brittany few hours later and while flying 20 km west from Carantec, it was hit by ground fire, either French or German (undetermined). The captain reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing in a field when the aircraft impacted a rocky wall and crashed, bursting into flames. All four crew were killed. Nobody was aware of this mission and De Gaulle's family embarked on a ship few hours later to join England.
Crew (15th GC):
Cpt Norman Hope,
Lt John Bell,
Sgt Charles Harris,
Cpl Bernard Nowell.

The float plane departed HMS Devonshire on an anti-submarine patrol mission. At night, it was shot down by the pilot of a German He.111 and crashed into the Malangen Fjord. Two crew members were killed and a third was rescued.
Crew:
Lt Ronald William Benson-Dare, pilot, †
Sgt David Corkhill, observer,
LAC William Henry Hill, air gunner. †

The pilot was completing a solo training flight out from RNAS Lee-on-Solent. Upon landing on the Solent, the float plane overturned and crashed. The pilot Midshipman Peter Lewis Atkinson was killed.

The float plane departed RAF Hatston on an anti-submarine mission. It crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea off Fair Isle, between Shetland and Orkneys. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Cyril Leonard Smeathers, pilot,
Msm Paul Lorraine Furber, observer,
Nav Charles Edwin Adams, air gunner.

The crew was completing a flight from HMS Raven cruising off Scotland to HMS Norfolk cruising south of England. In unknown circumstances, the airplane crashed in Bishopbriggs, in the north suburb of Glasgow. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
Lt Edward Frank Pope, pilot,
LAC John Baxter.

While on a training flight over the coast of Hampshire, the float plane collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed in the Bitterne Village, east of Southampton. All four crew members were killed while there were no casualties on the ground.
Crew:
Lt Richard Herriot Mackay Herriot-Hill,
F/O Michael Fortnum,
LAC Michael M’Loughlin,
Louis Moorhead, mechanic.

The float plane was completing a maritime patrol flight over the South Atlantic Ocean. It failed to return to HMS Sussex and crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea. SAR operations failed to find any trace of the aircraft nor the crew.
Crew:
Lt Stanley Maurice Bird, pilot,
Lt Cecil Henry Edward Osmaston, observer,
LAC William Harry Brown, gunner.

After takeoff from the Tytam Bay in Hong Kong, the pilot-in-command initiated a turn to the right when the float plane descended and crashed into the water. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O David Henry Bryan-Gower,
Sgt Jack Ogden.

The float plane stalled and crashed into The Channel some 7 km off Littlehampton. Two crew members were killed and the third occupant was injured.
Crew:
S/Lt Jack Robertson, †
MSM Hugh Lawley Charteris, †
P/O Antonio Simmons Dini.

The crew was performing a maritime patrol flight off the Maine coast. Upon landing on sea, the aircraft lost a float, came to rest and sank. All three crew members escaped uninjured. The aircraft was landing near the four British ships named HMS Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton when the accident occurred.