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Kenneth Campbell was from Ayrshire and he gained a chemistry degree at Cambridge, where he was a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. In September 1939 he was mobilised for RAF service, Flying Officer Campbell joining No.22 squadron in September 1940, with the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. Campbell torpedoed a merchant vessel near Borkum in March 1941 and days later he made an escape from a pair of Bf-110 fighters despite extensive damage to his aircraft. Two days later on a ‘Rover’ patrol he torpedoed another vessel, off IJmuiden.
On 6 April 1941 over Brest Harbour, France, Flying Officer Campbell attacked the German battleship Gneisenau. He flew his Bristol Beaufort through the gauntlet of concentrated anti-aircraft fire from about 1000 weapons of all calibers and launched a torpedo at a height of 50 feet (15 m).
The attack had to be made with absolute precision: the Gneisenau was moored only some 500 yards (460 m) away from a mole in Brest's inner harbour. For the attack to be effective Campbell would have to time the release to drop the torpedo close to the side of the mole. That Campbell managed to launch his torpedo accurately is testament to his courage and determination. The ship was severely damaged below the waterline and was obliged to return to the dock whence she had come only the day before, she was out of action for 6 months, which thus allowed allied shipping to cross the Atlantic without any threat.
Generally, once a torpedo was dropped an escape was made by low-level jinking at full throttle. Because of rising ground surrounding the harbour Flying Officer Campbell's Beaufort was forced into a steep banking turn, revealing its full silhouette to the gunners. The aircraft met a withering wall of flak and crashed into the harbour. The Germans buried Campbell and his other three crew mates, Sgts. J P Scott DFM RCAF (navigator), R W Hillman (wireless operator) and W Mallis (air gunner), with full military honours. His valour was only recognised when the French Resistance managed to leak news of his brave deeds to England. A memorial to him stands in his old school, Sedbergh, commemorating his brave deeds.
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