Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust

A upcoming organisation telling the story of flying boats and Pembroke Dock.

Back in 2010 they opened a small museum exhibition called the Flying Boat Centre. at the end of 2011 they had 20,000 visitors. They even got an engine and other components from a Mk.1 Sunderland (T9044) that had sank in the Milford Haven in November1940.
At some point in the future they want to raise the aircraft and put it on display (but thats a long way off).

right now they are in the process of opening an exhibition called 'Fleets to Flying Boats', which tells the story of Pembroke Dock from its time as a Royal Naval Dockyard to RAF Pembroke Dock and flying boats.

Also they have an archive which they have been assembling over the past year. Its got some good stuff with many collections in the process of being digitised. When i was down there in June they had recieved a rare RAF Pembroke Dock Open Day poster from 1955, which was in mint condition.

If you are interested in flying boats and/or their contribution to The Battle of the Atlantic, i would recommend spending an afternoon there as well as admiring the massive hangars and Royal Dockyard buildings.
Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust

During 1940 my Dad was evacuated from London to Pembroke, spent most of his time watching the Sunderland's taking-off and landing. Maybe that's where he got his interest in flying from, he joined the ATC as soon as he was old enough. A few years ago I bought him a fire-guard screen that had a Sunderland just leaving the water at Pembroke Dock's. Sadly when we cleared his house it wasn't looking too good.

Speaking of Sunderlands landing and taking off, i found out whilst down there that a RAAF Sunderland made history for making a successful dry landing at RAF Angle in May 1943.
The aircraft in question was damaged after taking off in heavy seas (whislt rescuing crashed Whitley and Sunderland aircrew) causing a 7ft hole in the hull.
With a landing at Pembroke Dock not an option the pilot- Flying Officer Gordon Singleton landed on the grass beside Angle's runway. it was so successful there weren't any casulties and the Sunderland was recovered and refloated without any serious damage.

This must have been an extrordinary feat of flying.

That would have been something to see.

A little update:

The new exhibition 'Fleets to Flying Boats' and its coffee shop opened on Thursday 26th July. the opening hours are Tuesdays - Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm. Admission £1.00 per person.
its located at:
Fleet Surgeons House
1 The Terrace
The Royal Dockyard
Pembroke Dock
SA72 6YH

so not only can you learn about Royal Yachts and Sunderlands but you can have a cup of tea/coffee to go with it.

al_fromthevalleys;107748 wrote:

Speaking of Sunderlands landing and taking off, i found out whilst down there that a RAAF Sunderland made history for making a successful dry landing at RAF Angle in May 1943.
The aircraft in question was damaged after taking off in heavy seas (whislt rescuing crashed Whitley and Sunderland aircrew) causing a 7ft hole in the hull.
With a landing at Pembroke Dock not an option the pilot- Flying Officer Gordon Singleton landed on the grass beside Angle's runway. it was so successful there weren't any casulties and the Sunderland was recovered and refloated without any serious damage.

This must have been an extrordinary feat of flying.

Sorry to spoil a good story,but the a/c never flew again...here is a quote from 'Pondskater' on the Key Forum

According to John Evan's book "The Sunderland Flying Boat Queen" T9114 never flew again. They removed six hedges to drag her down to the water, but she was scrapped on the beach. She was allocated instructional serial 4446M and officially Struck off Charge on 31 April 44.

The story of the landing is told by Gordon Singleton in his book "Singleton's War" from Paterchurch Publications. Quite hard to find but good little book.

Video of the Landing

wow i never knew there was film footage of this landing. I don't think the guys down PD know about this. They (especially John Evans) would be thrilled to see this when i'm down there next. [correction. they do know about it]

Its strange how my copy of John's book never mentions it was scrapped on the beach. i must have an older edition (published 1987)