When it became obvious that France was about to fold in 1940, it was decided to have one last go at persuading her to fight on. So Lord Gort, the man who had been the Commander In Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and the British information minister Mr Duff Cooper together with their retinue of advisers departed for Rabat in French Morocco aboard a ten squadron Sunderland,  (P9604,  RB G) captained by Fl.Lt. Richard Kingsland.

     The flight out was uneventful, but the harbour at their destination was crowded with small craft and fishing boats so despite the danger, and with the approval of Gort, Kingsland alighted on the estuary of the Bou Regreg river, which was winding and only about ten metres wider than the Sunderland. French officials were cool, and once the official party had disembarked, tried to force the crew to move the aircraft fifty metres, to a position from which it would be impossible to take off quickly. Not liking the attitude of the increasingly hostile French, Kingsland refused to move, and knowing that he had the fuel to reach Gibraltar, also refused to refuel, and put himself in their hands.

     Upon receipt of an urgent message  at 2100 hours stating that the Morroccan’s were hostile, and advising  Gort to return, Kingsland made for shore in the Sunderland’s inflatable dinghy, only to met by armed police in a boat, and forcibly returned to the flying boat. Realising that the situation was deteriorating dangerously, he took one of the police at gunpoint, and accompanied by his second pilot, made his way to the British consulate where he found that Gort and Cooper had left on separate engagements. By this time, the police had arrived in force, and threatened to place the Sunderland under armed guard unless the captain and his second returned immediately. P.O.Stewart the co-pilot, then persuaded the French that he was the captain of the craft and that he would return, but Kingsland should remain and deliver the message to Gort when he returned. The police agreed to this, and left, leaving two cars at the gates of the consulate.

     Hiding under a blanket, on the floor in the rear of a consulate car being driven by a female staff member, Kingsland left the consulate and headed for the hotel where Gort was speaking. However the police, being suspicious of the woman’s motive, and despite a cursory look into the car, had followed them and when Kingsland left the vehicle he was fired upon. Taking cover in a doorway, Kingsland returned fire with his service revolver, and keeping as much as possible in cover, fought his way into the hotel. There he found Gort speaking to an increasingly belligerent audience, and after delivering his message, Kingsland and Gort left.

     The police were waiting outside and arrested them, intending to incarcerate them in the local lockup. Again Kingsland took one at gunpoint, and after collecting Cooper they hastily made their way back to the Sunderland and prepared for immediate departure. The time was 0400.

      The totally infuriated French were not about to let them leave, but curiously were reluctant to fire upon the aircraft, and contented themselves with surrounding it and waiting for developments. Knowing that time was short, Kingsland and his co-pilot decided to attempt a starting procedure that would place a large strain on the batteries, and was definitely not approved of by the manual. Assuring themselves that the engines were primed and ready, they hit all four starters at the same time, and were rewarded with the bellow of four Bristol Pegasus radials. Avoiding the police boats by the simple expedient of  dangerously fast taxiing, and frantically looking for enough straight water to take off from, Kingsland guided the large flying boat through the bends in the estuary and into the crowded harbour.

     Even there, there was not enough room to take off, but there was more than enough room for the police boats to manoeuvre, so desperately keeping the throttles open, they picked their way towards open water hoping to escape. Unfortunately, they were unable to avoid all the craft on the water, and during a collision with a fishing boat, one of the wing floats was torn away, committing them to flight, as to stop now would destroy the aeroplane. Finally the only obstacle between them and open water was the sand bar, and that was barely awash. Knowing full well that they had not enough speed to fly, Fl.Lt. Kingsland heaved on the column to lighten the aircraft as it traversed the sand bar, and felt it drag as they literally ploughed their way across it into the heavy swell of the open sea.

     With no time for thought the pilots opened the engines to full power and bouncing a few times on the crests of the swell, became airborne for Gibraltar. En-route they radioed ahead and appraised them of the situation concerning the lost wing float. The authorities at Gibraltar seemed unworried though and told Kingsland to make his approach and landing, and that he would be met. And met he was; as he made his final approach he noticed a patrol boat speeding into position below him with a large amount of padding on the superstructure. This boat then proceeded to formate on the huge flying boat as it descended and as the landing was made, slipped under the damaged wing and allowed it to come to rest on the padding.

     Kingsland was awarded a DFC for his actions. He eventually returned to Australia as commander of No. 11 Catalina squadron. He now resides in Canberra.