Squadron 162
Motto
Sectabimur usque per ima
We will hunt them even through the lowest depths
June 13, 1944
A Consolidated Canso out of Wick, Scotland with RCAF No.162 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron, piloted by Wing Commander Bill Chapman, sights a suspected periscope from a U-boat while patrolling west of the Shetland Islands. Although he conducted a near perfect four depth charge straddle of the submarine, surface fire from the submarine’s conning tower set the Canso’s port engine afire. Chapman settled the plane down on the waves and the crew is rescued, but not before two succumbed to exposure. Nevertheless, U-715 becomes the fourth submarine sunk by No.162 Squadron.
Post Scriptum:
November 11, 2024
from Jennifer Hladkowicz, Granddaughter of C. G. William Chapman DSOThanks for sharing.
Found this memory of something I wrote on FB in 2018–
Thinking about both my Grandparents today. It’s the first Remembrance Day without my Grandmother. As I stood at the military cemetery during her funeral, no bagpipes weeped Amazing Grace and no guns saluted her depart like they did for my Grandad. On their gravestone she is listed as “beloved wife” , like all of the wives laid to rest beside their husbands. She was that but also so much more. My Grandad’s career wouldn’t have been the same without her unwavering commitment to him and his work and to their family. War is first and foremost a man’s game, from which we salute the men (and only recently the women) who we say bravely gave their lives. I would never diminish the sacrifice my Grandad or any other made in the name of war, even if I don’t agree with the premise. The women who were caught up in the game also deserve as much respect. To Peace, one day…
