page_title: BOAC Flight 777
section_title: KLM aircraft and flight crews escape to England after the German invasion In Holland
hierarchical_section_title: BOAC Flight 777 / Historical background / KLM aircraft and flight crews escape to England after the German invasion In Holland
caption_attribution_description: English: KLM PH-ARB Buizerd and (mostly) Dutch KLM crewmembers during WW2 on lease to BOAC after German invasion of The Netherlands. This photo was taken at the (former) Whitchurch Airfield to commemorate the 500th flight on the Lisbon-Bristol line.
context_page_description: BOAC Flight 777-A was a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England. On 1 June 1943, the Douglas DC-3 serving the flight was attacked by eight German Junkers Ju 88 fighter planes and crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing all 17 on board. There were several notable passengers, among them actor Leslie Howard.
  One theory suggests that the Germans attacked the aircraft because they believed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was aboard; another suggested that it was targeted because several passengers were British spies, including Howard. During the Second World War, British and German civilian aircraft operated from the same facilities at Portela, and Allied and Axis spies watched the incoming and outgoing traffic. The Lisbon–Whitchurch route frequently carried agents and escaped POWs to Britain.
  Aircraft flying the Lisbon–Whitchurch route were left unmolested at the beginning of the war, and both Allied and Axis powers respected the neutrality of Portugal.
context_section_description: For several weeks prior to the German invasion of the Netherlands, Dutch airline KLM, operated a direct, over-water, twice-weekly DC-3 service from Amsterdam to Portugal avoiding French, British, and Spanish airspace to connect with the new Pan American flying boat service from the US to Lisbon. When Germany invaded in May 1940, KLM had several airliners en route outside the Netherlands. Some managed to fly to Britain while others stranded east of Italy continued to link British and Dutch territories from Palestine to Indonesia and Australia. The British government interned the Dutch aircraft at Shoreham Airport. After negotiations, the Air Ministry and the Dutch government-in-exile contracted to use the KLM aircraft and crews to replace de Havilland Albatross aircraft on a scheduled service between Britain and Portugal, which BOAC started in June 1940 from Heston Aerodrome.
  After the initial reservations about using Dutch crews were overcome, all-Dutch crews were used, although the flights used BOAC flight numbers and passenger handling. The KLM contingent was housed at BOAC's Whitchurch base.
caption: Photo taken by BOAC at Whitchurch to commemorate the 500th flight on the Bristol-Lisbon line on 16 June 1942; the aircraft is the DC-3 G-AGBD/PH-ARB Buizerd (buzzard). The crew of the downed G-AGBB are included (Tepas middle row and de Koning top row standing, both just left of left engine propellor blade).
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