RAF Coastal Command fought a lonely war charged with defending the English Channel and the North Atlantic convoy routes, hunting U-boats, reconnaissance and rescuing downed airmen. And one aircraft above all others came to symbolise Coastal Command - the Short Sunderland, one of the finest flying boats ever built. Just a few days after the declaration of war Sunderland flying boats were in action, rescuing all 34 crew from the cargo ship Kensington Court sunk by U-32 off the Scillies. It was the beginning of the long and deadly struggle between Coastal Command and the U-boats. Winston Churchill wrote that the only thing that really worried him during the war was the submarine menace. He knew that if the vital North Atlantic lifeline was severed, there could be no ultimate victory. The task facing the Allies was immense, and the Battle of the Atlantic raged for nearly three years before, in May 1943, heavy losses forced Admiral Doenitz to pull his U-boats out of the North .........