4th May, 1945. Operation JUDGMENT (ii), an attack by 44 aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm on the U-Boat base at Kilbotn, near the Norwegian town of Harstad. This was the last major offensive action carried out by the Royal Navy Home Fleet against German targets during the Second World War. The attack was to be carried out by the escort carriers HMS Queen, Trumpeter and Searcher, escorted by two cruisers and 7 destroyers. Wildcats carrying 250lb bombs would attack the heavily armed flak ships defending the anchorage, with others providing top cover. Avengers loaded with four 500lb bombs would then focus on the depot ship Black Watch (formerly a North Sea passenger ship) and the support vessel Senja. The attack, which lasted just seven minutes (17:00-17:07) succeeded in hitting both target vessels, which caught fire and subsequently sank. The submarine U-711 was caught moored between Black Watch and Senja and later also succumbed to the damage it had sustained. 150 Germans were killed or wounded; there were no civilian casualties, though an errant bomb damaged some buildings in Kilbotn village. An 882 Squadron Wildcat was hit almost immediately by flak at the start of the attack and ditched, its pilot ‘Hughie’ Morrison being rescued by Norwegian fishermen but dying soon afterwards. An 846 Squadron Avenger was also lost, with all the crew being killed. Their bodies were recovered by locals, who buried them in the churchyard at Sørvik.