 On 31 May, he had been attacking a ship off the coast of the Netherlands, before being shot down by flak.Having injured his leg in the crash, he was taken captive and transported to Stalag Luft III, a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.He was promoted to flying officer (war substantive) on 16 July 1942 and to flight lieutenant (war substantive) on 16 July 1943.