Brown first admired the Condor as a commercial aircraft in Berlin in 1937 and finally flew one in July 1945. By the summer of 1941, its maritime war service had overshadowed its airliner origins. Condors located and shadowed convoys, sending signals that supported U-boat operations through submarine command rather than direct aircraft-to-submarine communication. His account describes a change in orders during late summer 1941, giving reconnaissance and U-boat cooperation priority over initiating attacks. As a squadron armament officer preparing Audacity's pilots for a Gibraltar convoy, he had not known that the Condors had received those less aggressive instructions.
Chapter · 3:26:55-3:31:50
The Condor's transition from airliner to Atlantic reconnaissance
The Condor's airliner origins lead into its convoy-shadowing role and the gap between German orders and a British fighter pilot's contemporary knowledge.