 Only the commander and six crewmen managed to haul themselves into a rubber dinghy that floated free from the aircraft wreck, and were picked up by the corvette on 13 August.The pilot of the Liberator, Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg RNZAF was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.This is the only time such a decoration has been awarded solely on the testimony of an enemy combatant and was the first to be awarded to ASW (anti-submarine-warfare) aircrew.