After sinking twenty-two ships during Operation Berlin, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrived at Brest, France on Mar. 22, 1941. On Mar. 28th the British became aware of their presence at the French port and began to prepare to attack and destroy them. In fact the British, due to a great deal of photographic reconnaissance flights knew the whereabouts of all the heavy German ships with the exception of Bismarck and Tirpitz. These ships were under constant observation and even attack.

On April 6, 1941 six Bristol Beauforts of 22 Squadron RAF attacked the port of Brest, the target was of course Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Due to bad weather only one of the aircraft was able to locate the target. The pilot, Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, R.A.F.V.R., in the face of overwhelming anti-aircraft fire, pressed home his attack and dropped a torpedo which hit Gneisenau in the stern. This caused severe damage to the ship which kept her out of action for several months. As he pulled up and rolled to escape he had no choice but to show his belly the the Germans, with only one target to shoot at every gun in the area fired on him until his plane crashed into the harbor, all four men were killed.

The bodies were recovered by the Germans and were given a proper military funeral with full honours. Almost a year later, in Mar. of 1942 Flying Officer Campbell was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.