Landfall: A Channel Story is a novel by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...

. It was first published in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1940.

The story is set during the opening months of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and it concerns a young pilot, Roderick 'Jerry' Chambers, who is part of an air patrol unit guarding the southern coast of England - around Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. One day, Chambers sees a submarine and, believing it to be German, attacks with his weaponry and bombs. The submarine is sunk.

Back at the base, it is revealed that the sunken submarine was, in fact, a British vessel. Chambers escapes discipline but is censured and posted far away to the north of England. Meanwhile, by a curious chain of coincidences, his love-interest, Mona Stevens (a local barmaid), discovers that the submarine was, in truth, a German vessel - it having previously attacked and sunk the missing British sub that Chambers was accused of sinking.

Chambers is offered a chance to redeem himself in a dangerous mission to test a new marine attack system. His plane explodes in mid-air but he survives, and manages to make his report. The novel ends with his transfer, as an instructor, to a pilot training school in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 with Mona, now his wife.

Cinema

The novel was adapted to film in 1949. It starred Michael Denison

Michael Denison

John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison CBE was an English actor.-Background:Denison was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 1915. He was raised by his aunt and uncle from the age of three weeks, following the death of his mother and his estrangement from his father. He was educated at Harrow...

 and was directed by Ken Annakin

Ken Annakin

Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.- Biography :Annakin grew up in Beverley, Yorkshire where he attended the local school. He began his career in feature films following an early experience making documentaries. His first filmwork was in 1947 with the Rank Organisation...

.

Trivia

The novel was reviewed by George Orwell

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

 for New Statesman

New Statesman

New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....

magazine on 7 December 1940.

The mistaken bombing of a British Submarine by British plane may be taken from a real incident. During World War II HMS Snapper was bombed by an unidentified plane off the Dutch coast, narrowly surviving. The same day a British pilot reported sinking a German U-boat in the same area. Confusion persists as to whether they were the same submarine and plane in both reports. "The more I delve into this the more convinced I am that Shute got to hear about the Snapper incident and adapted it into the plot for Landfall", John Anderson, Nevil Shute Foundation. http://www.nevilshute.org/nl060401.html