On 11 September 1974 a mass NATO exercise called Operation Bold Guard took place in Germany which included an air assault by 540 paratroopers. The British contingent consisted of five waves of six Hercules aircraft from RAF Lyneham with men from the 15th and 4th Battalions of the Parachute Regiment TAVR along with heavy drop (Land Rovers etc).
According to an RAF Board of Enquiry, during the night drop that was part of a second wave 15 parachutists landed in the Kiel Canal of whom 6 drowned. A German Army rescue launched picked up 5 men and recovered 1 dead body. Eights days later four bodies were recovered with their life jackets inflated and the total number of recorded deaths is 6 (1 from 4 para and 5 members of 15 para.
Alan Malcher 