There are echoes of the later Catalina here. Apparently these were in service for SAR work in Spain up until 1967 which speaks well of the design.
About half a dozen were in use with the Royal Australian Air Force's 41 Squadron as well, but of course the problem was that in the early 1940s replacement parts were not easy to come by for some {cough} reason so they were out of service by 1944.
