ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 202535
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| Date: | Saturday 4 December 1943 |
| Time: | 08:32 |
| Type: | Martin Baltimore Mk IV |
| Owner/operator: | 454 Sqn RAAF |
| Registration: | FA548 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aegean Sea, off Kea Island -
 Greece
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 4 December 1943 the Baltimore IV FA548 -R of 454 Sqn RAAF took off for a patrol over the Aegean Sea. Aboard were Flt Sgt David Valentine Paul (pilot), Wt Off George Townson Agg (navigator), Wt Off James Rennie RAF (wireless operator/air gunner) and Wt Off Ralph Mervyn Simpson (wireless operator/air gunner). It was an experienced crew, all having joined the squadron in the last month of 1942. It was to have been Paul’s final trip on completion of his tour and Rennie was already extended.
They were near Laurion harbour when they were attacked by two Bf 109s of III./JG 27. The German gun fire hit the starboard wing and the port fuel tank, which subsequently caught alight. The pilot of the Baltimore then ditched in the sea. The turret gunner, Simpson, baled out before the ditching but was not seen again and was lost at sea. The three other crew stayed aboard, survived the ditching and were subsequently picked up by a pair of German Arado Ar 196 seaplanes. After rescue and initial interrogation, the three were taken to Athens, then Salonika and finally into a Stalag in Germany. Agg, the navigator, recorded in his diary at 9:40 am on that day:
“Shot down by two Me109F East of Keos. After ditching & going down with plane – swam to the surface & through burning petrol. We were picked up by two Arado 196. ...”
“Jimmie burnt a bit but rest of us (Dave & I) OK. (No news of Ralph).”
They had been shot down by Ofw. Fritz Gromotka of 9./JG 27 who claimed this Baltimore shot down at 0832 hrs at 2000 m near Kea Island (called Keos by Agg). It was his 15th victory.
Sources:
http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Baltimore-losses-in-Greece-1942-441.pdf
http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/downloads/Alamein%20to%20the%20Alps.pdf
http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/454members/pauld.html
"Die Jagdfliegerverbände der deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945. Teil 11/II: : Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum 1.1. bis 31.12.1943", by Jochen Prien & co. ISBN 978-3-942943-00-0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea_%28island%29
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=37.603624&lon=24.255066&z=7
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Dec-2017 09:43 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
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