ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 239124
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| Date: | Sunday 3 October 1943 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Beaufighter Mk XIc |
| Owner/operator: | 46 (Uganda) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | JL903 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aegean Sea near Kós island -
 Greece
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lakatamia, Cyprus |
Beaufighter JL903: Took off for repeat attack on convoy near Cos. 03/10/1943
Four Beaus JL586, JL903, JL907 and JM264 attack convoy off Cos at 13:25 hrs.
Beaus JL903: In an attack on a large concentration of shipping off Cos Island was shot down by enemy navy flak off Kos.
W/O Ledwidge is hit in the port wing. With engine on fire, he heads for Turkish coast, and manages to ditch at exactly the same time as his wing falls off! With his navigator F/Sgt Rowley, he paddles in his dinghy for 8 hrs.
In an attack on a large concentration of shipping off Cos Island, W/O Ledwidge defied a fierce anti-aircraft barrage to close in on a naval vessel which he raked with bullets and hit with his bombs, setting the ship on fire. His aircraft was repeatedly hit, however, and one of the petrol tanks set alight. The flames spread rapidly and W/O Ledwidge was compelled to bring the burning aircraft down on to the sea. He got safely aboard the dinghy and, some 8 hrs later, drifted ashore and lands by a Turkish lighthouse.
Crew:
W/O (1165682) Edward James LEDWIDGE DFC (pilot) RAFVR - Ok
F/Sgt (????) J.T ROWLEY (nav.) RAF?? - Ok
Sources:
1.http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Beaufighter-losses-in-Greece-1941-19464.pdf
2.ORB 46 Sqdn RAF
3.https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36263/supplement/5188
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Aug-2020 16:45 | Nepa | Added [Operator] |
| 19-Oct-2022 09:43 | Nepa | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
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