“Lost for Decades: Divers Unveil Secrets of WWII Bomber Downed by Nazis off Enigmatic Greek Coast”
Discovering This Australian World War II Bomber Near Greece
AegeanTec/Australian Department of DefenseA diver with the wreck of the RAAF plane, which was discovered by AegeanTec in 2024.
According to the Australian Department of Defence, the wreck of the Baltimore FW282 bomber was discovered in 2024 by the Greek technical diving group AegeanTec. Divers located the wreck at a depth of some 200 feet, near the Greek island of Antikythera (famous for the ancient device known as the Antikythera mechanism). Believing it to be an RAAF plane, they contacted the RAAF’s History and Heritage branch.
The RAAF was then able to confirm that the sunken craft was indeed was an RAAF plane, specifically the Baltimore FW282, a bomber that had been shot down in 1943. Four men were on the plane at the time: the pilot, William Alroy Hugh Horsley of the RAAF, the navigator, Leslie Norman Row of the British Royal Air Force, and two Wireless Operator/Air Gunners, Colin William Walker of the RAAF, and John Gartside of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Of the four men, only Horsley survived.
“This aircraft discovery is significant,” Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, remarked in the RAAF press release, “and offers the chance to provide closure to families.”
A closer look at the Baltimore FW282, which was shot down in December 1943.
Indeed, it finally brings resolution to the story of the Baltimore FW282.
How The Baltimore FW282 Sank Into The Aegean Sea In December 1943
Martin Marietta Co/Australian Department of DefenseA Baltimore bomber aircraft, similar to the one that was shot down in 1943.
On December 3, 1943, the Baltimore FW282 was returning from a mission over the Aegean Sea when it was intercepted by a German fighter aircraft. During the subsequent air battle, the Baltimore FW282 sustained heavy damage, forcing Horsley to ditch the plane into the water below.
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