B-24 found off greece, see Fly Past..

[Alex Smart]

Hi
I read in Fly past this months issue that a B-24 has been found off Greece.
The details given are -

Quote-
"It has been reported in national UK newspapers that the wreckage of a SAAF Consolidated Liberator VI KH158 has been discovered off the Greek coast. This machine was lost during a resistance re-supply sortie on November 12, 1944".

However,
From the Air Britain Serial series KA100 - KZ999.
KH158 - 31 SAAF - Missing on supply drop over Northern Italy, 13/10/44.
[Northern Italy, a bit away from Greece]

Then

KH159 - 159 - Missing from minelaying off Moulmein, 12/11/44.
[Moulmein in Burma].

Did someone get the dates wrong or the details wrong re when KH158 was lost ?

Alex

[DaveM2]

The South African machine has been found in a North Italian lake. If they haven't got their facts wrong the one found of Greece is a separate aircraft, although I would say they have their facts wrong in this case. There has been a bit about it on the Net, so google may help.

Dave

[aestorm]

Dear Dave
31 SAAF Liberator KH158 is not found yet.Its only a possibility that it MIGHT be in an Italian lake & investigations are in process -officially.

The supply drop mission on 12/10/44 was from Celone ,Foggia base to partisans in the north of Italy .Flight path via Elba .KH158's DZ was ENE of Genoa with 4 other plane crews but apparently supplies were not dropped there by crews because of poor ground visibilty but no proof available as far as I know .The weather turned bad with strong winds. Did KH158 get lost going or coming back ?

The SAAF Lib crews supply dropped in Yugoslavia -nearer Greece ? I will check my "The men who went to Warsaw" book for other missing SAAF Libs

I am the daughter of missing RAAF bombaimer of KH158 .

Regards
Anne

[aestorm]

Dear Alex & Dave
Again
Any idea which national newspaper ?

Anne

[DaveM2]

Hi Anne

Apologies for suggesting the wreck had been found, I did read in an article on the Net ( which I can't now find), that the wreck of a large aircraft had been discovered at around 100m in a North Italian lake, it has obviously not yet been identified. Hopefully the investigation will turn out to be positive and will put an end to your search for your father.
Flypast does not say which national paper, but I have some friends who dive in conjunction with the Greek Air Force Museum, so I will ask them if they have some information and get back to you.

regards
Dave

[aestorm]

Dear Dave

Thank you

Anne

[DaveM2]

Hi Anne

None of my Greek contacts know anything about it..and if any one does they would. I have asked them to see if they can find the source of the Flypast info.

regards
Dave

[aestorm]

Dear Dave & Alex
Thanks for checking with your Greek friends [Dave] I am most interested in which newspapers ran the article & from where they got information about the Lib. naming it as KH158 -my father's lost Liberator 31 SAAF with 8 crew .
I now have the April, Flypast magazine & the paragraph about the discovery is in Briefings section P9.The date of 12th November 1944 could be a mistake ? The Flypast Editor asked me to ring back next week so he can check his sources- a long time to wait !

The Times ran an article last December about my search for my father's plane , lost without trace while on an Italian partisan supply drop in Italy, 12th OCTOBER 1944 & a plane find in an Italian lake [which is due to be investigated soon ] but they have not written this story. The Telegraph has not written anything about this.

Does anyone remember which newspaper ran the story ?

Thanks
Anne

[DaveM2]

Anne

Someone on the FP forum might know which paper

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=4

regards
Dave

[aestorm]

Thanks Dave .
Its all a bit odd .I might wait until I can ask the Flypast Editor .
The Lib would have had to turn right from Foggia to be near Greece .The flight path was west to the sea & up the coast over Elba to Liguria.
The month was October but the article is only a month out.

By the way my father was RAAF but in a SAAF sqdn .

Thanks for your help
Anne