Shared by Frederick Galea on Facebook on 3 March 2023
A Maryland was lost on 15 February 1942. During an afternoon patrol of the Central Ionian Sea, Sqn Ldr Lowry and his crew aboard AR714 (Flg Off John Bosley, Sgts Durrant and Rasmussen) located an Italian naval force comprising three cruisers and eight destroyers.
On the return journey the Maryland had to stand off well clear of Malta waiting for the inevitable air raid to come to an end. Suddenly, the aircraft developed a swing to port, which, from the readings of the petrol pressure gauge and the boost and rev counters, indicated a complete ignition failure in the port engine. The pilot feathered the port airscrew but after a further period of waiting he decided, in view of the condition of the port engine, to risk the return to base in spite of the air raid and the enemy fighter patrol.
Four Messerschmitt Bf109s climbed to attack as the Maryland negotiated a gap between two cloud patches some 40 miles from the island and split into pairs for stern and beam assaults. The pilot waited until the pair astern had begun their movement, and, as soon as they opened fire, side-slipped violently in a successful attempt not only to avoid the fire from astern but to thwart the attack by the first Messerschmitt operating from the beam.
Rasmussen opened fire on the first Messerschmitt claiming hits and the possible destruction of the enemy aircraft. Durrant opened fire on a second enemy aircraft in a subsequent attack and this was also claimed as a probable, being last seen in a vertical dive at 2,000 feet. When within sight of Luqa, two more Bf109s attacked; the damaged starboard engine sustaining further strikes.
Slowly and painfully AR714 crawled to the top of the cloud and emerged at 8,000 feet. The crew gathered themselves together and started the last race. With the island only seven miles away and the observer fingering the trigger of his signal pistol, two Messerschmitts dived down the blind spot of the tail and tracers poured past as the recognition signal was fired. Before evasive action could be taken a shell burst in the pilot’s cockpit, blowing out the starboard window and smashing the engine instruments. A wild sideslip to port caused the tracer to swing to starboard, the line of fire travelling down the wing, tearing off the flaps, top cowling and aileron.
Hurricanes then arrived and drove one of the attackers away; the other German pilot, obviously more determined and keen, pursued the crippled Maryland.
Intensive fire from the anti-aircraft gunners and the proximity of the island, now only two miles away, disconcerted the fighters and the completely crippled aircraft was left in its dive for its base. As the Maryland passed over Kalafrana Bay, five feet of the starboard wing was seen to fall off and streams of oil and petrol gushed out. At the coast, just as the pilot was preparing for a crash-landing on the aerodrome, the good engine coughed and died, leaving him to choose between a landing into the wind among the tiny fields, stone walls and quarries of the island, or down wind into the sea. He chose the latter course.
The smashed and torn controls slowly pulled the aircraft round and out of her steep dive until she levelled out close to the water in the bay. A few seconds later and the tail touched the wave crests and the body settled on the water as lightly as a flying boat. Almost immediately she came to a splashing grinding stop as the perspex of the nose crashed in leaving the observer sitting up to his waist in the water, his arm broken by the flying debris. With all the petrol tanks holed, AR714 floated for few minutes allowing all her crew to get safely clear. They floated on their Mae Wests until the rescue boat arrived. As they waited, they watched a very gallant aircraft settle down and then slowly sink beneath the waves.
NOTE: Today, in place is Maltese legislation protecting underwater cultural heritage.
