For more than 80 years, the families of four airmen, three of whom were presumably killed in a plane crash during World War II, have heard only stories of their mission and bravery.
The Royal Australian Air Force Baltimore bomber was shot down, the wreckage has now been found off a tiny island in Greece.
Among No. 454 Squadron, three men were marked as “missing” but presumed dead: Australian gunner Pilot Officer Colin William Walker, New Zealand Warrant Officer and air gunner John Gartside, and British navigator Flight Lieutenant Leslie Norman Row.
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The pilot, Flight Lieutenant William Alroy Hugh Horsley, was the sole survivor.
His son today was overjoyed with confirmation the wreckage is that of the Baltimore.
“I was 15 when he passed away so it’s really lovely that they found the plane,” Horsley’s son Guy said.
The wreckage was found off Antikythera, a tiny Greek island between Crete and the Peloponnese.
Guy and his family today shared the survival story of then-32-year-old William with 9News.
“He’s looked around for his team and no one was there,” Guy said.
“He swam to an island and was picked up by a Greek fisherman and then from there by the Gestapo, taken to Stalag 3.”
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Years later, word from Horsley – then a prisoner of war – managed to reach his wife.
“[There was a] Red Cross telegram from my Dad saying ‘halt all correspondence because I’m on the way home’,” Guy said.
After learning of the remarkable story, an Athens-based exploration team got to work.
However, even with sonar technology, it took seven years to find the wreck.
The Baltimore will now remain where it is.
“It’s a remarkable healing process to know they’re at peace and we know the final chapter of this story,” RAAF Chief Air Marshall Stephen Chappell said.
“I’m very proud of them and I’m very proud of my father,” Guy Horsley said.
There are still 3143 Australian aviators with no known grave.
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