News
Tale of bravery brought to the surface by BSAC divers
The rescue of two men trapped aboard a burning sea plane more than 60 years ago has been uncovered by a team of BSAC divers.
Members of the Eling-based Calshot Divers have become underwater detectives in a bid to unravel the mystery surrounding three iconic Sunderland Flying Boats.
And Calshot Divers are now backing a campaign for a permanent memorial to a leading aircraftman, stationed at Calshot in 1950, who was awarded the George Medal for bravery after rescuing two men from one of the stricken aircraft which was ablaze off the Hampshire coast.
John Greenwood, Calshot Divers’ Training Officer, said: “As a club we now meet in Eling, despite the club’s historic name. So, when looking for a new project all club members could get involved with, we wanted to somehow try and find a tie-in with Calshot, where our club was initially formed.
“Calshot is, of course, famous for its former flying boat base and the Schneider Trophy race for seaplanes. The last two races were held off Calshot Spit in 1929 and 1931 and were won by British Supermarines.
“We knew of a Sunderland Flying Boat wreck off Calshot, very close to where the lifeboat is now moored.
“From records we knew the wreck, which we managed to plot using sonar depth readings, could potentially be one of three identifiable aircraft, PP118, G-AGKY and ML883 which were all lost in the area.
“But everything pointed to it being PP118 which was built in 1945 at the Short Brothers factory in Rochester and reportedly, partially sank off Calshot, on February 3rd 1950 during a severe gale.”
Calshot Divers discovered that, during an operation to recover the aircraft almost three weeks later, it caught fire after flares aboard the stricken flying boat were ignited.
Leading aircraftman, Peter Anderson, who was known as Andy Anderson and stationed at Calshot, rescued two people from the burning wreck and was subsequently awarded the George Medal for his bravery.
One of the two other possible aircraft, G-AGKY, was also built in Rochester in 1943 was converted into a civilian passenger aircraft and went into service with Aquila Airways.
That aircraft was reportedly written off following an accident off Cowes and sank off Calshot on January 28, 1953 while it was under tow and thankfully, the five crew and 26 passengers on board at the time all survived.
And the third aircraft, ML883, was built in Blackburn, Dumbarton in 1944 and sank off Calshot, after being hit by a surface vessel, on December 17th, 1944.
John said: “All the records and information we could find led us to believe the wreck of the aircraft we had found was that of PP118, the aircraft that Andy Anderson rescued two people from.
“However, once we dived the wreck we realised, very quickly due to the shape of the aircraft’s windows and hull for example, the likelihood was that it was not PP118 and must be one of the other two which were different models.
“But that raised more questions than answers. If it wasn’t PP118 then which one was it? And where was PP118? We did a huge amount of research and wanted to find the family of Andy Anderson, who we discovered had died as recently as June 2003.”
He added: “We located Mr Anderson’s grave and saw it was clearly well tended. So, a few days before the anniversary of his death I left a message fixed to the grave headstone asking the family to get in touch.
“One of his sons, John Anderson, contacted me and we were able to meet and learn a great deal more about the circumstances surrounding the award of the George Medal to Andy Anderson and what had happened to the Sunderland Flying Boat PP118.”
“However, it was clear, and our suspicions were confirmed from photographs the family possessed, that the wreck we had dived on was most definitely not PP118.”
He added: “But hearing the story of Andy Anderson his bravery left us shocked that there is no permanent memorial in the Calshot area to commemorate his gallant act.”
For more information on Calshot Divers, click here.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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