Hello, my name is Jamie. I hail from Montreal, Canada.
I am doing some historical research on my great uncle Frederick Albert Duquette who was a Flight Sergeant for the RAF 272 Squadron based in Malta during WW II.
He sadly perished along with his radio observer Arthur W Johnson on a return trip from Egypt crashing in the Mediterrean on May 8th, 1943 30 miles off the island's coast in rough weather.
A fair bit of material has been uncovered up to now. This includes a cache of letters, flight log book, medals, pictures and documents that were thought to have been lost forever. Added to these would be his official service record from Archives Canada and in the UK, the Malta Aviation Museum, military researchers in Malta and elsewhere, internet searches and correspondence from a member of his RAF Squadron and other acquaintances.
Although my research is primarily genealogical I wish to advise your firm of the possible location of his plane wreckage off the island of Malta based on the best available evidence from the search and rescue operation and May 1943 crash report.
To your knowledge has anyone ever done any deep sea fishing in this area or side scans dives?
Latitude 35°47'39.43"N, Longitude 14°42'59.57"E This was the rough location where some debris and a dinghy were found.
Depth approx 350-400 feet (I'm no deep sea diver but I know this is quite deep for tanks!)
Does anyone know if any nets have got caught in this area?
I am aware of another Beaufighter that crashed in March 1943 piloted by Canadian Donald Frazee which is a popular dive spot in a lot shallower water but not near the above location.
I have attached some download links with a breakdown of information regarding his flight and the crash report if you are interested.
http://www.4shared.com/document/vL171kDP/TRIP___SEARCH_AND_RESCUE_STUDY.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/zur7Vb9x/REPORTS_ON_THE_EVENTS_OF_05081.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/rhpR9IZR/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt1.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/U4hi2Wkk/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt2.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/T4f2sqgb/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt3.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/_7L0q4La/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt4.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/iLwpzK8c/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt5.html
http://www.4shared.com/document/Zev-_xy8/272_squadron_jan-may_1943_pt6.html
Perhaps I am out of my element in this regard. In any case I thought I should pass on the information for your perusal.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours, Jamie aka Theramin
no idea on this mate, but I am not a dep sea diver. my best was 180 foot.
Hi Jamie,
I think the person that can help you most is Emi Farrugia can be contacted on emifarr@maltanet.net
Good Luck!!
Gentlemen thank you very much for your replies :) Any info is much much appreciated :) ps hope to visit your beautiful island one day and fish for the 'big ones'. cheers, Jamie
Hi theramin. Welcome to the forum. As Maltembu rightly said, Emi Farrugia is an expert in underwater expeditions and has great knowledge of WW2. I can offer some further help. My job is a graphic designer and I work on a publication called MALTA AT WAR by Wise Owl Publications. The editor, Mr John Mizzi, is a military expert in this field and may be of some help although not on dives and wrecks. If you PM your email I can contact you back with Mr Mizzi's details.