Blenheim Mk.IVF, wreck Hellenic Air Force Museum in Tatoi. By: Panagiotis Koubetsos

The first exhibit that one can see upon entering the HAF (Hellenic Air Force Museum) in Tatoi, Athens, is the wreck of a Blenheim Mk.IVF, built in Bristol, in 1940, with the L9044 and the serial number R2 / 22140. The aircraft belonged to 203, RAF and 203 Squa. 1941, when during a mission to protect a ship that was receiving retreating British troops in the Porto Rafti area of ​​Attica, it was accidentally hit by an A / A of a British ship, resulting in the loss of one engine. The crew tried to return to their base in Crete but did not succeed and were forced to ditch 6 miles NE of Rethymno. Due to the historical importance of the type and the depth it is located, it was decided by the General Aviation Authority to raise the aircraft in order to transfer it to the Aviation Museum. In November 1993, the wreck of that Blenheim Mk IVF L9044 was discovered at a depth of 18 meters off Rethymno at the suggestion of an amateur snorkeling group led by Spyros Papakastritsios. As determined by preliminary underwater surveys, the aircraft was in an excellent state of preservation. If one ignores the broken glass, the entire structure of the aircraft was essentially intact. The entire operation was carried out in two phases. In September 1995 the aircraft was lifted from the bottom and towed into the shallow waters of the port of Rethymno, from where it was retrieved by crane in July 1996.
The aircraft was transferred to the Hellenic Air Force Museum. where it was dismantled and its cleaning began gradually, a process that lasted until 1998. The aircraft was assembled and placed on a permanent base where it is exhibited to this day.
The three-member crew was rescued with the help of a Cretan who dived into the sea to help them. In 1996, Gordon Hall, the pilot of this Blenheim, visited the Museum and sat in the pilot’s seat. I can only imagine how moved and emotional he could have felt in those moments..