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	Beaufighter, Greece

A Beaufighter wreck in the sea off the Greek Island of Naxos has been identified by The Naxos Diving Centre.
On 20th October 1943 seven men from the Long Range Desert Group under the command of a Lieutenant Aitken arrived on the island of Naxos by motor launch. A few days later the patrol reported back the enemy’s movements; there was a small concentration of enemy ships in Naxos harbour. On 30th October 1943, four aircraft, two USAAF B-25 Mitchell bombers escorted by two Beaufighters from 47 squadron, based in Cyprus, made an attack on the ships in Naxos harbour. Two ships were sunk but two aircraft were shot down, one Mitchell and one Beaufighter. Naxos diving have established that the Beaufighter shot down off Naxos was JM225, a TFX. The pilot was Flying Officer W. E. Hayter and the navigator Warrant Officer T. J. Harper, both New Zealanders. They baled out and were rescued by Naxian locals who took them to Naxos town, where their wounds were dressed by a doctor. They were then hidden until the LRDG patrol could smuggle them out of Naxos under the noses of a garrison of 650 Germans.
The wreck lies half a mile off Cape Kouroupas on the west coast of Naxos.

Full details from the The Naxos Diving Centre.

Video of the dive from the The Naxos Diving Centre.

	The wreck lies half a mile off Cape Kouroupas on the west coast of Naxos.
	The Beaufighter seems to be in a good state of preservation, but corrosion will eventually take its toll.