Baum, Francis William 'Vic' (Sergeant)

Prisoner of War 1942-June-15

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Birth Date: unkown date

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Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAF

Unit

69 (BR) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
With Vigilance We Serve

Base

RAF Luqa, Malta

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Pilot

Service Numbers

530379
PoW: 9179

Aircraft took off at 12.45am from Luqa airport on Malta to observe the naval traffic in the area around the Pantelleria island.

The wreck, of the aircraft lies 500 metres off the Italian island of Linosa and was discovered in 2016, 85 metres below the waters surface.

Killed: Flight Sergeant Alick Greaves RAF KIA Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery grave 17. A. 12. Tunisia. Sergeant Robert Tettrell Purslow RAF KIA Klagenfurt War Cemetery grave 8. B. 3. Austria.

POWs: Sergeant Francis William Baum RAF POW Stalag 18A Wolfsberg (Karnton) Austria. Sergeant William Edward Fincham RCAF R/77413 Stalag Luft L6 Heydekrug.

unvetted Source frameset

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Mission

Baltimore Mk. I AG699

Reconnaissance 1942-June-15 to 1942-June-15

(BR) Sqn (RAF) Luqa Airfield, Malta

69 Squadron RAF (With vigilance we serve), Luqa, Malta. Baltimore I aircraft was lost on a reconnaissance mission to the island of Pantelleria, crashing off coast of the Italian island of Linosa, 1942-06-15, cause unknown

Pilot, Flight Sergeant A Greaves (RAAF) was killed in action

Sergeant W E Fincham (RCAF), Sergeant F W Baum (RAFVR) and Sergeant R T Purslow (RAFVR) survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

Sergeant Purslow died 1943-12-17 as a Prisoner of War in a camp in Germany

The wreckage of this aircraft was located in 2016 as part of a seabed mapping and habitat monitoring project and filmed using a remotely controlled vehicle (ROV). In 2022, Italian divers returned to the site to document and confirm the identity of the well preserved wreck

unvetted Source [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

unvetted Source After 80 years the solve the mystery of a WWII plane that force...

unvetted Source Solved: Riddle of the RAF bomber found on the seabed thousands of mile...

unvetted Source (23) World War Two sunken RAF bomber aircraft found off the coast...

Baltimore serial: AG699

A Royal Air Force Martin Baltimore IV/V bomber. Most aircraft were delivered to Commonwealth countries, a few were kept in the U.S. under the USAAF designation A-30.
USAAF - Official U.S. Air Force photo 051122-F-1234P-023

The Martin 187 Baltimore was a twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States as the A-30. The model was originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then in service in France. With the fall of France, the production series was diverted to Great Britain and after mid-1941, supplied by the U.S. as Lend Lease equipment.

Development of the Baltimore was hindered by a series of problems, although the type eventually became a versatile combat aircraft. Produced in large numbers, the Baltimore was not used operationally by United States armed forces but eventually served with the British, Canadian, Australian, South African, Hellenic and the Italian air forces. it was subsequently used almost exclusively in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II. Wikipedia

Wikipedia Wikipedia Martin Baltimore Bomber

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Martin Baltimore Bomber