Menorca is one of the less touristic Islands belonging to the group of the Spanish Balearic Archipelago. As I drove about in Menorca, I soon realised the Island was littered in Archaeological Megalithic Sites. There is actually an impressive 1500 Megalithic Sites! My purpose to visiting the Island of Menorca however, was to visit the World War II Wreck of a German Airplane that had crashed off the Coast of the Island.
The Aircraft, a German Junkers JU 88, came down off the small town of S’Algar in Menorca on the 24th of February 1943. The crew was returning from a bombing campaign, attacking targets in Algeria, but it had come off course on its return. The Aircraft had been based in Sicily and was low on fuel as it approached the Balearic Islands. The crew attempted to find a runway in Mallorca to land at as it approached Menorca by mistake.
A group of fisherman returning to their home port of Mahon in Menorca, tells us a whiteness account to what happened that night.
As the fisherman navigated through the coast of Biniancolla, they noticed a spotlight over their heads, coming from an aircraft. One of the fisherman; Gaspar, told his brother Jose, which was the skipper of the fishing boat, that he thought the aircraft was projecting their light beam onto the fishing boat on purpose, but Jose did not think this was true and told his brother the aircraft was not focusing on them.
The fisherman did not give the situation anymore thought but when crossing the narrow channel between the Island of Menorca and the Islet of “Isla Del Aire”, Gaspar thought he had seen the plane crash into the sea, in front of them. His brother Jose, again didn’t take note of what he was saying, and replied that he must have imagined it. Now the other fisherman, also insisted for Jose, the skipper to slow down. With the boat becoming quieter, they could now hear the voices asking for help. After a quick search, they discovered several men ahead of them, aboard two rafts.
When aboard the fishing boat, the aviators explained they were returning from bombing Algeria, which apparently did not please the pilot of the aircraft, which was a young man “no more than twenty years old”, who quickly silenced his whole crew. The crew went on to explain that they did in fact light up the fishing boat on purpose, as they planned to land in the sea, and alert the fisherman of their upcoming manoeuvre and presence.
All four aviators aboard the German Aircraft survived the crash-landing into the sea. The Spanish fisherman were awarded for rescuing the men.
The wreck now sits at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea in a depth of almost 50 metres. It is a deep wreck for a sports diver to scuba dive down to, and mostly done by Technical Divers. On the day of my dive, we were escorted on the dive by specialist divers from the Guardia Civil. The Aircraft Wreck is said to be one of the best well preserved German WWII Night Bombers, lying at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea!
Below is a video I have put together, of my diving in Menorca:
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