Robertson, Ross J./Giannakos, Konstantinos Beaufighter Strike

The Untold Story of a Pilot’s Survival and LRDG Rescue

It was not until many years after the end of the Second World War that Bill Hayters children stumbled upon his long-forgotten diary. Inside, they discovered an extraordinary story that had remained hidden for decades. When war broke out in 1939, Hayter fled France for Britain, determined to join the fight against the Axis powers. Undeterred by his youth or his impaired eyesight, he falsified his personal details to enlist in the Royal Air Force. After successfully completing pilot training, Bill was assigned first to No. 114 Squadronstationed in North Africaand later to No. 47 Squadron. Piloting the powerful Beaufighter, he soon found himself caught up in the disastrous Dodecanese Campaigna mission fraught with danger and uncertainty. On October 30, 1943, during an attack on Axis ships near the German-occupied island of Naxos, Hayters Beaufighter was hit, forcing him to make an emergency ditching at sea. The impact was violent: his head struck the instrument panel, shattering his nose so severely that it was partially severed. Dazed and barely conscious, he was scarcely aware of the cockpit filling with water. Still strapped to his parachute and seat, he was dragged underwater along with the aircraft. Miraculously, he managed to free himself; upon surfacing, he discovered that his navigator, Tom Harper, had also survived. Wounded and adrift in a small inflatable dinghy, they eventually reached the shore and set out in search of help. It is at this point that the truly extraordinary story begins. Despite his injuries and the language barrier, Bill persuaded two shepherd boys to lead him to George Siderisa former Greek Air Force officer who had joined the resistance movement. At the risk of severe reprisals, Sideris gave the two airmen shelter and arranged for a local doctor to treat their wounds. By a remarkable stroke of luck, a "Long Range Desert Group" patrol happened to be on Naxos conducting reconnaissance and sabotage missions. Upon learning of the Beaufighter crew's presence, the men immediately organized their evacuation. This is one man's story of survival and rescue, told in his own words; it reveals how the dangers faced on Naxos forged an enduring bond between Hayter and Siderisone that lasted long after the war ended.