By Pierre Kosmidis

Information submitted by Dimitris Filippopolitis, George Karelas, Ioannis Mylonas, Paul Andersson and photos shot by Alexios Xenias.

According to ancient Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and his father attempted to escape from Crete with wings that his father made from feathers and wax.  Icarus’ father warned him not to fly too low or too high, so the sea’s dampness would not clog his wings nor the sun’s heat melt them.

Icarus ignored his father’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun; when the wax in his wings melted he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea where he drowned. This sea was thus called Icarian sea and the island close to it Ikaria.

Mr. Dimitris Filippopolitis from Ikaria island shared with www.ww2wrecks.com some photos of an item found on the mountains of the island.

According to the indigenous persons who found this item, it belonged to a “British aircraft that crashed on the mountain during WW2”.

The pilot’s relatives, who were British, according to the locals, visited the island in 1955 and retrieved his remains, as the locals had buried him there after the crash.

Can anyone assist in the positive identification of this item. The credit card helps in defining its size.

According to respected researcher George Karelas a Beaufghter crashed in Ikaria was 304FTU, 252Sqn.

Shot down by Bf-109s, over Ikaria. Cambos village. Both crew members KIA. Buried in Ikaria later in Phaleron.

According to aviation expert Mike Davey, that is definitely from a Bristol Hercules engine. Bristol Pegasus and Bristol Mercury engine reduction gear parts are similar but neither have the large SBAC-60 size splined propeller shaft as shown in the pics.