The extensive bombing that took place over the Western European theatre was carried out by B4 liberator aircrafts. This also included most of the heavy bombing that was part of the Italian Campaign between 1942-1943. Reggio Calabria was an important and strategic target for the Allied forces, owing to its harbour and railroad facilities. In early May 1943, Reggio became the target of several air raids. On 6th May, B24 Liberators dropped 110 tons of bombs over the city, mainly targeting the harbour. One B24 Liberator developed engine trouble over the city and after dropping its bomb load the crew decided to fly back to Malta, often used a safe haven for damaged aircrafts returning from Sicily and Italy. After several failed landing attempts at Luqa, the 10-member crew was forced to ditch the plane in the sea. The wheels of the aircraft were lowered when it hit the surface, flipping the plane upside down, and after floating for a few minutes, the tail section sank first and the nose last. Nine crew members survived and were rescued by the Royal Air Force Air Sea Rescue, but one member of the crew remained unaccounted for. The wreck site of the B24 Liberator was discovered in 2015 through a side-scan sonar remote sensing survey and lies approximately 1.5km south-west of Marsaxlokk at a depth of 55 metres on a sandy seabed. In 2018-2019 the US Defence Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Accounting Agency – the DPAA – supported the Maritime archaeology programme at the University of Malta with the excavation of the B24 wreck site. The aim was to conclusively identify the aircraft as the B24 that was ditched at sea on 6 May 1943, and to retrieve the remains of the missing crew member, Sergeant Irving R. Newman. In August 2023, it was officially announced by the DPAA that remains recovered from the wreck could be identified as Sgt Newman. A rosette will be placed next to his name to show he’s been accounted for on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American cemetery in Italy.