They discovered something incredible
In 1972, this group of soldiers were in a Royal Australian Air Force helicopter. As the soldiers flew over the outlying part of Papua, they made an incredible discovery. Suddenly they saw a huge submerged vehicle. This vehicle has been missing for decades. Did these soldiers actually solve a mystery that had been unsolved for 30 years? This was probably the case. Once you learn exactly where the vehicle was, it’s easy to understand why it’s been hidden all these years. The most exotic wilderness areas in the world exist in the Papua New Guinea region.
They discovered something incredible
Hard To Access
Nobody could believe this discovery. But the difficulties of a possible discovery have only just begun. It was incredibly difficult terrain. The object discovered by Australian soldiers was in a particularly crocodile-infested swamp called Agaimbo. This is why the find was all the more valuable and incredible. In short, this place wasn’t exactly accessible, especially during the crocodiles.
Hard To Access
A holy grail of military aviation history
And the object that the Australian soldiers discovered was in a particularly remote, crocodile-infested swamp called Agaimbo. This partly explains why the find was so incredibly well preserved. Put simply, it was in a very inaccessible place – not one that would be easily stumbled upon. Dealing with the crocodiles would not be pleasant either.
A holy grail of military aviation history
Veteran and Entrepreneur
Meet David Tallichet Jr., a Dallas-born WWII veteran and entrepreneur. Aside from having built dozens of aviation-themed restaurants, Tallichet had a side business collecting and restoring military aircraft. In fact, at one point he owned more than 120 aircraft, including a B-25 Mitchell bomber and a P-40 Tomahawk.
Veteran and Entrepreneur
“It was our biggest dream”
As we shall soon see , veteran entrepreneur David Tallichet Jr. has a special connection to the machine found in the jungle. Coincidentally, in his military career, Tallichet had co-piloted the same type of four-engined bomber discovered in Papua New Guinea. And so, in the 1980s, Hagen and Tallichet began a salvage operation that would last for decades. “It was our biggest dream,” Hagen told South California Public Radio. “Because for some reason it captured the imagination of people from all over the world…”
“It was our biggest dream”
B-17E Flying Fortress
Coincidentally, in his military career, Tallichet had co-piloted the same type of four-engined bomber discovered in Papua New Guinea. And so, in the 1980s, Hagen and Tallichet began a salvage operation that would last for decades. “It was our biggest dream,” Hagen told South California Public Radio. “Because for some reason it captured the imagination of people from all over the world…”
B-17E Flying Fortress
In a good condition
Although it was their dream to recover the machine, they had a lot of work ahead of them. The behemoth aircraft was actually a US Air Force B-17E Flying Fortress. According to lore, his name was chosen by Boeing following statements by a Seattle Times journalist on the day of an early test flight in July 1935. “Why, it’s a flying fortress,” he allegedly explained.
In a good condition
The Pacific Aviation Museum in Hawaii
This historical find not only interested the two men, especially from a historical point of view this aircraft was an interesting witness. The Pacific Aviation Museum in Hawaii has also taken an interest in and examined the machine. In fact, the museum later described it as “arguably the only intact and non-decommissioned WWII-era B-17E bomber in the world, a unique example of an aircraft that played an indispensable role in winning WWII.” And it’s the only B-17 in the world that still bears its battle scars.”
The Pacific Aviation Museum in Hawaii
A new generation of bombers
The history of the B-17 dates back to the early 1930s. Roosevelt’s quest to modernize the US military included the commissioning of a new generation of bombers that could carry substantial payloads and serve remote bases in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. As a result, the prototype B-17 was designed by Boeing in 1935 for a competition.
A new generation of bombers
In use since 1941
Over the years, the aircraft’s design has also evolved to reflect advances in technology. In the autumn of 1941 the first B-1/ models were put into service. And by the end of the war, a total of about 12,731 B-17 aircraft were in service, including 8,600 of the last B-17G model. Isn’t that just incredible. It is therefore not surprising that there was great interest in this find.
In use since 1941
From San Francisco to Pearl Harbor
Swamp Ghost had been dispatched from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor just a day before the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. But as fate would have it, the plane did not fly with the Kangaroo Squadron that day. Instead, it served in some of the earliest American bombing raids of World War II. Then disaster struck.
Von San Francisco nach Pearl Harbor
He should bomb the port
In the winter of 1942, the Japanese invaded and threatened a community on the island of New Britin in Papua New Guinea. The plane that has since gone down in history was used. A month later, on February 23, Swamp Ghost was dispatched to bombard Japanese ships in Rabaul harbor. However, things didn’t go according to plan.
He should bomb the port
The doors got stuck
The plane, piloted by Captain Frederick “Fred” C. Eaton Jr., ran into trouble when its crew attempted to open the bomb bay doors. The doors got stuck and Eaton was forced to circle the huge Japanese freighter that was their target. On the second pass they managed to drop the bombs, but by then they had fired on Japanese fighter planes and anti-aircraft batteries.
The doors got stuck
They were shot at
A skirmish ensued, with the Flying Fortress claiming three out of a dozen enemy combatants. However, its port wing was then punctured by an anti-aircraft round. Luckily the flak didn’t explode, but by now the plane was leaking fuel and would be forced into a crash landing.
They were shot at
He thought he landed in a wheat field
At that moment, the pilot realized that he didn’t have much time to make an emergency landing. Unable to reach Papua New Guinea’s capital at Port Moresby, Eaton was approaching the Owen Stanley Mountains when he saw what he believed to be large fields of wheat in the lowlands of Oro Province. In fact, however, the “wheat” was marsh grass three meters high
He thought he landed in a wheat field
They landed in the wilderness of Papua New Guinea
Miraculously, the plane landed without the crew suffering any major injuries. But now they were stranded in the middle of nowhere. So they wandered for days starving and exhausted through the remote wilderness of Papua New Guinea, ravaged by mosquitoes and cooked by the sun.
They landed in the wilderness of Papua New Guinea
All contracted malaria
All of them eventually contracted malaria. Luckily, a helpful native eventually guided them to the safety of his village. The crew were nursed back to health and almost immediately sent on a new tour of duty upon reunification with the US forces. Meanwhile, the downed Flying Fortress was forgotten… until the helicopter flyover in 1972.
All contracted malaria
Swamp Ghost was able to return to the US
Hagen’s salvage operation was finally completed in 2006. Four years later, Swamp Ghost was finally granted permission to return to the United States. It then received its first public viewing in Long Beach, California, and among the guests were the family of the original crew. Nice
Swamp Ghost was able to return to the US
In the museum
The aircraft has been in the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii since 2013. The museum plans to restore the bomber and display it in a hangar on Ford Island, a small island in the port. And while the cost can exceed $5 million, it’s a modest price to pay for preserving a national treasure.
Not an isolated case
But even today relics from the Second World War are being discovered all over the world. For example, while Imgur user CanadaSpeedoMan and his wife were hiking through the backcountry of Greenland, they stumbled across a haunting reminder of that not-so-distant past. For days, the couple had wandered the fjords, getting farther and farther from anything resembling civilization. Then they came upon piles of old barrels and the twisted frames of long-collapsed buildings.
Not an isolated case
Remains of a plant
East Greenland is a remote and lonely part of the world. Its landscape consists of mountains and lakes and is enclosed in pack ice for most of the year. But in this magnificent wilderness, hikers discovered the rusting remains of a structure that dates back to a time when the area played a very important strategic role.
Remains of a plant
A gas station for military aircraft
Amid the rocky peaks, on a shelf of land near an Eskimo camp called Ikateq, the United States had built an airstrip. It was designed as a refueling station for military aircraft flying from America to Europe during World War II. And it’s still there, slowly falling into the dirt.
A gas station for military aircraft
A 5,000 feet runway
Work on the Bluie East Two airstrip began in 1942. A year earlier, the US had taken over the defense of Greenland and began scouting sites for a 5,000-foot runway. Eventually they found the best location, 35 miles northeast of Tasiilaq. A supply flotilla arrived on July 26, 1942 and construction work began.
A 5,000 feet runway
The ruins of a base
The airfield remained open from 1942 to 1947. After the war ended in 1945, however, Bluie East Two’s importance began to decline. In fact, like other American bases in Greenland, it was evacuated two years later. But the site’s inaccessibility is largely responsible for keeping its legacy visible to anyone lucky enough to find it.
The ruins of a base
Don’t want to take it with you
See, everything the Americans used to build Bluie East Two had to be shipped. There are few trees in East Greenland, so the wood had to be transported. But that also meant that when you left, you didn’t want to take anything off the side with you.
Don’t want to take it with you