That Sinking Feeling

The aircraft of the second world war, once numerous, are now somewhat of a rarity, even more so if still capable of being flown. 

Take the B-17 heavy bomber manufactured by Boeing from the mid 1930’s. 

Approaching 13,000 were manufactured of which around 8000 were lost in combat or active service.

As at 2013 only 46 airframes survived in various condition and of these only 11 are airworthy. I have been fortunate to have seen in flight the only UK based airborne machine, the Sally-B which is one of only two European based planes. 

The source of B-17’s for restoration is therefore finite and perhaps the most interesting story relates to aircraft 41-2446 which because of the place of its discovery has the iconic name of “Swamp Ghost”. 

Delivered to the United States Air Force on the day before the attack on Pearl Harbour the B-17- Type E saw action in the Pacific theatre of war, specifically Fiji, Australia and Papua New Guinea. 

The nine crew of Captain Fred Eaton, Co-Pilot Harlow, Bombardier Oliver, Navigator Munroe, Engineer Lemieux, Radioman Sorenson, waist and tail gunners Schwartz, Crawford and Hall were on a mission in February 1942 against Japanese military installations at Rabaul which had been captured in that same year and served as the main base for Imperial forces in the South Pacific. 

Although the B-17 typically had an unladen range of 3200 miles the combination of bomb load, evasive manoeuvres, damage from enemy fire and a second run over the target alerted Eaton to the possibility that they would not be able to make it back after the raid to their base in Queensland or even the nearer Port Moresby with depleted fuel levels. 

The terrain included mountains but also flatland areas of low vegetation further inland. 

Eaton chose to try a controlled, gear down landing on what looked like pasture. It went well and the aircraft came to a halt suffering bent propellors but otherwise no significant trauma . Of the crew, only the navigator sustained an injury, in a cut to the head. 

The resting place was not firm ground but in the Agaimbo Swamp and in five feet of murky water amongst overgrown kunai grass. After destroying the Norden bombsite the crew began their trek back to Allied lines which took, in that inhospitable wilderness and harsh climate, six weeks. 

The B-17 was well and truly rooted in the swamp and although the location was known and indeed, overflown on many subsequent missions by Captain Eaton it was gradually overwhelmed by the rapidly growing vegetation and forgotten. 

It was not rediscovered until 1972 during an exercise by an Australian military helicopter. The plane was remarkably preserved and fully intact including interior equipment, remaining armaments and with minimal corrosion to the airframe. 

It was not until the 1980’s that attempts were made to remove the plane from the swamp although this would take nearly 20 years to do and excited much political controversy. 

In 2007 the Papua New Guinea government claimed that the salvage was illegal on the grounds of the failure of authorities to comply with relevant safeguards of a financial, procedural nature and in the best interests of the nation and interest groups. 

The B-17 was just one of many war wrecks in Papua New Guinea and which served as a major tourist attraction as a means of generating additional income into the local area. In the post war era some 89 aircraft wrecks had been removed illegally in the same way and what was now known as "Swamp Ghost" had attained international status. 

Negotiations saw a deal done involving the donation of a replica fibre glass B-17 to a national museum and the setting up of a Trust Account for landowners of the original site. 

The political and financial aspects of the case had led to the aircraft being embargoed on a quayside for a few years until permission was obtained for export to, initially, California in 2010 before being taken to its current resting place in 2012, in unrestored condition, at the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. 

Swamp Ghost remains as a shell but a very good one given its age and history and with plans for a restoration project pending.  

The last surviving crew member George Munroe died in January 2010 but at least in the knowledge that his plane was on its way home after 70 years.