Intermission (11) – Swamp Ghost

B-17 Flying Fortress – Swamp Ghost

On February 23rd, 1942, a B-17E Flying Fortress bomber crashed in one of the most remote and wild places on Earth: the impenetrable Agaimbo swamp located in the island nation of Papua New Guinea.

 The plane, piloted by young U.S. Army Air Corps Captain Fred Eaton, had flown a long and dangerous mission from Australia against the Japanese Fortress at Rabaul in New Britain. This was the first long-range Allied bombing mission of World War II following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that included the U.S.

The crew survived their ordeal and, after a six-week trek to safety, returned to combat. Their B-17E, however, remained forgotten in the swamp until it was rediscovered in 1972 by an Australian Air Force crew.

In the mid-1980s, the late World War II pilot, restaurant industry pioneer and antique aircraft collector David Tallichet initiated efforts to recover and return the plane to U.S. soil. His dream was fulfilled in 2010 through the joint efforts of his family and aircraft salvage enthusiast Alfred Hagen.

Nicknamed Swamp Ghost, the B-17E has become an icon of military aviation. In tribute to its intact state, romantic isolation and the extreme challenges involved in its salvage, it is known among historians as military aviation’s Holy Grail.

Coincidentally, the B-17E was assigned to the Kangaroo Squadron, which flew into Pearl Harbor from San Francisco during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. This occurrence contributed to the disaster because U.S. Oahu radar personnel assumed the incoming Japanese attack wave represented the squadron’s expected arrival. Swamp Ghost was not with the squadron on that fateful day, instead flying in shortly after the attack.

Before its salvage, Swamp Ghost was considered the best-preserved unrecovered B-17E in the world. With its return to the Port of Long Beach, Swamp Ghost completed its final mission 68 years after take-off. Only four aircraft models of its type have ever been recovered. The aircraft will be restored, possibly to flying condition, for display at an aviation museum as a symbol of America’s military aviation heritage.

From Warhistoryonline.

Video is only 2½ minutes long!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYuMWiKHq1k

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B-17 Flying Fortress – Swamp Ghost

Disney and the Pacific Aviation Museum collaborate….

To honor the World War II-era B17 Flying Fortress, “Swamp Ghost,” artists Mike Gabriel (director, “Pocahontas,” “The Rescuers Down Under” and the Oscar-nominated short, “Lorenzo”) and Klay Hall (director, Disneytoon Studios “Planes”) worked to create original nose art, to be exclusively displayed at the museum.

“We hope that the creation and display of the Swamp Ghost nose art serves as a tribute to aviation history and to all those who serve,” said Greg Coleman, VP, Walt Disney Animation Studios

From: General Aviation News

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 Military Humor – 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on images to enlarge.

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 Farewell Salutes – 

Ray Anderson – Cynthiana, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO, TSgt.

Remo Belli – Mishawaka, IN; US Navy

Missing Man formation

Joseph Coffey – Philadelphia, PA; US Army & US Air Force

Albrecht Hering – Jamaica Hgts., NY; US Army,1st Lt, A/B Ranger, 3rd Infantry Division

Gerard Lanouette – Montreal, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, Korea

Thomas McCullough – Albequerque, NM; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 187th/11th Airborne

Hector Preston (100) – Auckland, NZ; Expeditionary Navy Force # 60671, WWII, Warrant Officer

James Rooney – Toledo, OH; US Army, WWII/ US Air Force, Korea

James Schwartz – Mobile, AL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 pilot

David Walls – Phoenix, AZ; US Army, WWII

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