'lost' Wwii Fighter Squadron May Fly Again After 60 Years

Sun Herald

Sunday March 12, 2006

Daniel Dasey

FOR more than 60 years they've lain silent under deepening snow in Greenland.

But now a squadron of fighter planes - ditched during an aborted mission in World War II - could fly again under an audacious plan proposed in Europe.

A multinational recovery team hopes to use steam and a special wedge to burrow 100 metres through ice and snow to recover five Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft, believed to be in well-preserved condition.

The planes would then be restored and could fetch up to $13.5 million apiece.

Mission leader Dieter Herrmann said the project was scheduled to get under way in 2007 and he would welcome Australian involvement.

"Until today neither Australians nor Australian companies are involved in the recovery mission," he told Discovery. "Let's change that.

"We just had a brief chat with an Australian airline operating wheel/ski planes and possibly willing to work with us in Greenland."

The "lost squadron", as the planes have been dubbed, were part of Operation Bolero, an initiative to transport planes made in the United States to Europe to help in the war effort.

On July 7, 1942, two B-17 Flying Fortresses and six P-38s set out from Maine for England, flying over Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland.

The pilots feared bad weather and after losing their way during a change of course, they were forced to land their craft on an stretch of ice in Greenland's east.

No one was injured and the crews were rescued days later by a US Coast Guard ship.

The craft were left on the ice and were slowly buried beneath ever-deepening layers of snow.

However, they were not forgotten by aviation enthusiasts and from 1977 various groups made 12 attempts to retrieve the planes.

All were unsuccessful until 1992 when a team headed by American J.Roy Shoffner managed to recover one P-38 from 80 metres below the surface.

The craft was restored, dubbed Glacier Girl, and featured in the Hollywood film The Aviator.

Herrmann's team hope to recover the remaining five planes using steam to tunnel down to the aircraft.

Their first challenge, however, will be to accurately determine the location of the planes.

They will then use a steam-heated metal wedge, resembling an upside down dog kennel, to melt its way through the accumulated snow and ice.

The planes will be removed at an estimated cost of about $4 million.

The team believe the P-38s will be in a condition good enough to restore.

However, the bombers, which had no heavy armour, are feared crushed.

The current market value for an unrestored aircraft is about $2.7 million and about $13.5 million for a restored, airworthy plane.

The expedition will set off from Hamburg early next year.

GHOSTS FROM THE WAR

1942: Two B-17 Flying Fortresses accompanied by six Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters make emergency landing in Greenland on way to Germany.

1992: One P-38 Lightning recovered from the snow and ice.

2002: The recovered P-38 nicknamed Glacier Girl taks to the sky again.

2006: Preparation under way for major attempt to recover the rest of the squadron on P-38s.

© 2006 Sun Herald

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