Jump to content

WW@ Airman found in TPNG


herkman
 Share

Recommended Posts

An unidentified airman, nationality unknown has been discovered hanging 50 foot up in a tree just off the KOkoda Trail.

The body which is in sn sviators hsrness, is covered in moss so no uniform details are available.

Recovery may take some time because of the location and height of this poor soul.

He could be American, Australian or even Japanese.

I wi;l keep you in the loop as things come out.

Regards

Col

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crews from the 21st TCS dropped supplies to Aussies fighing the Japs on the Kokoda track. At that time the only US fighters operating in that area were P-39s and they only lost four men. There were some Australian P-40s in that area and Jap Zeros and other aircraft. Interesting find, especially to me since the role of troop carriers over New Guinea is of special interest to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Colin

My dad\'s World War 2 bomb group was stationed at Nadzab so your post sparked particular interest. wonder if the man was a bomber crew member the Red Raiders and jolly rogers were at Nadzab

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

taken from BBC news 05sep08

The suspected remains of a WWII airman discovered in a jungle region of Papua New Guinea have turned out to be the moss-covered branches of a tree.

Hikers on the country\'s Kokoda Trail found what appeared to be the remains of a parachutist tangled in wires and dangling in a tree two weeks ago.

Australian and Japanese forces fought several battles in the area in 1942-3.

The Australian military sent a team to investigate the \"body\" only to discover it was a branch tangled in vines.

Flight path

An Australian Defence Force (ADF) statement said that although the location of the find was below a flight path commonly used by Allied aircraft during WWII sorties, the \"remains\" were in fact a moss-covered branch.

The ADF said that no remains had been found.

\"It appears the branch has broken off the main tree and fallen across some vines, which from the ground, could have been confused with the body of an airman,\" the ADF statement continued.

Hundreds of Australians lost their lives fighting off a Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea.

Japanese losses were several times heavier.

The hillsides around the Kokoda Trail are littered with rusting guns, grenades and mortars - reminders of the WWII battles fought there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...