British bomber wreck in Swedish forest

Same thing happened with Swamp Ghost in PNG back in the day 🙁

Unless you surround a wreck site with security fencing and paid patrols you will not prevent pillaging, this applies anywhere and is why i believe any suggestions of leaving wrecks as a memorial is fraught.

Your reply to Trumper was interesting; here’s a partial quote from one of the emails: “…..Long term aim is to store, protect and display her in a similar manner to the Halifax at Hendon or the Lancaster in Berlin.”

Looks as if whoever sent it was lifting parts of my posts about it on Facebook. Thats almost word for word what I put when several people asked me what I intended for it after the first recovery attempt back in 2004.

Smirky –

I’d have to agree to disagree about being looked after. Looked after is not leaving it to be pillaged of the canopy framing, pilots seat frame and armour, front turret and other parts over the last few years. Someone went up there this winter and chopped the remaining oxygen system parts out. The wooden walkway was there in 1944, being used to get the injured pilot out of the marsh area and down to Porjus.

The rear fuselage section was removed in 1985 but returned to site in 1992 when the Swedish Air Force Museum decided it wasn’t of interest.

I have not been there but as far as I remember this one is looked after by the locals who have provided a boardwalk so that the wreck can be visited in situ in a marsh. I also seem to remember that parts were recovered by the Swedish Airforce ? but later returned to be displayed in situ and that the aircraft was set alight by the crew after the crash so the centre section is badly damaged.

This aircraft represents a significant event in the last War and the extraordinary bravery of those crews.
I take my hat off to anyone or team that can pull this off and retrieve the plane from a very remote position.
I would imagine that several broadcasting companies could contribute to making quite a film or series about its retrieval for the Nation.
Perhaps those who took parts from it over the decades for ‘safekeeping’ might return them when the project concludes!

i wish you well.

Your reply to Trumper was interesting; here’s a partial quote from one of the emails: “…..Long term aim is to store, protect and display her in a similar manner to the Halifax at Hendon or the Lancaster in Berlin.”

Trumper –

There’s still a fair bit left salvageable, my wish for it if recovery was successful was always to see it displayed in a similar way to the wreck in the Berlin Technical Museum

TO23 –

I think that was the Facebook group approaching everyone in the aftermath of Jon Nichol featuring the wreck prominently in his documentary. There was the feel at one point it was ‘Everybody on the ferry, lets go get it!’

Back in 2017 I dealt with some communications from a group that was looking for undercover storage/display space for the remains of NF920, as they claimed they were close to getting them back to the UK – after the initial contacts it all went quiet.

How much of her is realistically left and salvageable ?

Hi Tony.

I have a couple of very willing helpers in the area, who managed to knock down a few more red tape barriers and between us we got everything more or less sorted for the third attempt. For once, everyone in authority was agreed it could and would happen. Then the local land management authority (not the National one) suddenly decided any work carried out on the land required a licence. Nobody can yet tell me what the licence is or how you go about obtaining one, so we’re looking into it. Further up the chain we were told no permission is needed to go on the land, other than restrictions on machinery due the environmental issues.

Efforts are still ongoing. If others can take what they want off the wreck illegally with no reaction, we will find the way through to recover her legally.

Hi Graham,

Sad that your guide didn’t know the significance of exactly what it is. Its Avro Lancaster NF920 KC – E, known as “Easy Elsie” of 617 Sqn, crashed on 29th Oct 1944 near Porjus after attacking the Tirpitz. I’ve been trying for a good few years to get through all the red tape to recover her out of there.

Regards

Rich

Rich,
I’ve followed your efforts when I was a regular poster on WIX, can you advise what the currant situation is with Elsie?

Thanks Rich. I wondered about it being a Halifax or Lancaster from a Tirpitz attack, but it is good to have the real details.

Hi Graham,

Sad that your guide didn’t know the significance of exactly what it is. Its Avro Lancaster NF920 KC – E, known as “Easy Elsie” of 617 Sqn, crashed on 29th Oct 1944 near Porjus after attacking the Tirpitz. I’ve been trying for a good few years to get through all the red tape to recover her out of there.

Regards

Rich