Recovered B17's and Lancaster scrapped in Switzerland

Yes you’re right Cees,

It says he raised a Halifax, five German bombers, a Swiss Air Force Vampire, two Swiss P-16s, and a Swiss DC3.

I guess the Halifax and German bombers also ended up as scrap. Doh!

Heinkel 177?! 😮

thanks Cees. Time to raise that one ! I wonder if it is in German or Swiss waters. And Stieglitz, beware of that museum, there are some strange bearded types around there trying to sell camera’s and other Canon related things :diablo:

Oh, and by the way, did you know that next saturday some 10 km from that strange collection a technical school has an open day where you can show their collection of aircraft, ranging from 1950 and 1960 aerea jets to an f16 (to be brought there on monday)

BW Roger

Large parts of one of the B17ns, the Lonesome Polecat, are on permanent show (in Lisserbroek) 20 minutes from where I live in Holland. On show are the nose art with name, severall engines and the pilots seat with instrumentation aswell as other parts as a gastank and that kind of things. BW Roger

I need to see that one day! Maybe I’ll visit that museum very soon. 😉

J.V.

Hi Cees, any more details on that 177? How’s the Stirling, if there is some progress I might drop in saturday to update for VV. BW Roger

Roger,

No further visual progress on the Stirling just yet, I understand that Peter has been on holiday for some time, but in a few weeks further progress is being made I suspect.

The Heinkel 177 was reported on in a German magazine a few years ago (Jet & Prop I think) and a sonarimage was printed in the article and it clearly showed a Heinkel 177 with wings and engines and tail intact. Must be the recovery of the century. That’s all I know.

Cheers

Cees

Hi Cees, any more details on that 177? How’s the Stirling, if there is some progress I might drop in saturday to update for VV. BW Roger

According to the FlyPast article IIRC a Halifax and about half a dozen more aircraft were recovered. When will somebody recover the Heinkel 177 from the Bodensee, it’s in one piece just waiting to be lifted.

Cheers

Cees

Here is a pic of what is on show in Holland. There is more however.

BW Roger

Roger

“Lonsome Polecat” was a nickname applied in Switzerland – it is not an original one, i.e. the aircraft didn’t carry that one when it arrived.

Martin

Large parts of one of the B17ns, the Lonesome Polecat, are on permanent show (in Lisserbroek) 20 minutes from where I live in Holland. On show are the nose art with name, severall engines and the pilots seat with instrumentation aswell as other parts as a gastank and that kind of things. BW Roger

right – I know now what you guys are talking about – I haven’t touched my ‘Internee’ folders for quite a while……..

I will also have to invade Hans-Heiri Stapfer’s place soon (good friend of mine who has much material on this topic, too – author of many books) to retrieve some material…

Martin

I remember this article, and I’m pretty sure Dave’s right about an intact Lanc being pulled up.

I probably still have this article, but it’ll be up in the loft someplace! :rolleyes:

Thanks Martin,

The pictures and any more info will be very interesting.

The Lanc recovery was mere bits and pieces, especially the Merlins.

Well the article has two photos of an almost complete Lancaster with rear and upper turret intact, canopy intact, at least the outer starboard engine in place with prop, astrodome intact, paintwork not too bad for being ten years under water and seemingly only missing just the port tailpane. It is seen being haulled out of the lake. Perhaps the mere bits and pieces is after it was scrapped?

Hi Martin,

When you have a chance could you e-mail me I would like to find out some more information on the Swiss stuff.

Also I need to see if I can get some pics off of you sometime.

No rush when its convenaint for you

[email]b25j@maine.rr.com[/email]

Thanks
RER

Dave

sure I do have photos, mainly of the B-17, which was scrapped in the early 70’s after no one was willing to pay approx US$ 5’000.00 plus removal….. a shame indeed.

The Lanc recovery was mere bits and pieces, especially the Merlins.

I do have quite some information on the interned aircraft (incl. crashes) and there has been a series in AP about 15 years ago under the title “No Shots please – we’re British” dealing with the RAF losses over Switzerland.

I also am in contact with some of the Swiss recovery folks and will check what is still around – because there is (seen it myself).

Schaffner was an entrepreneur who specialized in recovery of material from lakes – among them many aircraft (besides crashed bombers he also raised Swiss Air Force jets after crashes…..)

There are still parts of a Lancaster in an artificial lake – the problem there is that the mud is very deep on the ground, making a recovery of the sunken/buried parts impossible. There also are rumours of a Halifax in Lake Constance, and it was believed that parts had been found – but again the thick mud on the ground made any recovery impossible.

In another lake, about 10 years ago substantial parts of another B-17 were raised and are now on display.
There also was much material from crashed B-17 brought down from the higher mountains.
From Lake Constance, a number of FW-190 canopies were raised – they had been dumped after VE-Day. Some are in great condition, i.e. the parts that stuck in the mud.

I will dig out my stuff and post some here.

Greetings from Switzerland
Martin

I was thinking the very same thing Steve. If one Lanc could be so intact, why not another, or a Halifax, Stirling, Whitley, etc. And of course there’s loads of possibilites from the other Air Forces too, USAAF, Luftwaffe…

Not just the Alpine lakes. The recent Russian Bf-109E and Hurricane – look how well they were preserved!

It also makes me wonder what else is still down there in the Alpine lakes, or up there in the French / Swiss / Italian Alps. I’m especially thinking about the first long distance raids on northern Italian cities in 1941, by Stirlings….