I was wondering, is there known to be much in the way of aicraft wrecks from World War Two in the Asian countries that were invaded by Japan that could be brought out of the jungles and restored?
I mean in places like Singapore, Malasia, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, even Bangladesh, Burma and India?
The RAF and its allies lost almost evrything they had in Singapore and Malaya. I guess much would have been smeltered, but has anything of interest survived and either remains in the wilderness, or has already been retreived? Do those countires even have any sort of warbird industry or movement?
By: Firebex - 5th September 2012 at 21:00
Many of these wrecks in particular the ones in water are best left where they are unless there is a very cohesive plan in place not only for the recovery but for the treatment and then preservation/restoration of what is recovered.
Please do not misunderstand the above I am all for rescuing and recovering these lost aircraft but without a plan in place and the resources what you recover will just fall apart as you disturb it ,you move it, you open up the surface and let oxygen in and dont do anything to get at the grot you are consigning it to a worse fate than if you left it alone.
There is a certain aircraft on the welsh coast that has been mentioned many times and is supposed to belong to a well known US organisation (I will leave it at that)who have done nothing about it.I for one would be willing to put resources in to recover and restore but it needs others with differeing resources both expertise and financial to ensure we get it right and until this other lot go and play with something else it will continue to sadly rot.
Mike E
By: Sage the Owl - 5th September 2012 at 20:51
Stunning pictures, thanks! Good to see another almost extinct type recovered in such good condition. Do you know if they found the nose section too?
The second picture in this link shows the nose section wrapped up in netting on the back of a truck.
http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/breaking-news-tachikawa-ki-54-trainer.html
By: GrahamF - 5th September 2012 at 18:38
I think there is no point in finding wrecks unless a rapid system is in place to recover the subsequent finds. Look at the many tales of a rare wreck being found and then just being disposed of by some idiot.
And it is only money that is stopping it happening the enthusiasm to find them has to be matched by hard cash to order a recovery. Not promised hard cash but in the bank and ready.
By: Tin Triangle - 5th September 2012 at 16:09
Stunning pictures, thanks! Good to see another almost extinct type recovered in such good condition. Do you know if they found the nose section too?
By: Don Chan - 5th September 2012 at 14:56
27 September 1943:
Tachikawa Ki-54. Type 1 twin-engine advanced trainer.
Hokubu 74th Butai [Northern 74th Unit], IJAAF.
During flight from Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, crashed into Towada Lake, between the two prefectures.
Four crew.
Three student pilots and one instructor mechanic.
Only one student rescued by owner of nearby inn.
Inn owner’s son, then 13 years old, witnessed accident, and advised crash spot.
Salvage team included Aomori Prefectural Misawa Aviation and Science Museum.
Wreck preserved at depth 300 m, fresh water, and 4 to 5 degrees Celsius.
2010 August 13, discovered on lake bed.
2011 March, salvage failed.
2012 August, again assessed.
2012 September 3, belts attached to four locations of wreck, and winched up.
2012 September 5, arrived at lake surface.
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120905-00001188-yom-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/ann?a=20120905-00000044-ann-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/fnn?a=20120905-00000925-fnn-soci
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%BC%8F%E5%8F%8C%E7%99%BA%E9%AB%98%E7%AD%89%E7%B7%B4%E7%BF%92%E6%A9%9F
By: ZRX61 - 23rd July 2012 at 19:48
Sounds similar to Paramythia as described in Charles Lamb’s War In A Stringbag.
Yup, but they didn’t mention the actual location so I was curious.
By: Whitley_Project - 23rd July 2012 at 08:47
I went there about 10 years ago – didn’t find a sausage unfortunately… Interesting place though – it’s near the river Styx
Sounds similar to Paramythia as described in Charles Lamb’s War In A Stringbag.
By: Andy Wright - 23rd July 2012 at 05:55
How about a bit closer to home. Read a book some time ago that mentioned a couple of *secret* airfields in Albania used to launch strikes into Greece against the Germans.. Gladiators & Wellingtons were mentioned…
Sounds similar to Paramythia as described in Charles Lamb’s War In A Stringbag.
By: shaharom - 23rd July 2012 at 05:20
Ki-51
The attached pics were taken in 2001 in a small Kampong (village) in Sabah. The aircraft is Japanese and believed to be a Ki-51. At that time there were plans for the RMAF to remove the wreck to their museum in Peninsular Malaysia
Dear snappy.
What happen to this wreckage? Anyone recovered it? or it is just ended with scrap dealers and hunters…
By: RPM, FF, TGT... - 2nd January 2012 at 22:59
Wrecks in Papua New Guinea
Of interest to this thread is that there are still many, many, undiscovered missing aircraft from WWII in the Papua New Guinea territories. A lot will be in the seas around the islands but many will be on land, in the jungle.
There are reputed to be over 500 aircraft missing from the conflict still to be discovered. The USAAF and other branches of their services lost hundreds of aircraft. When it is considered that Port Moresby alone held something over 1500 U.S. aircraft at the height of the South West Pacific Area operations you can appreciate the size of the fleet involved. Terrain and bad weather accounted for a huge proportion of losses. The Americans had one particularly bad weather day they came to call “Black Friday”.
Logging operations in Papua New Guinea as they encroach into the more inaccessible areas and into the hills bring to light most of the wrecks found. Most wrecks are found by the Local People who to my mind are not given sufficient credit for this. Some are found by avid hunters who have clues as to locations and actually do put boots on the ground.
I have a particular search project going which may be of interest.
By: RPM, FF, TGT... - 2nd January 2012 at 22:59
Wrecks in Papua New Guinea
Of interest to this thread is that there are still many, many, undiscovered missing aircraft from WWII in the Papua New Guinea territories. A lot will be in the seas around the islands but many will be on land, in the jungle.
There are reputed to be over 500 aircraft missing from the conflict still to be discovered. The USAAF and other branches of their services lost hundreds of aircraft. When it is considered that Port Moresby alone held something over 1500 U.S. aircraft at the height of the South West Pacific Area operations you can appreciate the size of the fleet involved. Terrain and bad weather accounted for a huge proportion of losses. The Americans had one particularly bad weather day they came to call “Black Friday”.
Logging operations in Papua New Guinea as they encroach into the more inaccessible areas and into the hills bring to light most of the wrecks found. Most wrecks are found by the Local People who to my mind are not given sufficient credit for this. Some are found by avid hunters who have clues as to locations and actually do put boots on the ground.
I have a particular search project going which may be of interest.
By: DaveF68 - 28th December 2011 at 15:45
Regarding the mentioned in the older posts, I beleive it’s identity is known, and it is the one mentioned in the book on Buffalos over Singapore as being found in the Jungle in the 60s and reburied. I asked Mark Hasleden about it, and he told me about it being bulldozed/scrapped during development.
Looked up the book.
The Buffalo was W8202, which was crash landed near the Mersing River on 12 January 1942, whilst part of the combined 21 RAAF/453 Squadron. This is actually a very famous aircraft, as it featured in the series of LIfe photos showing a Buffalo being removed form it’s crate (albeit one was altered to look like W8202 when it wasn’t)
It was re-discovered relatively intact in 1962 and the guns taken back to Seletar, but left there.
It was filmed in 1994, and the results were posted on a web site called ‘air pirates’ (now gone)
http://web.archive.org/web/20061018141610/http://www.airpirates.com/gallery/Malaysia
It’s subsequent history is as described.
By: G-ASEA - 28th December 2011 at 08:01
In the 1970s, the Control Column magazane reported that a Fairey Albacore had be found in the jungle India i think, the FAA museum where going to recover it. By the time they went to get it the natives had stripped it. So it was lost.
Dave
By: JonL - 28th December 2011 at 07:24
Just to add to this ancient thread, I heard today that Pacific Plywood of China has just secured the rights to cut a massive swaith of Papua New Guinea native forest to make into hardwood ply. I wonder what aeroplanes they might come across, and if they would care a jot about such historic items.
Well Dave, a friend of my brother was working up there in the late ’60’s. He said they’d come across several aircraft, including one with the pilot nearby, but they just bulldozed them out of the way to put in the logging roads……….:eek:
By: Dave Homewood - 27th December 2011 at 08:55
But think about all that plywood for building new aeroplanes!
By: Kenneth - 27th December 2011 at 07:40
Just to add to this ancient thread, I heard today that Pacific Plywood of China has just secured the rights to cut a massive swaith of Papua New Guinea native forest to make into hardwood ply. I wonder what aeroplanes they might come across, and if they would care a jot about such historic items.
Anybody prepared to undertake such a perverse destruction of nature won’t care a bit about old pieces of bent aluminium. And, frankly, for the same reasons, the latter issue pales into total insignificance.
By: D1566 - 27th December 2011 at 06:19
Why not email them and ask the question:
http://www.pphl.com.hk/contactus.htm
They might respond well to a suggestion of social responsibility and good publicity?
By: Dave Homewood - 27th December 2011 at 00:07
Just to add to this ancient thread, I heard today that Pacific Plywood of China has just secured the rights to cut a massive swaith of Papua New Guinea native forest to make into hardwood ply. I wonder what aeroplanes they might come across, and if they would care a jot about such historic items.
By: DaveF68 - 26th December 2011 at 22:43
Regarding the mentioned in the older posts, I beleive it’s identity is known, and it is the one mentioned in the book on Buffalos over Singapore as being found in the Jungle in the 60s and reburied. I asked Mark Hasleden about it, and he told me about it being bulldozed/scrapped during development.
By: ZRX61 - 26th December 2011 at 16:32
How about a bit closer to home. Read a book some time ago that mentioned a couple of *secret* airfields in Albania used to launch strikes into Greece against the Germans.. Gladiators & Wellingtons were mentioned…
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