P-40 found in desert

[Warden]

Amazing but sad story

 

[Story]

No offence, but that story really sucks! What happened to the pilot, they didn't even bother to post him missing?

'Sucks' is the nature of many wartime tales, which get forgotten and/or overlooked with time.

We really were in retreat, and Copping was temporarily forgotten.

 

[Landman]

I can't believe the CO found it hilarious. I also can't believe they didn't send out a search party. How long did they think somebody could survive out there? Everybody seemed to drop the ball here. The pilot with Copping should have tried to push them to search for him.

 

[ButteMT61]

Temporarily is not good when dealing with the desert. Sad.

 

[PADDY]

As I understand, the plane ditched 200 miles from the nearest town. Wasn't any hope of rescue (just think, it's taken this long for the plane to be found!). He probably realised that too. Let's not kid ourselves, it wouldn't have been a quick nor painless death, both physically and emotionally

Now that the plane has been found, the Brits (the RAF Museum at Hendon, London) are trying to get it repatriated back to the UK. In the meanwhile, locals are stripping it down for scrap so how much will be left is anyone's guess, and you know how long bureaucracy can take to sign the papers and get the plane home.

 

[Pappyb23]

Very sad, reminds me of the B-24 " Lady B Good" that crashed during the war. It's a shame he was just written off, but there were without a doubt many others who shared the same fate waiting to be discovered in the deserts and oceans.

 

[Hondo]

Right Paddy, they already stripped it of its guns and ammo, how much is left? Sad.

 

[Story]

Right Paddy, they already stripped it of its guns and ammo, how much is left? Sad.

Most of its cockpit instruments are intact and it still had it guns and ammunition before they were seized by the Egyptian military.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/show...nd-in-desert&p=1449768&viewfull=1#post1449768

 

[Hondo]

Thanks Story, hope Egyption military returns them.

 

[Story]

My Uncle Denis, pilot of the plane time forgot: First pictures of the man who crash-landed his plane in the Sahara and then walked off across the sands to his death

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Sahara-walked-sands-death.html#ixzz1v3BLcmgJ

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Sahara-walked-sands-death.html#ixzz1v3BLcmgJ

That adds a whole other dimension to the story. The pilot's surviving nephew could maybe spur efforts to find his uncle's remains.

 

[Story]

That adds a whole other dimension to the story. The pilot's surviving nephew could maybe spur efforts to find his uncle's remains.

Not without significant Egyptian assistance.

Captain Paul Collins, British defence attaché to Egypt, confirmed a search would be mounted for the airman’s remains but admitted it was ‘extremely unlikely’ it would be successful. The spot could be marked as a war grave after the aircraft is recovered.

Captain Collins added: ‘The scene is close to a smuggling line from Sudan and Libya. We will need to go there with the Egyptian army because it is a dangerous area.’

 

[MrBern]

Ghost Fighter Photos from Natl Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/pictures/120524-world-war-ii-plane-egypt-desert-science-p-40-lost/

 

[Story]

Ghost Fighter Photos from Natl Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/pictures/120524-world-war-ii-plane-egypt-desert-science-p-40-lost/

Photograph by Jakub Perka, BNPS

The Polish oil worker who sold his photos to the UK press re-sold them to the National Geographic? Excellent! :eusa_clap

 

[matrioshka]

It's sad to think the aircraft will make it home before the pilot. Yeah, I know there are thousands like him lying out there, unshriven so to speak, but it's still rather sad. I just hope that when the old bird's cleaned up and sitting in a museum, folks spare a thought for the fellow who didn't make it back...

 

[Story]

“Recovering the Egyptian P-40 Kittyhawk”
http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/mystery-of-buried-p-40-kittyhawk-revealed.html

Plans for display of the Kittyhawk have not yet been announced but may involve a touring exhibit to aviation museums, including HFF.
https://www.facebook.com/events/308849149234913/