Pilot Killed in WWII Training May Have Saved 150 Kids

An archaeological dig on England's east coast is shedding new light on the fate of a young American pilot whose World War II training flight ended in tragedy more than 80 years ago. On Jan. 26, 1944, 2nd Lt. Lester Lowry, a 23-year-old from Pennsylvania, crashed while flying a P-47 Thunderbolt named "Lucky Boy." Essex locals, who saw the plane crash in flames, did not see Lowry bail out and he's remained missing in action ever since. Now, a US-UK recovery mission is recovering wreckage and personal items from the site in an effort to honor Lowry's sacrifice and bring closure to his story, reports the Guardian.

Some 5,000 fragments found so far include engine parts, pieces of the fuselage, and, poignantly, clips from Lowry's parachute harness. "The most exciting things are those that connect us to Lowry directly," says Sam Wilson, lead archaeologist at Cotswold Archaeology, which is taking part in the dig. "There's a real tragedy to it." Lowry, orphaned as a child and raised by an aunt, had logged less than 47 hours of flight time—well under the wartime minimum—before his fatal crash. That left some to conclude he was inexperienced and unable to respond after entering thick clouds in a steep dive, per the BBC. But one witness still living believes Lowry did react, purposefully avoiding a school with 150 kids in the yard, the Guardian reports.

The search for Lowry is a reminder of the thousands lost in training accidents during the war—service the diggers say deserves to be remembered alongside those lost in combat. "The sacrifice is no less than someone who's killed in the first wave on Omaha Beach," says Wilson. "Everyone's doing their duty." The dig is part of Operation Nightingale, a program that helps veterans recover through archaeological work, with UK and Canadian veterans taking part, per the BBC. All finds will be analyzed in Nebraska before being divided between museums in the US and UK.