In July 2007, a tourist was on a beach in North Wales, England. Suddenly, he pointed to the distant beach and shouted, "Look! There's something in the water! "The crowd followed the prestige, only to see a huge object in the shallow water, emitting a metallic glow.
Curious people immediately gathered around, only to see that under the sand in the shallow water of the beach, there was a rusty iron guy, looming, very large.
The unexpected discovery alarmed the local government, who immediately sent people to the scene and raised a cordon around the mysterious object, strictly prohibiting any tourists from re-entering the area. The atmosphere of the scene suddenly became confusing.
Subsequently, professional diving and salvage personnel entered the scene and began to detect and excavate this underwater object. Because it is on a shallow sandy area, it is not very difficult to excavate.
In the process of continuous cleaning, the outline of this object is gradually revealed. In the end, what was presented to people was a strangely shaped airplane. The crowd of onlookers couldn't help but exclaim.
Yes, the residents who live near the beach have never seen or known that there is a plane buried on the beach in front of their homes, which they think is incredible.
The plane seems to have been here for a long time, experiencing the invasion and corrosion of the sea for many years, and the fuselage has been rusted. However, the shape and individual components of the aircraft are relatively complete.
When the plane was salvaged, military experts rushed to the scene, and they recognized the plane at a glance: "Lockheed P-38 Lightning Fighter!" That's right, the Lightning Fighter! ”
The P-38 "Lightning" fighter is a fighter produced by lockheed in the United States during World War II, and the biggest feature of the aircraft is that it has a unique two-tail truss and a central fuselage containing pilots and weapons equipment.
During World War II, it was the main fighter of the US military and had excellent performance. In the fighter jets of various countries, its recognition is also very high. The Japanese were terrified of it.
At this time, everyone was wondering, since this fighter was an American aircraft, why did it appear on the beach in Britain, and who was the pilot who piloted this aircraft? Where did he go again?
In order to unravel this mystery, many military experts and historians have devoted themselves to the study of it. Through the serial number and other records of the P-38 Lightning fighter, its identity was finally determined, and the secret that had been hidden for decades was revealed.
On September 27, 1942, during an exercise mission, 24-year-old U.S. Military Second Lieutenant Robert Fred Eliot flew the P-38 Lightning fighter jet along the Dutch-Belgian coast.
At first, everything went smoothly and nothing unusual was found. However, the fuel supply suddenly went wrong, and the engine began to fail, and the situation was very critical.
However, it is still far from the base, and there is no backup airport nearby to land. Lieutenant Robert was experienced in driving, and he immediately found an ideal place to land. That's the soft beaches of Wales.
Second Lieutenant Robert was calm and steady, and carried out an emergency landing on the beach. The plane landed on the ground in the belly of the plane and immediately splashed with high waves. During gliding on the beach, the wingtip of the aircraft broke.
When the plane came to a steady stop on the beach, Second Lieutenant Robert, who was sitting in the cockpit, let out a long sigh and landed safely!
Because of the tension of the war, Lieutenant Robert flew another P-38 Lightning fighter into battle after returning to the team. And the plane that landed was parked on the beach all the time, and no one cared.
Lieutenant Robert, who was not dead, piloted a new fighter jet soaring in the blue sky. However, three months later, during the Tunisian air battle, he was hit by enemy artillery fire and destroyed the aircraft.
At this point, no one knows the whereabouts of the plane that Lieutenant Robert forced to land on the beach of North Wales.
Perhaps it was history's reluctance to bury the hero and his plane, but after 65 years, the plane came to light and finally unveiled the secret that had been buried for decades.
Finally, how was this World War II-era P-38 Lightning fighter handled?
According to Lieutenant Robert's young nephew, the U.S. military has dismantled the weapons system on the plane and found information such as flight logs left on the plane.
A joint operation between U.S. and British experts began repairing the aircraft in 2008. Once restored, it will be stored at the RAF Museum. #I'm going to make micro-headlines##老照片 #
