Hurricane Fighter Excavated in London

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 01 Jun 2004, 10:14

Over the weekend, the English TV company Channel 5 followed a project to excavate a Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft which crashed on Buckingham Palace Road in London. The aircraft crashed after slamming into a Luftwaffe Dornier which appeared to be heading to attack Buckingham Palace. The Dornier lost its wings and tail before crashing, and the crew were killed, but the pilot of the Hurricane bailed out, and was present as the parts of his wrecked aircraft were lifted out from the road. They found parts of the engine and dashboard, which will be displayed in the Imperial War Museum in London.

The dig coincided with an excavation of a Spitfire Mark 14, which was shot down in Germany towards the end of the war. The Australian pilot of the Spitfire was present to watch that dig, but it had to be halted because the soil had been poisoned by the fuel which leaked from the Spitfire.

It was a really fascinating programme, and will be condensed down into a one hour programme to be shown later in the year in the UK. For more info, visit this link http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_b ... ory=526948.

C-117 · Post by **C-117** » 01 Jun 2004, 18:59

Thanks for posting this interesting story and accompanying article. Its especially gratifying that F/Sgt. Holmes is still alive to witness the excavation.

Cheers,

C-117