Aircraft archaeology is not entirely about bits of bent metal. Fascinating though the historical machinery might be, it's about using the artefacts as reminders of the airmen they represent. In the days before the 1986 Protection of Military Remains Act, all that was needed was the landowner's consent, cash to fund the work and the dedication to dig. Crash sites could be investigated before there was any idea of the aircraft's type - identification was often the objective. Such was the case in January 1964 when I pursued the rumour that two Luftwaffe bombers were still buried on marshland near the Norfolk village of Reedham. Local inhabitants confirmed remains were extant of two aircraft that had collided - but they were American, not German.
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