Researchers have recovered and identified the remains of a U.S. military pilot who was shot down on July 10, 1943, during World War II, according to a press release from Cranfield University on Wednesday.
The team successfully identified the body of 27-year-old Lt. Alan W. Knepper, who was a passenger in a P-38 Lightning aircraft that was shot down over Sicily, a press release announced. read.
The P-38 was an iconic single-seat fighter-bomber that was used in numerous air combat missions, Heritage Daily reports. Reported.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was an American single-seat piston-engine fighter aircraft used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle that housed the cockpit and armament. Circa 1939 (Photo: Camerique/Getty Images)
According to Cranfield University, Knepper's mission was to disrupt enemy movements and allow enough time for the Allies to land sufficient forces on the Sicilian coast. According to another pilot, Knepper's squadron came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and his P-38 crashed to the ground. (Related article: US announces seven POWs and nine soldiers killed in two wars)
There is no record that Knepper deployed his parachute, and he was presumed to have gone down with the plane.
Staff from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and the U.S. National Archives obtained a German report dated July 10, 1943, which stated that two P-38s had been shot down west of Caltagirone, Sicily. This report was crucial to the search, as the pilots' reports stated the planes had crashed in different locations.
Finding the missing aircraft remained difficult, and team leader Dr David Ericsson, senior lecturer in archaeology and anthropology at Cranfield University's Institute of Forensic Science, explained the process.
“They'll start using methods like metal detectors,” he said, adding that a plane that burns up in a crash could leave traces that can be found “decades after the fact.”
“Once we pinpoint the crash site, we can start digging up the ground to see if we can find any debris,” Erickson continued, noting the importance of identifying the specific aircraft.
“By comparison, there have been a lot of P-38 Lightning crashes in mainland Italy and Sicily. This means that we will need to look for debris such as data plates and radio call plates to find the exact plane we are looking for,” the team leader said.
He added that researchers would need to “determine from the wreckage patterns where the pilot was likely located.” He said identification would be easier if there was only one person on board the plane.
It took researchers eight years from the start of the recovery process to identifying Knepper's remains, after which he was reburied in his home state of Idaho on August 2.
The university's forensic science laboratory worked with DPAA on the project.
