I have been an aviation archaeologist specialising in WW2 aircraft for over 30 years now. Whilst researching for a book 10 years ago I came across an incident that took place over Shepreth in Cambridgeshire. This involved the crash of a B17 Flying Fortress Mk1 one of 20 sent over from the USA as part of Lend Lease Agreement. This plane broke up one chilly January morning in 1942 and I was never really able to pin point where. Recently a detecting colleague mentioned that he had heard of a B17 crash about 1.5 miles away from Shepreth but again no real idea of where.
Yesterday whilst detecting in the area looking for Roman coins and artefacts I found some 0.50 calibre bullet casings dated 1940 which is extremely early. Most I find are dated 1943 or 1944. Then I found some pieces of once molten aluminium. The dates on the bullets indicate this is an early WW2 crash and is where a major part of this early RAF operated B17 bomber came down. Some of the nearby trees still bore scars from this incident 71 years ago. Fantastic thank you Minelab as always adding to the picture of our heritage and history.
Jules - United Kingdom