Crashed aircraft parts found

[Drifter206]

Drifter206, you have an amazing collection of B-24 parts there! Considering that they came from a crash site, the condition is remarkable. Good luck with the dog tag. Hopefully it can be identified and returned to the aviator's family.

Dubrovnik is indeed a lovely city! I was there about one year ago, my third visit. Friendly people, beautiful scenery, and good beer!

I don't own the parts
Glad you loved it, it is indeed ...
Next time come to Cavtat It's way better

[Drifter206]

Terrific find! I am glad that these were identified.
My family is from a small town east of Zagreb: Veliki Zdenci. I was told that during the war a 4 engine bomber came down near the cemetery. The crew was immediately taken away by the local partisans ( likely all survived ). Then the towns folk came to look at the wreck, but the German troops arrived shortly to disperse the civilians and retrieve the armaments. After the troops left, the towns folk returned and began disassembling the airframe for their own use. During a 1971 visit to the town, I found O2 bottles being used as well buckets and large airframe panels as fence sections. I was too young at the time to make any aircraft type identification.
Might you have access to a record of a bomber in the Veliki Zdenci area?
Thank you,
Vlado
PS: My distant "uncle-in-law" was Civtan Galic.

Cvitan Galić was a world war ace as far as I know.
Glad to see you here, don't now anything about the crash in Veliki Zdenci. I recently started this research in my area and I have a small group of people searching with me.

[Drifter206]

Wow, is this even legal? If anyone was lost their life, it should be left as a memorial. Pay some respect

Let's stop all kinds of digging throughout the planet:

Archeological, maritime, speleological, aeronautical, because more than likely through history, people have lost their lives, so the places should all be left as memorials.... right?

Saludos,


Tulio

Hii Tulio

I don't own the parts I was given permission to take photos, this was recovered 70 years ago. In the mean time this area went thru 2 wars and so on, so this is some sort of miracle they survived. Parts are kept in a garage but they were placed outside for photos. That is why they are in decent condition.
Antun

[wendovertom]

Wow, is this even legal? If anyone was lost their life, it should be left as a memorial. Pay some respect

Let's stop all kinds of digging throughout the planet:

Archeological, maritime, speleological, aeronautical, because more than likely through history, people have lost their lives, so the places should all be left as memorials.... right?

Saludos,


Tulio

Hii Tulio

I don't own the parts I was given permission to take photos, this was recovered 70 years ago. In the mean time this area went thru 2 wars and so on, so this is some sort of miracle they survived. Parts are kept in a garage but they were placed outside for photos. That is why they are in decent condition.
Antun

Drifter206,

Tulio is making a joke (right?!) in regard to the first comment that the wreckage should be left where it was - aviation archaeology is learning from the past just as much as digging through the ruins at Pompeii.

Tom P.

[Drifter206]

Tom P
I misunderstood your post, sorry. I agree with you. Research is the only way forward but it must be done according the rules..
Antun

[K5DH]

Drifter206, you have an amazing collection of B-24 parts there! Considering that they came from a crash site, the condition is remarkable. Good luck with the dog tag. Hopefully it can be identified and returned to the aviator's family.
Dubrovnik is indeed a lovely city! I was there about one year ago, my third visit. Friendly people, beautiful scenery, and good beer!

I don't own the parts
Glad you loved it, it is indeed ...
Next time come to Cavtat It's way better

Yes, I've been to Cavtat. It's another very fine place!

Does Croatia have a national aviation museum?

[Tulio]

Hii Tulio

I don't own the parts I was given permission to take photos, this was recovered 70 years ago. In the mean time this area went thru 2 wars and so on, so this is some sort of miracle they survived. Parts are kept in a garage but they were placed outside for photos. That is why they are in decent condition.
Antun

Drifter206,

Tulio is making a joke (right?!) in regard to the first comment that the wreckage should be left where it was - aviation archaeology is learning from the past just as much as digging through the ruins at Pompeii.

Tom P.[/quote]

You are correct, Tom.

Selective "outrage" seems to me, out of place. If someone died at a particular historical event (so many of them happened through the ages) then why should an aviation crash be treated different?

If there are bodies still at the crash site, yes, dig them with all care and honors deserving, and give them proper burial.

It was clear -at least to me- that the parts were found long time ago, and that Antun was requesting information.

Saludos,


Tulio

[CoastieJohn]

To put to ease any lingering concerns....I'll take the liberty to say Drifter206 did the right thing and the proper govt agencies are engaged in these findings for possible MIA's.

[quemerford]

Any candidates for an identity/crew for this one?

[Taigh Ramey]

I may be out of line here but to me none of the parts in the photos show indications of a crash. A forced landing maybe but I have doubts that there was a loss of life based on the lack of physical damage visible.

The autopilot box is quite frail and it is nearly perfect. That box was mounted in the center of the instrument panel of a B-24J and that tells me that there was zero distortion of that area of the aircraft. Same with the other parts.

The generator is near perfect with no flange or case damage. In a heavy crash this part usually moves because if its mass and the mounting flanges will fracture. It looks like it was unbolted.

The flaps show little damage too most of the holes look like they happened around the farm. In a heavy B-24 wreck the fuselage keel can give way and the wing will collapse toward the ground. The flaps hanging down on landing (or even retracted) are also frail and will easily be damaged.

Same with all of the other parts; hardly any damage or distortion that I can attribute to a crash.

I would offer that this aircraft landed on its gear or a smooth belly landing with few if any casualties. B-24's don't seem to do well with forced or rough landings.

[Drifter206]

Dear Taigh
I was also thinking about this. In the last 30 hours I heard a new story that there could be one more that crashed somewhere near but didn't have the time to confirm this. You could be right sir. When I started this I only knew about one crash site and it turned up to be more, I'm on this and I will do proper research. Thanks for comment and I'll try to find out.
I will make correction to my report to the officials according to this.

[Flying Pencil]

Drifter,

All those parts are best for a museum or historic collection for public.
Should not be sold off.

As to being war graves, I think that is if bodies still remains (I could be wrong).
Most times bodies are removed and parts of just "junk".
Some memorial is appropriate, but a pile of parts rotting away as a memorial I do not think help anyone.

Let us know any new details!

[Drifter206]

Drifter,

All those parts are best for a museum or historic collection for public.
Should not be sold off.

As to being war graves, I think that is if bodies still remains (I could be wrong).
Most times bodies are removed and parts of just "junk".
Some memorial is appropriate, but a pile of parts rotting away as a memorial I do not think help anyone.

Let us know any new details!

Dear Flying pencil
No parts will be sold or scrapped. We are now in process of collecting and numbering all parts found
This topic is reported and it is in official process.
After all is done I will let you know all the details.
This is truly once in a lifetime story