Salvage Mission at Tufi
Fred Hagen, a businessman from Philadelphia who happens to have a passion for aviation history, is leading a salvage mission to Papua New Guinea to recover a WWII B17E bomber known as the “Swamp Ghost”. The expedition will be based out of Tufi Dive Resort in PNG.
The Swamp Ghost was part of the first long-range bombing mission by nine US B17 bombers during WWII - an attack planned on enemy forces at Rabaul. Through a series of mishaps, the original fleet of nine was reduced to two by the time the actual attack took place.
Besieged by Japanese fighter planes and intense ground fire after its bombing run, the Swamp Ghost eventually sustained significant damage and ended up undertaking an emergency landing in a swamp near Tufi.
What followed was a six-week ordeal for survival, entailing hunger, mosquitoes, crocodiles, snakes… everything the PNG swamp and jungle could throw at the crew. Eventually, all ten men made it back to civilisation safely, albeit much the worse for wear.
The salvage mission entails recovering the 74-ft, 65,000-lb, WWII B17 bomber from the swamp and taking it back to the US. It’s been over 60 years since the Swamp Ghost embarked on its fateful journey, but four crewmen from the Swamp Ghost are still alive, and at least two will return to PNG to witness the salvage operation, talk about their experience, and share their emotions.
Based out of Tufi Dive Resort, a film crew will follow and record the action for an upcoming documentary program for The Discovery Channel.