The American B-25 Mitchell bomber took off from Tunisia on a summer day in July 1943 with a crew of six. The twin-engine plane manufactured by the North American Aviation company, one of the most used by Allied troops during World War II, was intended to attack the Sciacca airfield in Sicily (Italy).
The co-pilot of that flight was a 27-year-old lieutenant in the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) named Gilbert Haldeen Myers. Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he had been assigned to the 381st Bombardment Squadron.
The B-25 left North Africa and, as it approached its destination, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire, which caused it to lose altitude until it crashed in a field located approximately two and a half kilometers from the airfield. Witnesses to the impact claimed that one of the soldiers exited the plane before it exploded, but his remains were never recovered.
Myers and the rest of the crew were declared Missing in Action (MIA). According to US Army records, there were no survivors nor is there any evidence that the passengers became prisoners of war.
A few months ago, however, everything changed. Eighty years after the bomber crashed, forensic experts from Cranfield University's Conflict Victim Identification and Recovery team traveled to Sciacca to carry out a thorough investigation.
The on-site work of a team of up to 20 people allowed them to search the surroundings of the impact zone until they found human remains that, once analyzed in the laboratory, were confirmed to belong to Lieutenant Gilbert Haldeen Myers.
It is estimated that around 72,000 US service members who participated in World War II are still missing and experts point out that around 39,000 of them are recoverable. For years, Gilbert Haldeen Myers was one of those people.
In 1947, investigators already carried out search and recovery operations near Sciacca, but could not locate anything about the B-25 crew. Now a thorough examination of tons of soil has been carried out, with the aim of recovering human remains or personal effects crucial to identifying the plane's passengers.
"This was the largest deployment we have done so far," says Dr. David Errickson, professor of Archeology and Anthropology. "We systematically excavated the soil, meticulously examining every piece that could be bone or other evidence. In challenging environments like this one in Sicily, we process the excavated material by passing it through water to separate and analyze human remains and artifacts," he added.
This was not the first case that Cranfield University experts had faced. Until now they had investigated other important air accidents such as that of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, a Douglas A-20 Havoc and a Martin B-26 Marauder. Your next mission will be to recover a Boeing B-17.
"Recovering Lt. Myers' remains not only facilitates a proper burial with military honors, but also allows the family to receive the personal effects found. Most importantly, it provides closure for the families of those missing or killed in action," says Errickson.
Gilbert Haldeen Myers was buried on November 10 in St. Petersburg (Florida). His name still appears on the Wall of the Missing from World War II at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, located in Nettuno, near Anzio (Italy). Now there are plans to put up a rosette to indicate that I have found it.
