In the Jungle of World War II: RGS’s Travelers Find Crash Sites of Western Aircraft in India

The first in the history of the Russian Geographical Society nature camp "Seven Sisters" in the Indian Himalayas successfully completed its work at the end of January this year. Two parties of travelers visited the territories of the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland. We talked in detail about their journey. But there was another aspect to this trip. The specialists from the Center for Contemporary History (CCH) found out the crash sites of military aircraft of the US and British Army Air Forces from 1943-1945. Sergey Katkov, the head of the research projects of the CCH, told about how this happened.

Evidence that Fell from the Sky

The CCH team has previously been in several travelling in India. For the first time, they visited the state of Arunachal Pradesh in 2009, but then the interest was mostly of an ethnographic nature. In 2010, the travelers were interested in visiting for Buddhist pilgrimage sites that were lost in the early twentieth century. During the next visit to India in 2011, one of the local hunters showed the team from Russia an unusual piece of metal found in the jungle. With gestures, the hunter explained that this thing is connected with the sky.

“Later, after studying the photos, we realized that this was a fragment of the landing gear from an American fighter,” says Sergey Katkov. “So there was a new idea: to find the crash sites of World War II aircraft in these territories. We have been preparing for the trip for five years.”

The CCH team has extensive experience in searching for and identifying aircraft on the territory of Russia (in Siberia, Kamchatka, even in the Arctic), including crashed aircraft of Western allies.

“During the Second World War, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition brought victory over the enemy closer, each on their own front. Therefore, the American and British pilots who went missing in the Himalayas contributed to the overall victory over Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan," the head of the CCH research projects notes.

Historians know of two stages of World War II military operations in the Himalayas, when there were significant losses of American and British aircraft. In 1942, the Japanese army occupied Burma. On the territory of this country there were airfields where American and British Air Force aircraft were based. Combat aircraft had to be hastily evacuated, including to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

In March 1944, the Japanese launched an invasion of the northeastern Indian regions of Manipur and Naga Hills.

“A huge number of air battles might take place in this area; many fighters crashed,” Sergey Katkov emphasizes.

After interviewing local residents, travelers tried to find the crash sites of two planes. One of them is the American Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter. This is exactly the plane whose landing gear fragment was found by a local hunter in the jungle more than 30 years ago.

“This man has already died, but when we asked about his discovery, it turned out that there is also information about the second plane,” continues Sergey Katkov. “Local residents promised to accompany us to the crash site. In general, it is necessary to note their cordiality and desire to help us. When people found out that we were from Russia, the reaction was simply enthusiastic.”

An important milestone of the air confrontations during the Second World War was the air operation “Hump” – a jump over the Himalayas. Anglo-American troops supported China in the war with Japan, supplying it with weapons. The air bridge went from the state of Arunachal Pradesh through the Himalayas to China.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft were mainly used for this transport corridor. Crashes happened quite often: this area has difficult climate conditions and a specific landscape.

“We have analyzed information from the US National Archives on combat and non-combat losses during the Himalayan operation. During 1943-1945, more than 400 aircraft were lost, less than 20 of them were found,” says Sergey Katkov.

With a Machete through the Jungle

“A resident of Arunachal Pradesh, our guide, said that in 2018 he went to the crash site of a certain plane,” continues Sergey Katkov. “After his own expedition, Taba wrote a piece for the media, expecting that the find would cause a resonance. But we were the only ones who were interested in the crashed plane. Thanks to the photos taken at that time, it became clear that this was an aircraft from the Second World War. Our task was to get to the crash site and find the identification numbers of the aircraft.”

In preparation for the search, team has created a database with all known factory numbers of aircraft that disappeared in these territories. Analyzing the identification numbers right on the spot, one could tell what kind of aircraft it is and what is the fate of the crew.

If the CCH’s search methods have been fine-tuned, then the landscape and climate features of working in India have become a real challenge for our guys.

“From the village, which could be reached by a Jeep or a tractor, we would have to walk to the crash site for a couple of days according to the locals. We walked six days in one direction,” continues Sergey Katkov. “One day we managed to walk only 230m! The locals’ concept of ‘path is very different from ours. They always make their way through the jungle with a machete in their hands, continuously cutting their way and focusing on barely noticeable signs – once felled branches or notches on trees. It was extremely difficult to walk, but the main problem was the lack of water in these places. That's why we carried it with us. We only had 400ml per person per day."

The Elusive Liberator

For several days, the guides who were walking ahead of the main group were looking for a descent to the crash site. The landscape in these places is very complex: steep cliffs and jungle.

“In the photos that our guide took, two aircraft engines were visible. But when the guides came to the crash site, it turned out that there was nothing at the location with the available coordinates," says Sergey Katkov. “In five years, since 2018, the engines have moved to another place due to water flows and huge rocks. Already on the way back, the guides noticed one of the engines under water. The motor moved 450m.”

With the help of levers, the search team was able to move the motor, which weighs almost a ton, and push it aground. They had to work in icy water. The numbers found on the engine did not help identify the plane.

“The B-24 Liberator aircraft and their C-87 transport modifications have a problem with the identification of vessels. There is a factory number of the engine and a number that was given in the Air Force. The documents indicated one of them. It is possible that we found the wrong number on the engine, according to which it was written off by an army unit," explains Sergey Katkov. “In India, it is forbidden to use copters. This has greatly complicated the search for the rest of the aircraft. According to the hunters, the fuselage should have been lying on the top of the nearest mountain.”

Upon their return, aviation historians began to study more precisely the archival materials, acts on the decommissioning of two types of aircraft: the Consolidated B-24 Liberator four-engine bomber and its C-87 transport version. Now it was known that the crew had to walk for several days through the mountain jungle from the crash site to the nearest shelter, and most likely the pilots were missing. Travelers analyzed archived data on 61 flight accidents involving B-24 Liberator aircraft and 32 accidents involving C-87 transport aircraft.

“Based on the location of the wreckage, several versions have emerged,” says Sergey Katkov. “According to one of them, a C-87 transport aircraft with registration number 43-30580, which did not return from a mission on August 17, 1944, may have been found. To finally make sure of this, the CCH specialists continue to work with archival materials.”

Next year, travelers hope to conduct another joirney, find the necessary aircraft numbers and learn something about the fate of the crew, as well as work on the evidence of the crash site of other aircraft, including a Japanese fighter.

Not Just Planes

The search for crashed planes is not the only goal of the Indian trip. Its participants continue to engage in ethnographic observations. One of the results was the collection of modern jewelry, clothing, household items, hunting and farming tools of the tribes of the Adi people. In addition, they managed to take a lot of photos and record a lot of videos. If it would be possible, in the near future, all this will be shown at exhibitions and lectures at the Russian Geographical Society.

There is another story. The participant of group, Alexander Selvachev reminded, at the beginning of the 20th century, a geographer, orientalist, and a member of the Russian Geographical Society Andrey Snesarev worked on the territory between Russian Turkestan and India. He did not explore remote territories; at that time it was impossible. One of the possible goals of the next voyages of the Indian travelers of the Russian Geographical Society is to continue his path, expand ethnographic knowledge about remote corners of India.

Konstantin Verin