Supposed WWII skeleton found dangling above Kokoda Track

Supposed WWII skeleton found dangling above Kokoda Track

By PNG correspondent Steve Marshall
Posted 5 hours 25 minutes ago
Updated 2 hours 6 minutes ago
Found: The skeleton of what is thought to be a World War II pilot hangs in the jungle canopy along the Kokoda Track (No-Roads trekking company)


Australian, US and Japanese authorities are investigating the discovery of what is thought to be the skeleton of a World War II pilot along the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.
Hikers say they discovered the skeleton hanging from the jungle canopy halfway along the 96-kilometre historic World War II path.
Guide David Collins from Melbourne's No-Roads trekking company was there.
"It's swinging like somebody caught in a tree and that's when you can really see the cabling and it's the exact shape of a body, same size, everything, but it's just covered in moss," he said.
"It's exactly what it looks like, just somebody caught in a harness, in a seat harness."
Australian, US and Japanese authorities will check records to see if any pilots were reported missing in that area.

'Lost in the fog'


Mr Collins said a lot of planes went missing during the war in the general area where the skeleton was found.
"All of them were generally lost in the fog and bang they go in," he said.
Among those that flew in the area at the time were the Royal Australian Air Force's 75 and 76 Squadrons, which flew P-40 Kitthawk fighters.
American B-25 Mitchell bombers were also in the area at the time along with P-39 Airacobra fighters.
"There were a lot of aircraft lost up there during the war and a lot of Japanese aircraft as well," Mr Collins said.
Mr Collins described the location of the skeleton as being on the right side of the track heading north from Myola, about four days walk in from the Port Moresby end of the track.
He said the the tree with the skeleton had been marked with plastic to help furture investigators find it again.
The remoteness of the site and the difficulties involving in locating and working with anything in the thick jungle canopy mean that it could be months before any identification of the skeleton is made.

Supposed WWII skeleton found dangling above Kokoda Track - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

Kokoda tourist 'finds WWII pilot's body'

Article from: AAP
From correspondents in Port Moresby
August 28, 2008 08:33am


A VICTORIAN police officer taking photographs of exotic plants on Papua New Guinea's Kokoda Track has discovered what is thought to be the remains of a World War II pilot.
The officer captured the moss-covered skeleton of what could prove to be an airman lost during heavy fighting nearly 70 years ago, hanging from metal cabling on a tree.

Guide David Collins from Melbourne's No-Roads trekking company has informed Australian, US and Japanese authorities in PNG's capital Port Moresby who are now investigating the remains.

The three countries are now checking records to see if any pilots were reported missing in that area.

Mr Collins said the skeleton was discovered hanging from the jungle canopy at the top of the Owen Stanley Range, halfway along the historic 96km path, where 600 Australian troops died fighting Japanese forces.

"We had a few police officers on the 19-man trek," he said.

"One was taking and photos with a large lens of the trees and flowers," he said.

"He then discovered what looks like the remains of a body.

"It wasn't until the wind blew that you could really see it is in a harness, there are goggles and it appears to be caught up in cables, so presumably it is an airman," he said.

AdelaideNow... Kokoda tourist 'finds WWII pilot's body'

 

Seems to be a sad end no matter what country he is from.

 

Who Knows? LOL. The moss? It might well be a hoax. I guess we will have to wait and see what the Authorities have to sy.

 

ADF to visit 'WWII skeleton' hanging on Kokoda Track

ABC - August 28, 2008, 7:14 pm

The Australian Defence Force is preparing to visit the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea to confirm a possible discovery of the body of a World War II airman found hanging above the track.
A group of Melbourne trekkers say they discovered what they suspect is a moss-covered body hanging in a harness from the jungle canopy.
An Australian Defence Force (ADF) spokesman says the location of the find is near a flight path commonly used by allied aircraft during WWII and that a number of aircraft were reported as missing in this area.
The ADF and at the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby are working to gather more information and are making plans to visit the site to confirm the find.
There are also reports of unexploded ordnance in the area and trekkers are being asked to stay on the track and not interfere with the site.
Melbourne firefighter and part-time trekking guide David Collins says he initially did not think much of it when his clients said they had spotted something hanging in the canopy, until closer inspection.
Photos taken by Mr Collins show an object that appears to be a human body hanging about 15 metres above the ground.
The object was found about halfway along the Kokoda Track near Myola village, a four-day walk from the Port Moresby end of the path.
According to track historians like Charlie Lynn, there was as much action above the track in 1942 as there was on it during the war.
Recently the Australian and PNG governments agreed to protect the Kokoda Track with a view to making it world heritage-listed.
The agreement virtually scuppered plans for a controversial new copper mine near the southern end of the path.
Mr Lynn says possible finds such as this justifies protecting the track.

ADF to visit 'WWII skeleton' hanging on Kokoda Track - Yahoo!7 News

 

If it's been danlging there for over 60 years it's one hell of a pilot. I mean those bones must be ready to break anytime now. touched by wind, rain, sun and buigs and stuff ... It vould be but i'm waiting untill the authoritys give the final answer.

 

"The agreement virtually scuppered plans for a controversial new copper mine near the southern end of the path.Mr Lynn says possible finds such as this justifies protecting the track."

Either way it looks like the plans for the mine are a no go now.

 

Amen to that Bro. If this indeed is not a hoax, then im glad whomever it is, finally can rest in peace.

The parts where its hanging and the bones are not all over the ground-seems suspecious to me at how it could still be hanging and in tact? - that is, unless the uniform worn is what's keeping things in place?

 

Im looking forward to thier findings. And to hear how intact it really supposed to be.

 

My guess is that it won't be Japanese.

The ADF also warned that there is much danger in the area due to unexploded munitions and that people are well advised to stick to the Track.

 

"There are also reports of unexploded ordnance in the area and trekkers are being asked to stay on the track and not interfere with the site."

Yep. That was mentioned in the article above. Hopefully that will keep people away until the investigation is done.

 

Wow what a find! Poor guy, I feel sorry for him.
Please keep updating! thanks!

 

if it is true the poor guy would have died of thirst. Poor man.

 

Isn't it possible that the flyer was wounded at the time of bailout or during his descent and that he died from his wounds?

 

I have to confess that a ghoulish part of me is absolutely fascinated to see in more detail what a 60 year old 'tree-burial' looks like.
I probably shouldn't be... but I am.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

We can give this man, whatever place he is from his final :S!
.....for now he is no longer "Still on Patrol"

 

I'd imagine since he is stuck in a tree that he died landing in it. He'd have been able to cut himself free otherwise, or figure out a way to climb out of it (swing, climb up the ropes)...unless of course he was injured and unable to do. One can only hope it was the quick death.

 

Interesting how some of the news articles are assuming or thinking automatically that it is a pilot. There were also bombers that were lost in the area and it could be a crew member.

 

'It seemed to be a body from WWII'



A team of Australian investigators is preparing an expedition to the arduous Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, after a hiker spotted what is believed to be the body of a World War II airman hanging from a tree. The BBC's Becky Branford found out more.
History is alive on the densely forested slopes north of Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital.
What appear to be the "feet" of the suspected airman are visible in the canopy

Enlarge Image


The hillsides around what is known as the Kokoda Trail are littered with rusting guns, grenades and mortars - reminders of the strategically crucial battles that raged there in 1942 and 1943.
Hundreds of Australians lost their lives fighting off an invading Japanese force that probably planned to use Port Moresby as a bridgehead for an assault on the Australian mainland. Japanese losses were several times heavier.
David Collins, who leads treks along the Kokoda Trail, is used to imagining how the stench of death, sickness and starvation once hung heavy in the air in what is now a verdant and peaceful landscape.
But he little imagined that he would one day be confronted with what is probably the corpse of one of the many fighters who lost their lives.
'The wind caught it'
Mr Collins was leading an expedition of 19 assorted off-duty police officers, businessmen and photographers along the Trail - thought to be some of the most rugged hiking terrain in the world.
If it had been me, I would never have discovered the body, but when it started swinging back and forth, you could see the shape of it


David Collins
Expedition leader


The discovery was made on 28 August, by one of the members of the expedition - a man who has requested to be referred to only as John.
He had stopped to take a photo of flowers in the canopy, Mr Collins told the BBC.
"If you knew the trek, you don't often look up, because you're watching your footfall the whole time - it's very slippery and muddy, and can be quite dangerous," Mr Collins said.
"John stopped to take a photo of the canopy, and saw something that didn't seem quite right through his viewfinder. He watched it for a little bit longer and the wind blew, and caught it, sending it spinning, and it seemed to be a body."
There was an immediate sense that an exciting discovery had been made, Mr Collins said, and other members of the expedition team were called back to take a look for themselves.
That it was a body was not immediately apparent, Mr Collins said.
"I'll be honest, I couldn't even see it at first, because it was quite high up in the canopy, about 12-15 metres [40-50 feet] up," he said.

"But once again the wind blew, and it started spinning and dangling. That was when you could make out the shape of a body. But it was covered in moss, and if it had been me, I would never have discovered it, even looking straight at it, but when it started swinging back and forth, you could see the shape of it.
"And when it swung backwards it had around it what looked like a sort of aluminium frame or harness, and it appeared to be caught in a cable in the tree."
The assumption at this point, said Mr Collins, is that the body - if it is a body - is that of an airman who was wearing some kind of parachute harness at the time of his death.
One expedition member even thought he could make out a moss-covered pair of flying goggles around the corpse's neck.
Mysteries
If the find is confirmed, one key question will be how the body survived decades hanging in the tree.
The extreme elevation of the forest in which the body was found - about 2,200m (7,220 feet) above sea could have may have helped to preserve the body.
Moss would then have grown over it, preserving its shape.
Another mystery is the nationality of the airman - whether he was from Japan, Australia or the United States, which also had forces in the area. Fighters from all sides remain unaccounted for.
The Australian Defence Department is sending a team to the isolated spot, along with a group of Papua New Guinean expedition porters, to try to recover the apparent remains in the coming days.
For Australians, the area is hallowed ground, Mr Collins said. During World War II, the region was part of territory governed by Australia - it is believed the only time that Australians have had to fight on their own soil. Their ultimately successful campaign in the area also proved a turning point in the struggle for the Pacific. This discovery serves as a poignant reminder of the horror wrought by war, some 55 years on.

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