The Ghost Rises: Ambitious Plan to Salvage WW2 Lightning Fighter from Sea off Welsh Coast

The decaying wreckage of a Second World War fighter plane, exposed after 65 years by changing tides on the Welsh coast, is to be removed.

Known as the Maid of Harlech, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft was discovered in July 2007 after decades hidden under the sands. 

It was the first time the rare United States Army Air Force (USAAF) fighter had been seen since it crashed off the Welsh coast in 1942 while on exercise.

The retrieval, from a secret location near the beach near Harlech, Gwynedd, will move ahead as soon as a home for the aircraft is found.

Project director Ric Gillespie said: 'Once we have a home for the aircraft we can proceed with getting the necessary permissions from the local government, finalising the recovery plan and raising the all-important funding.

'Daunting, but do-able.'

He added: 'The plane remains safely buried in the sand. We know where it is, no one else does. 

'That's the only reason it hasn't been picked apart by looters. Our intention is to recover the aircraft and conserve rather than restore it.'

'That means a lengthy process of treating the metal so it doesn't corrode away when it is removed from the beach. 

'We need a UK museum to partner with us in conserving and then exhibiting the aircraft.'

'The major aviation museums such as the RAF museum and the Imperial War museum are aware and interested but unable to devote resources right now due to other commitments and shortages of space and funding.'

It is believed that the aircraft crash landed in 1942 while it was taking part in training exercises and its engines cut out.

Amazingly pilot Lt Robert Elliott walked away from the incident without a scratch but tragically went missing in action just three months later serving in the American's Tunisia campaign in North Africa.

The TIGHAR website dedicated to the project describes the find as one of the most significant WWII related archaeological discoveries in recent history. 

Local historian Matt Rimmer first alerted TIGAR to the wreck's discovery and assisted the TIGHAR archaeological team throughout October 2007 carrying out a survey at the site.