Even though the World War II ended over sixty years ago, there are still many mysteries that have not been solved. There are soldiers that were deemed missing in action, and planes that disappeared without a trace. For the past ten years however, a team of six Malaysian military historians have made it their mission to put some of these mysteries to rest.
So far, these explorers have found thirty confirmed or suspected crash sites, which has given closure to the families of more than forty missing British and American aircrews. The group leader, Shaharom Ahmad said, “what we do is to find whichever wrecks are in Malaysia and help identify them so that relatives can get closure after waiting for more than six decades.”
Ahmad and his fellow explorers have already carried out forty weekend expeditions, searching for the wreckage of lost allied aircrafts that were either shot down or crashed. Yet with any mission, there are always obstacles, and this team is no exception.
The terrain that they travel includes crocodile-infested swamps and mountainous jungles, yet they continue to search for the planes that disappeared over sixty years ago. These men are guided by vague information about the flights last known whereabouts, and from there they search in likely areas for several days. Despite the trouble that Ahmad and his team go through, they believe that it is worth it.
Such sites “are a crucial part of the story of the war in the Pacific,” said military historian Christopher McDermott, who works for the US Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC). Finding crash sites, he adds, can provide “positive identification for the return of remains to the families of the missing service members.”
While they have made significant strides, research into British and American archives show that there are still at least fifteen to twenty aircrafts yet to be examined in Malaysia. The team has already discovered seven of the sites, but the locations of the rest are still unknown.
Once found, the sites are left enacted, but are meticulously photographed and then put onto their website, mhg.mymalaya.com. After that, it is up to a worldwide network of military buffs to identify the wrecks. Ahmad stated that within a matter of days, sometimes hours, their network could identify the planes, and even notify the families of those who were on board.
The group has the best intentions, yet some are unwilling to help them with their cause. In 2006, they unearthed the remains of a British Liberator bomber, but British officials rejected the claims. It was not until the explorers went back and obtained the engine serial numbers that the official accepted it. Despite the fact that it was a British plane, officials refused to fund or recover the human remains. Sue Raftree, an official with a British defense ministry unit dealing with such issues, said that it, “does not actively search for remains and discourages unofficial excavations,” viewing such sites as war graves.
While it may not always be easy for these explorers, they are determined to finish the task that they have started. They are bringing forward something that many people believed to be in the past, and have made it known that there are still many mysteries on our planet that have yet to be discovered.
