Archaeologists are desperately trying to locate the remains of a World War II hero who was killed during a top-secret mission.
Lieutenant John Fisher saved an entire village by sacrificing his own when he steered a malfunctioning and out-of-control 'kamikaze' bomber away from their home.
In doing so, the brave airman had no time to jump out of the aircraft - packed with 22,000lbs of explosives - which eventually descended into a fiery blaze near Watling Wood, Suffolk.
Following his heroic act, the remains of the brave 21-year-old soldier were never found.
Now - nearly 80 years later - a team from Cotswold Archaeology have been commissioned by the US Defense/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to find evidence of the tragedy.
Cotswold Archaeology group are on a desperate hunt to find the remains of a World War II hero who sacrificed his won life to save an entire village
21-year-old Lieutenant John Fisher (pictured) steered a malfunctioning and out-of-control 'kamikaze'bomber packed with 22,000lbs of explosives away from their home
At the time of his death, Lt Fisher had been a part of the secretive Operation Aphrodite.
In an effort to counter the German V1 and V2 rockets that brought devastation to south east England in 1944 the Allies experimented with their own flying bomb.
This involved aging B-17 bomber planes being stripped back, loaded with explosives and flown towards a target.
A crew of two were meant to bail out leaving a 'mother' aircraft to guide the empty plane down towards V1 and V2 launch sites using a radio remote control.
As well as V1 and V2 launch sites in northern France and Belgium, Operation Aphrodite was also aimed at destroying German U-boat pens.
However on the fateful day of August 4, 1944, one of the flying bombs malfunctioned after taking to the skies from RAF Fersfield in Norfolk.
When the aircraft began to spiral out of control, the young father pushed his co-pilot, Sgt Elmer Most, out of the plane when his parachute caught in the hatch door.
The airman was spotted at the controls of the plane mere moments before it crashed in the woodland.
The DPAA - a US task-force who is responsible for locating many of its 87,000 killed in conflicts who remain undiscovered has asked UK-based archaeology team for help.
After booting his co-pilot to safety out of the plane, the experienced airman had no time to evacuate (pictured: the archaeology site searching for his remains in Watling Wood, Suffolk)
The remains of the brave man, who hailed from New York, were never discovered (pictured: the archaeology site searching for his remains)
The team from Cotswold Archealogoy began their six week project last month.
Their community archaeology manager Rosanna Price, who confirmed the group has since confirmed that they have made significant finds so far.
'We have been engaged by the DPAA who have thousands of cases like this across the world,' she said.
'The reason for the search now is the result of their own processes. They came to the site in 2018 and in 2019 to do a site recce and then Covid got in the way.
'It is a remote woodland site on private land in south east Suffolk.
'The ultimate aim is to find some of the remains of Lt Fisher so that a formal burial can take place for his family.
'I can say that we have found some potential material evidence that needs to be examined in the DPAA laboratory in Hawaii.'
Ms Price said she was unable to say exactly what they had found but that it is material, like personal effects, that may connect Lt Fisher with the crash site.
She added: 'We have found about 5,000 pieces of the wreckage of the B-17 that was subject to a huge explosion.
'We have found an engine hub with a propeller still attached as well as a propeller blade.'
At the time of his death, the experienced pilotfrom Peekskill, New York. was married and had a baby boy and wife waiting for him at home.
Ms Price said: 'There were witnesses on the ground who aren't alive anymore who saw it come down.
'Fisher was seen by the mother aircraft to kick the co-pilot out and then try to get the plane under control.
'We know he wrestled with the controls and tried to lift the plane away from a village nearby.
'The co-pilot was picked up by local police who knew the crew of a B-17 was 10 so they wanted to know what happened to the others.
Nearly 80 years later, a team from Cotswold Archaeology have been commissioned by the US Defense/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to find evidence of the tragedy
Up to 200 volunteers are sacrificing their time in an attempt to find the World War II hero's remains
'Because it was top secret he couldn't tell them and had to say that eight or nine men had bailed out and so there were days of searching for these men who did not exist.
'It was classified under the 50 year rule but we know that experts later visited the crash site so see what impact and damage these flying bombs made.
'They found it wasn't as big as they thought but that could be because the aircraft exploded before it hit the ground.'
Cotswold Archaeology has had up to 200 volunteers searching and digging the crash site, with between 35 to 40 people at the site daily.
The debris has had to be shovelled out and meticulously sieved in the hope of recovering the plane ID numbers, personal effects, and any human remains.
WHAT WAS OPERATION APHRODITE?
Operation Aphrodite was United States Army Air Force mission during World War II.
During this operation, the US used older B-17 Flying Fortresses, which were no longer being used to fly bombs.
They then would strip them back as much as possible including so they could pack the aircraft with as many explosives as possible.
They would then target V-1 or V-2 launch sites as well as U-boat pens in Germany or German-occupied territories in Europe.
A crew of two pilots would then bail out of the aircraft, guiding the empty plane towards target sites using radio remote control.
Operation Aphrodite was not deemed a success having completed only 14 missions, during one of which the older brother of John F, Kennedy - Joseph P. - was killed.
