Excavations > 2010>

	P-51 Mustang, Cheshire

P-51K 44-11632
310th Ferrying Squadron
11 January 1944
Calveley, Cheshire
1st Lt Leonard D Johnson, killed

An experienced combat pilot with 50 missions and over 300 hours on Mustangs, Leonard Johnson was given the task of ferrying a P-51 from Warton to Stanstead. The weather conditions were bad, with 10/10 cloud down to 1,000 feet and continuous snow, but Johnson took off, presumably intending to climb through the cloud. Around 20 minutes after taking off his aircraft crashed in a field in Cheshire. Johnson's body was removed by the American salvage team and buried at Madingley, Cambridge, before being repatriated to America.

Being of no use to the USAAF, any wreckage remaining buried in the field was abandoned and the hole filled in. In the 1970s a large poultry shed was erected on the crash site, thwarting enquiries by several would-be recovery groups. In 2010 the area was again the subject of development when the shed was demolished and the foundation ripped up - there was a short window of opportunity to investigate the site before a new barn was erected on the site. As any wreckage was certain to be unearthed during the ground works for the new barn, the development was put on hold while a license was obtained from the MoD.

In June a party from many corners of the UK assembled to witness the recovery. Only inches below the surface a yellow tipped steel propeller blade was found, leading to a trail of wreckage that extended to a depth of 20 feet from where the Packard Merlin and propeller hub recovered. From the position of the wreckage it was clear the P-51 had dived vertically into the ground a great speed. The original investigation had failed to establish a cause, but given the circumstances of the crash and the experience of the pilot it is likely the cause was either oxygen failure on icing.

Much of the wreckage, including the Packard Merlin, is due to be displayed in the Fort Perch Rock Museum, New Brighton.

	The crash site located in an area where ground work was already underway. Work was halted and the area marked off pending the granting of a license to excavate the wreck from the MoD.
	One of the first finds - the tip of a propeller blade only inched under what was once the floor of a poultry shed.
	Some of the 50 Calibre Brownings. Suspecting that the armament might be on site a Section 5 Firerams License holder was in attendance to hold the guns prior to de-activation. As the aircraft had been on a delivery flight, no ammunition was carried.
	Men content in their work! As is the norm, and to conform with current health and safety as well as insurance requirements, personal safety wear is the order of the day as one of the hollow steel propeller blades is dug out by hand.
	Even a powerful 15 ton Volvo excavator struggled to lift the engine from 20 feet down in the clay.
	Excavation over, the Packard Merlin is eagerly inspected. Members of the excavation team represented many groups and it was agreed that engine should be displayed in the Fort Perch Rock Museum, New Brighton, a few miles from where 1st Lt Leonard D Johnson had taken off.