A MISSION UNFINISHED: Uncovering a Lost WW2 B-17
For some families, the end of World War II brought long-awaited reunions with returning soldiers. For others, it marked the traumatic realization that their loved ones were among the many still lost or missing.
Among those unaccounted are the crew of a four-engined heavy bomber aircraft B-17 Flying Fortress that crashed into the depths of the Baltic Sea in 1943 sometime during the height of battle against the Nazis. Eight decades later, that same bomber was recently discovered by researchers from Texas A&M University in an investigative project to help identify the aircraft and its occupants, in hopes of bringing closure to the descendants of the missing soldiers.
Led by Texas A&M nautical archaeologist Dr. Piotr Bojakowski, in collaboration with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the team traveled to Denmark in July for a mission launched from Kiel Bay, Germany, to identify and document the remains of the combat aircraft.
The effort is part of the DPAA’s global effort to locate and identify the remains of approximately 81,000 American service members still unaccounted for from past wars and marks yet another milestone in Texas A&M’s longstanding reputation as a leader in underwater archaeology.
“I’ve worked on many archaeological sites and underwater sites, but I always have a special preference for World War II and military sites,” Bojakowski said. “We want to investigate the case not just as an archaeological site; we want to understand what happened and bring closure to the families. It is a unique experience that requires a lot of archaeological work and careful investigation of all individual pieces to provide the best answers.”
Divers and Remote Sensing Confirm the Wreckage
Using advanced underwater exploration technologies, including side-scan sonar imaging and magnetometry metal detection, the researchers conducted a remote sensing survey of a one-square-kilometer area of the Baltic Sea to pinpoint the exact location of the B-17 wreckage, originally discovered by a local diver and reported to the DPAA in 2001. Anomalies detected on the seafloor were marked as potential targets of interest, and a remotely operated vehicle was deployed to determine whether they represented unusual geological formations or aircraft debris.
An image resembling part of an airfoil prompted Bojakowski, members of his team and volunteers from the Nordic Maritime Group to dive to the site to confirm the findings. There, buried under years of sediment and marine growth, lay the remains of the downed bomber.
“It’s an exciting process to see a crash site underwater,” Bojakowski said. “Even though it’s in ruins, you begin to visualize the entire aircraft with the engine and wings and fuel tanks. You slowly start piecing everything together in a way that makes sense and understand what happened.”
To their astonishment, two of the aircraft’s .50-caliber machine guns had been knocked loose on impact, and the team was able to recover them to the surface. After cleaning sea concretion, the serial numbers of each machine gun became clearly visible.
Uncovering the Past to Heal the Present
Katie Custer Bojakowski, an instructional assistant professor of anthropology and member of the research team, said obtaining the machine gun’s serial numbers is a significant step toward conclusively identifying the B-17 crew.
“On the aircraft wreckage, it's really important to find the machine guns,” she said. “They are a controlled item in the military and so are not only stamped with a serial number, but their location on any given aircraft was also tightly controlled throughout the war.
“As more archival research is done on the serial numbers, we'll have a positive identification of the aircraft, and then a positive identification of the people who were known to be lost on the aircraft.”
Guided By Aggie Core Values and Trusted Partners
While plans for a full excavation of the site are yet to be determined, Custer Bojakowski regards this project, through its combination of cutting-edge research and humanitarian service, as a fitting tribute to the legacies of all missing U.S. soldiers and a reflection of Texas A&M’s core values.
“These types of projects strike at the heart of what Texas A&M is,” Custer Bojakwoski said. “Not only do we have a strong military tradition, but our core values are based on selfless service, integrity and leadership. Our project highlights all those aspects and more. We are remaining loyal to not only Texans and the United States, but all the unaccounted airmen.”
Texas A&M’s Nautical Archaeology Program was established in 1976 by the late George F. Bass, widely recognized as a pioneer in the field and often called the father of underwater archaeology. Since its founding, the program has grown into a leading center for maritime research, training future generations of archeologists, like graduate student Pin-Wen Chen ’27, who are continuing the university’s mission to expand the boundaries of discovery beneath the sea.
“Underwater surveys are rare and expensive,” Chen said. “These projects are important to students because this experience can’t be learned in class or from books. You feel the human connection part of it, and that is significant.”
Bojakowski emphasized the power of partnership in research operations, noting that their success depends on collaboration and the combined expertise of many partners.
“There's not one single individual or agency that can start and finish this entire investigative process and research,” Bojakowski said. “It takes a lot of individuals, a lot of science, a lot of experiences and a lot of people. As an R1 institution, we have the best facilities and students to continue investigating underwater sites and be part of a bigger scientific process.”
An Inside Look at a Mission Unfinished
Bethany Becktell '26, doctoral student, Department of Anthropology
Bethany Becktell, a Texas A&M nautical archaeology doctoral student, was part of the dive team to first explore the wreckage of a WWII plane off the coast of Denmark in July.
"The fact that most of these missing servicemen were often the same age, or younger, of many of my own students at Texas A&M is sobering."
— Bethany Becktell '26
On a rare, favorable weather working day, I take a giant stride into Kiel Bay. The chill of the cold water hits my cheeks, a 30-degree contrast from the warmer Mediterranean waters where I normally dive. The rest of the dive team gives the OK signal and descends.
The waters are murky and green rather than clear and blue, with suspended particles in our eyesight. The low-visibility bay is disorienting; the only indication we are descending is the changing depth on our dive computers. The sandy ground coming into sight is a welcome relief. At the bottom, visibility is only marginally better, maybe 10 feet in any direction. The ground is flat with no remarkable features: no rocks, no changes in the topography, and hardly any sea life beyond the curious flounder.
The fact that we are within an aircraft wreck site — a B-17 Flying Fortress from World War II — is not immediately apparent. There is no obvious plane, but rather a debris scatter. Objects come into view as we strategically swim around the area, marking visible wreckage on dive slates with compass bearings and taking photographs with a GoPro camera. Ammunition generates almost-constant pings on the metal detector we use to search for buried material. Scattered debris that identifies the site as a plane become clearer; engines are visible, as well as parts of a wing, a cockpit window, a tire and a fuel tank. Even .50-caliber guns with legible serial numbers all piece together clues about the unidentified downed aircraft.
Before I learned about this opportunity through Drs. Piotr and Katie Bojakowski, I was searching for summer fieldwork in nautical archaeology, a field in which projects are rarer than terrestrial work and mostly academic in nature. Admittedly, at the time I was not as familiar with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) or its terrestrial and nautical missions, but I was immediately drawn to the goals of the agency and the nature of the work. The DPAA’s mission — to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation — fuels a noble effort through a partnership across multiple disciplines.
Since my time in Denmark, anytime I have discussed the DPAA and its goals with others, there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the notion of bringing closure to families about their fallen service members, despite personal or political beliefs. From an academic perspective, the interdisciplinary nature of the DPAA aligns well with the interdisciplinary nature of anthropology. Many academic disciplines come together through anthropology to generate a holistic study of humanity.
The U.S. military and Texas A&M have always been intimately tied together. Since Texas A&M’s establishment in 1876, there has been a standing body of cadets. During World War II, more than 20,000 Aggies answered the call to serve their country. Even now, this university is one of only six senior military colleges. This interconnectedness with our military service makes joint missions and research efforts with the DPAA much more personal.
Today, there are still 201 Aggies who are missing in action; efforts to find these individuals are being pursued by other collaborative Texas A&M efforts. Like many Americans, my family has ties to the military. My great-grandfather served in France as part of the artillery in World War I. My mom’s biological father served in Korea, and her adoptive father — the grandfather I knew growing up — was stationed in Puerto Rico. We are grateful that World War II ended before he deployed. My paternal grandfather was a sergeant in the Army stationed in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I am fortunate what my family members who saw combat managed to survive. The fact that most of these missing servicemen were often the same age, or younger, of many of my own students at Texas A&M is sobering.
My personal academic interests and fieldwork focus mostly on the ancient Mediterranean. This mission, however, was completely different from all previous projects on which I have worked and has been definitively one of the most meaningful. I am grateful to Piotr and Katie Bojakowski for trusting me to join them, and I hope to participate in future DPAA missions to continue the noble efforts of bringing closure to those families with missing service personnel.
