World War II Spitfire guns 'like-new' after 70 years in an Irish bog

There are even more surprises in this remarkable story. Roland ‘Bud’ Wolfe was a member of one of the RAF ‘Eagle’ squadrons; these consisted entirely of US citizens, and were funded by rich Americans and Canadians. Their training, passage to England and in some cases even the funding of their Spitfires was all offered free, in a remarkable gesture. In December 1941, just two weeks after his crash, he caught a train out of Dublin, and made his way back to RAF Eglinton, now Derry Airport. To avoid a diplomatic incident, he was returned to the Irish POW camp where he spent a further two years. In 1943 he returned to frontline action with the US military, the US being very keen to get ‘combat hardened’ fliers into their ranks. (The Eagle squadrons’ personnel mostly all transferred over) Many fliers had been stripped of US Citizenship when they enlisted in the RAF. He later served in both Korea and Vietnam. Sounds like ideal Hollywood movie material?

thats what irish bogs are renowned for,that last guy they dug up there from the bronze age went on to father 15 children from a tipperary woman i heard..

Normally foreign combatants were interned but it wasn't a Colditz like confinement. They were pretty much allowed come and go as long as they turned up for the regular roll calls. Many of the British pilots simply headed north and crossed the border into Northern Ireland and rejoined their units. Not so easy for the Germans who seemed happy enough to sit out the war courting local girls and working part-time on local farms.

Now I'm waiting for them to find a keg or two of Jameson's Irish whiskey in that bog. It would be a great ad campaign: "Here's to a real sip of bog tea!" Now if they ever were found... My guess is that they would have been tossed over from the gondola of a sinking hot air balloon. How else could they have landed there to lie undisturbed for decades?

I love the bogs in Ireland. They are the natural preservers of history, a natural resource used to warm hearth & home. I hope the government protects them from being depleted.

Who knew - a discovery to appreciate the value of bogland. Neutral Ireland arresting of pilot - was but for show for as little time as possible - I'd bet. Gerries or their others, were kept locked up for the duration of the war. DeValera being England's Greatest Spy and his Eire support given to Mother's land should answer that question.

What ever happened to the pilot after he was arrested?