Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Swamp Ghost buyer wants to preserve the history of bomber downed in PNG in 1942

Posted at 04:19 on 17 September, 2008 UTC

The man who has fought a battle to export a World War Two plane wreck from Papua New Guinea says he wants to preserve its history.

The plane, affectionately known as the Swamp Ghost, crash-landed in a swamp, in PNG’s Oro Province in February 1942.

It was salvaged in 2006, and the PNG government has reportedly accepted 100 thousand US dollars payment for the wreck, after two years of wrangling.

Alfred Hagen intends displaying the plane in a museum in the US.

“I didn’t salvage it because I personally wanted to put it in my garage, I salvaged it because I wanted to preserve history for this, generation and for future generations, and I wanted to pay homage to the people from my own family that gave their lives in New Guinea, flying airplanes and I know I sound frustrated, but this has been a very frustrating ordeal.”

Alfred Hagen says he’s agreed to give PNG the right to buy back the Swamp Ghost once it’s restored.