Search for American WW2 pilot's remains under way

2nd Lt Lester Leo Lowry died when his plane crashed in a field in north Essex in 1944

Archaeologists are searching the site where a World War Two American plane crashed in 1944 in the hope of finding its pilot's remains.

Pilot 2nd Lt Lester Leo Lowry of 487th Fighter Squadron was the sole occupant of P-47D Thunderbolt "Lucky Boy".

The 23-year-old had set off from RAF Bodney in Norfolk on a training flight.

Cotswold Archaeology is now examining the crash scene at private farmland in north Essex in the hope of being able to repatriate the airman.

"This is painstaking, highly respectful work," said Sam Wilson, the lead archaeologist.

Lt Lowry was flying the P-47D Thunderbolt, known as "Lucky Boy"

The aircraft was flying last in a string of four P-47s, practising manoeuvres in the low-visibility of the wintry Essex skies on 26 January 1944.

Flight logs indicated Lowry's aircraft entered thick cloud in a steep dive and hit the ground at a 60 degree angle, with no sign of the airman being able to bail out.

The wreckage was seen smouldering for several days before military teams were able to safely investigate the scene.

Records from the US recovery attempted described the destroyed airframe, but found not remains.

Subsequent follow-up investigations in 1949 again found no material relating to 2nd Lt Lowry.

Volunteers from across the US, Canada and the UK are taking part in the excavation

Fragments of material found at the site showed the "catastrophic" nature of the crash, archaeologists said

Lt Lowry was born on 5 February 1920 in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and joined the state's national guard.

He was mobilised in 1941 before transferring to the US Army Air Forces for pilot training.

Lt Lowry arrived in England in November 1943.

He was listed missing in action after his death and is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in Madingley.

Lester L Lowry's name appears on the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery

In 1979, amateur archaeologists from Essex recovered multiple aircraft components, including machine guns and propeller blades, connected to the site of the crashed P-47.

In 2018, a US government department - that specialises in recovering war casualties - surveyed the area and recommended a professional excavation.

Cotswold Archaeology is working with them as part of a team of almost 250 volunteers from both sides of the Atlantic, including UK and Canadian veterans.

They are using a combination of techniques to locate and examine the contents of the crash crater.

If any remains or personal effects are recovered, those will be transferred to the US department.

Potential osseous material (bone tissue) would be sent to a government laboratory in Nebraska for analysis and identification.

It is hoped remains can be identified and the pilot repatriated

The team has already surveyed more than 2,300 square metres of the site and recovered close to 5,000 artefacts from the aircraft's cockpit, fuselage, wings, engines, and machine guns.

Rosanna Price, the project's engagement manager, said they had already met with one eyewitness to the crash in 1944 but were keen to hear from anyone else who might have relevant memories, documents or photographs.