Forensic Archaeologists Resume Search for Missing WWII Corporal at English Moor Crash Site

Key facts

• Corporal Clarence Watson, a 21-year-old from California, was a ground crew member who joined a test flight of a B-24H Liberator nicknamed "Sack Time!" in October 1944.
• The plane crashed into an obscured hill in England's Peak District during poor visibility; seven crew members died on impact and an eighth died later that night.
• The sole survivor, Staff Sergeant Curtis Anderson, used wet peat to extinguish the fire enveloping him.
• Watson's body was never found, and he has officially remained missing in action.
• Geoscope, a U.K.-based forensic archaeology firm, in partnership with the U.S. government, has revived the search for Watson's remains.
• Initial recovery efforts may have found a piece of a parachute, the back of a watch, and a hip bone possibly belonging to Watson.
• In 2023, a survey identified nearby locations where more evidence related to Watson was likely to be found.
• Archaeologists are excavating those sites, hoping the moor's wet, acidic peat may have preserved evidence; finds are being sent to labs in the United States before any pronouncements.