A Spitfire makes
its salute. 
The pilot's grave in the village. 
Mark Kirby settles down to work. The Time Team investigate a Spitfire!
In June 1999 Channel 4's Time Team recovered the remains of a Spitfire from a field in France; and unravelled a tragic story from World War Two.
The Story:
On May 23, 1940, a formation of
Spitfires
took off from England to
protect the retreating British
Soldiers
near the Channel coast.
In the combat that followed
several aircraft were shot
down by the opposing
Luftwaffe fighter pilots.
One of the Spitfires was being
flown by
Sergeant Paul Klipsch from No. 92
Squadron.
His aircraft crashed in farmland
to the north-east
of Boulogne and he was killed. At
the time of
the crash the advancing German
troops
had just over-run the village
near to the
crash site and it was left to the
villagers to
provide a burial for the
unfortunate pilot.
With the help of Paul
Klipsch's brother, an air crash
investigator, historians and
Spitfire restorers, the
Time Team set out to unravel the
events of combat
fifty-nine years after it took
place.
Click the thumbnail for the full size image.
A Spitfire makes
its salute.
The pilot's grave in the village. Mark Kirby settles down to work.
Carenza inspects a machinegun. 
Mick Aston and Steve
Vizard talk Spitfires.
Phil and his box take on a big task. 
Simon Parry at the end of a
muddy three days.
Phil marvels at the flypast. 
Stewart with his find - the aerial. 
The Team with the tail wheel.
The result of the investigation and the full story was shown on UK TV in February 2000.