Remains of German Flying Ace Recovered

In this photo released by Italian volunteers group Romagna Air Finders Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007, volunteers dig out the plane flown during WWII by Flight Sergeant Maximilian Volke, a Munich-born pilot credited with shooting down 37 enemy planes, whose plane was found on July 7, 2007, near the site of the German defensive line that witnessed months of bloody battles as the Allies fought to liberate northern Italy. A group of Italian volunteers said Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007, they have located the plane of a German ace shot down during World War II as well as the pilot's remains, including the dog tag and good luck charms he carried into combat. Volke, a veteran of campaigns in Russia and Africa, was 29 when he took off from a northern Italian air base on Sept. 5, 1944, with three other fighters to intercept a group of nine American B-25 bombers. He was shot down by gunners in one of the U.S. planes, president of Romagna Air Finders Leo Venieri said, citing witness accounts and the bomber squadron's logs. (AP Photo/Romagna Air Finders, h.o.) (AP)

ROME -- A group of researchers has located the remains and plane of a German ace shot down during World War II and also discovered some personal effects, including the dog tag and good luck charms the pilot carried into combat, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The amateur researchers found the plane flown by Flight Sgt. Maximilian Volke _ a Munich-born pilot credited with shooting down 37 planes _ near the site of the German defensive line that witnessed months of bloody battles as the Allies fought to liberate northern Italy.

Searchers located the plane after narrowing their area based on information from state archives and eyewitness accounts of the ace's final air battle in 1944, said Leo Venieri, president of Romagna Air Finders, a group that scours the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna for signs of missing World II pilots.

Volke's Messerschmitt Bf 109 was dug out of a farmer's field just north of Modena in July. The pilot's remains were well preserved, Venieri said.

The dig also yielded a number of artifacts, including a wallet with money, documents and images of the Virgin Mary and an African elephant.

Volke took off from a northern Italian air base on Sept. 5 with three other fighters to intercept a group of American bombers. He was shot down by gunners in one of the U.S. planes, Venieri said, citing witness accounts and the bomber squadron's logs.

The pilot's remains have been sent to the University of Modena for an autopsy and Venieri's group plans to bury him in September at the German war cemetery of Passo della Futa, between Bologna and Florence.

___

Associated Press reporter David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.