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Seventy years after a bombing raid that devastated the city of Padua during the Second World War, a group of archaeological explorers known as Romagna Air Finders has been able to find and recover the body of Lieutenant Guerrino Bortolani, who died trying to defend the city besieged by the allies. Bortolani had been flying the best Italian fighter aircraft, the Macchi C.205, in a squadron led by renowned Italian ace Adriano Visconti.
DIGGING ABOVE Research on Lt. Bortolani started in 2006 after the discovery of the body and the plane of Lt. Giobatta Boscutti, shot down in the same fight. Since then, the Romagna Air Finders had been listening to eyewitnesses of that terrible bombing trying to figure out where the aircraft crashed.
THE EYEWITNESS Finally, the team interviewed an octogenarian who clearly remembered the place where the plane fell. They then began to search for the owner of the agricultural land where the plane was buried. Once the owner was found, a survey was conducted with metal detectors and depth sensors. The first two attempts went empty, but the discovery of fragments of aircraft quality aluminum led the team to believe this was the right place. “The final attempt was made in a field adjacent to that shown by our witness and, finally, the discovery of a large number of fragments convinced us that this was to be the crash site," said Pier Paolo Venturi, engaged in recovery operations.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE LIEUTENANT “At that point we started the bureaucracy to obtain the necessary permits to start the excavation. A significant problem was represented by a drainage ditch," said Venturi. On the morning of September 26, 2014, the volunteers of the Romagna Air Finders began digging. The excavator started to remove sand, dirt and mud, and soon evidence emerged that the plane had hit right there: a wheel from the landing gear, the tail wheel, engine parts and fuselage stringers. Then, what everyone was waiting for: the unopened parachute upon which the pilot sat. Finally, after more than 70 years, the body of a boy of 27 years who died in aerial combat to protect the city was extracted from the earth.
A MINUTE OF SILENCE Operations continued the next day to recover even more material, such as the cylinder banks of the DB605 engine, the yoke, pedals, flight instruments and various parts of the fuselage. The volunteers then proceeded to close the excavation and restore the land. Following a blessing of the remains by the local priest, the coroner delivered his body to the authorities of the town of Bagnoli di Sopra. A minute of silence in memory of Lieutenant Bortolani and all the fallen concluded the touching and exciting two days of digging.
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