Project Avenger 2021
Dr. Michael Rivera (left) and Massimo Fabio Lando at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park, Hong Kong on November 30, 2021. A Hong Kong-born anthropologist, this was Dr. Rivera's first project in the place he calls home.
Winsome Lee, Operations Manager and Archaeologist, at the field site of Project Avenger in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. A trained forensic anthropologist, Lee was one of two lead archaeologists overseeing the collection, identifcation, and recording of artefacts.
Craig Mitchell and his dog, Suzie, at the field site for Project Avenger in Tai Tam Country Park, Hong Kong, on November 30, 2021. Mitchell was the first to identify the potential location of the downed warplane and lead on the creation of a memorial for the fallen airmen who died at the crash site more than 70 years ago.
Leigh Hardwick, amateur historian, as seen in the thick brush adjacent to the main Project Avenger dig site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. Hardwick has years of experience searching for miliitary artefacts in Hong Kong and provided technical and educations support to the project.
Members of the Project Avenger team at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park, Hong Kong, after a long day of digging, on November 30, 2021. Project Avenger involved stakeholders from several HK universitys, the US Navy, the Government Flying Services, and hundreds of volunteers.
The entry sign to Tai Tam Country Park, the location of the Project Avenger field site. November 28, 2021.
Tai Tam Country Park in Hong Kong, the final resting place for the WWII Bomber that the Project Avenger team was excavating over two weeks in late November 2021. The plane it collided with before crashing was said to have landed near the triangular outcropping on the top left of the image.
The Project Avenger excavation team provides a briefing session to the dig volunteers in advance of climbing to the project site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. Nearly 200 volunteers would sign up to help with this project, ranging from university students to financiers to retirees.
The Project Avenger excavation team starts their trek to the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. It would take the group nearly an hour to reach the site, going off-path and climbing through dense forest.
The Project Avenger excavation team during their trek to the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. It would take the group nearly an hour to reach the site, going off-path and climbing through dense forest.
The Project Avenger excavation team during their trek to the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. It would take the group nearly an hour to reach the site, going off-path and climbing through dense forest.
The Project Avenger team labeled various areas of the field site to help guide staff and volunteers, such as this sign as seen on November 28, 2021.
Craig Mitchell (right) welcomes excavation volunteers at the Project Avenger basecamp on November 28, 2021. Mitchell would provide both a safety briefing and a short history lesson about the project.
Dr. Michael Rivera, one of the lead anthropologists for the Project Avenger excavation, provides an overview of group assignments on November 28, 2021, while Craig Mitchell (right) and Winsome Lee (back right) listen. Volunteers would be assigned various tasks to help with the excavation and documentation of artefacts found.
A Project Avenger volunteer holds an excavation site map on November 28, 2021. 200 volunteers would help with the excavation, working various grid locations to excavate, document, and bag artefacts.
Dr. Michael Rivera demonstrates the proper technique for excavating and documenting artefacts to the volunteer helpers on November 28, 2021. Volunteers would be instrumental in helping to gather data for the project team.
Dr. Michael Rivera shows a schematic for the Grumman TBM Avenger in front of a tent full of artefacts on November 28, 2021. The Avenger bomber craashed nearby more than 70 years earlier during the US Navy's efforts to protect Hong Kong from the Japanese forces in WWII.
A tent at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park containing dozens of artefacts collected over a two-week period in late November 2021. Members of the excavation team would document each piece, including the date and location from where it was found, with the most promising pieces being offered to a local museum for display.
Metal detectors stand at the ready near the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. The team would use these along with other hand-held devices to help locate artefacts from the crashed WWII bomber.
Leigh Hardwick (right), of the Project Avenger team, works with a volunteer to help identify, record, and extract an artefact at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021.
Leigh Hardwick, of the Project Avenger team, reaches for a pinpointing metal detector at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021.
A volunteer member of the Project Avenger excavation team help locate, document, and recover artefacts at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. 200 volunteers, ranging from students to financiers to retirees, would help with this archaeological project in Hong Kong.
GP (left) and his wife, Vivian, of the Project Avenger excavation team help locate, document, and recover artefacts at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. To their left, a piece of the airplane's landing strut can be seen.
Volunteer members of the Project Avenger excavation team help locate, document, and recover artefacts at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. 200 volunteers, ranging from students to financiers to retirees, would help with this archaeological project in Hong Kong.
Volunteer members of the Project Avenger excavation team take a rest, enjoying some food and drink at the makeshift rest area on November 28, 2021. Ample water, food, and snacks was provided for the dozens of volunteers who spent hours a day helping to excavate and document artefacts.
Craig Mitchell (centre) chats with volunteers at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28. 2021. Mitchell was the one who discovered the WWII-era crash site 10 years before an official excavation could be completed.
With the camp stove out of gas, a small fire is made to boil water for tea and coffee at the makeshift rest area for Project Avenger in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021.
Suzie, the only four-legged member of the Project Avenger team, has a rest at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. Suzie accompanied her owner, Craig Mitchell, up to and down from the field site every day for two weeks.
Field notes as seen at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. The lead anthropologists were not aviation specialists and thus relied in schematics, historians, and external experts to help identify found artefacts.
The engine of the Grumman TBF Avenger plane found at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park during the two-week excavation period in late November 2021. The piece on the top-right originally puzzled the excavators who now think it was placed there by scavengers more than 70 years ago when they stripped valuable metals from the plane's remains.
Dr. Michaal Rivera uses the Polycam LiDAR 3D scanner on his smartphone to create a 3D model of a landing strut at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. This model will help experts to further analyze the found artefact to help determine how the plane crashed.
Dr. Michaal Rivera uses the Polycam LiDAR 3D scanner on his smartphone to create a 3D model of the excavated engine at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. This model will help experts to further analyze the found artefact to help determine how the plane crashed.
Dr. Michaal Rivera takes a photo of one of the landing struts found at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. The hope is that the serial numbers will help to provide further background information on the artefact.
Winsome Lee takes a pencil rubbing of the serial numbers found on a landing strut at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021.
Leigh Hardwick (left) and Dr. Michael Rivera (centre), of the Project Avenger team, assess an artefact at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. A selection of artefacts will be airlifted off the mountain and offered to a local museum as part of an educational exhibition.
Leigh Hardwick, of the Project Avenger team, assesses an artefact at the Project Avenger excavation site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. A selection of artefacts will be airlifted off the mountain and offered to a local museum as part of an educational exhibition.
An artefact is prepared for documentation at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. Each piece would be carefully recorded and photographed, with reference to the date and location from where it was found.
Volunteer members of the Project Avenger excavation team help document artefacts at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. Each piece would be carefully recorded and photographed, with reference to the date and location from where it was found.
Artefacts documented at the Project Avenger field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 28, 2021. Each piece would be carefully recorded and photographed, with reference to the date and location from where it was found.
Volunteer members of the Project Avenger excavation team wrap up artefacts at the field site in Tai Tam Country Park on November 30, 2021. Each piece would be carefully recorded and photographed, with reference to the date and location from where it was found.
A small memorial erected by the Project Avenger team at the field site, as seen on November 28, 2021. Three American crewmen lost their lives when their plane crashed in what is now Tai Tam Country Park more than 70 years ago.
An H175 Cheetah Helicopter from the Hong Kong Governement Flying Service surveys the landing area for its team in Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. The Government Flying Service provided cargo support to Project Avenger, dropping in supplies at the beginning of the dig and extracting supplies and artefacts at the end.
An H175 Cheetah Helicopter from the Hong Kong Governement Flying Service drops a team member at the landing area for its team in Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. The Government Flying Service provided cargo support to Project Avenger, dropping in supplies at the beginning of the dig and extracting supplies and artefacts at the end.
Members of the Hong Kong Government Flying Services work with the Project Avenger team to pack up artefacts and supplies for extraction from Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. Two large packages were prepared for airllift to a nearby quarry to be loaded into a truck.
GP, a Project Avenger team member, inspects a load of supplies for extraction from Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. Two large packages were prepared for airllift to a nearby quarry to be loaded into a truck.
Air Crewman Officer Man Choy of the Government Flying Services awaits his pickup at the Project Avenger extraction site in Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. Choy and his colleague were dropped by helicopter to help the Project Avenger team prepare the cargo for airlift.
An H175 Cheetah Helicopter from the Hong Kong Governement Flying Service carries a load of cargo from the Project Avenger extraction site in Tai Tam Country Park on December 1, 2021. The Government Flying Service provided cargo support to Project Avenger, dropping in supplies at the beginning of the dig and extracting supplies and artefacts at the end.