Search for Amelia Earhart’s aircraft ID tag fails

A search of Australian War Memorial archives has failed to locate a metal tag that could solve one of aviation’s great mysteries.

Aviatrix Amelia Earhart poses in her flight suit. Picture: Getty Images

A thorough search of the Australian War Memorial archives has not found the small, metal tag discovered by Australian soldiers in World War II that could hold the answer to the biggest aviation mystery in history.

In April 1945, soldiers from D Company, 11th Battalion, were trekking through the jungles of New Britain, part of what is now Papua New Guinea, when they stumbled on the wreckage of what they said was a pre-war plane.

Three of the soldiers reported finding a large engine, from which they removed a small metal plate hanging by a wire. They submitted it with their ­patrol report and numbers ­believed to have come from the plate, matching the missing Lockheed Electra 10E flown by legendary pilot Amelia Earhart, were copied to a war map. The plate, the only piece of the plane taken by the soldiers, has not been seen since.

Queenslander David Billings, who has spent the past 24 years searching the jungles of PNG for the missing plane, requested a search by the AWM of the war records.

The Weekend Australian understands Mr Billings, 78, has been contacted by AWM director Brendan Nelson, who confirmed curators had “extensively searched” the records from 11th Battalion, 13th Brigade, 5th Division and the 1st Army. Some time ago, he told Mr Billings, all extraneous items for boxes were removed and no tag was found.

According to three of the veterans, who have all died, the tag was submitted with the patrol ­report. A copy of the report stated “report attached with A/C plates”, where A/C was shorthand for aircraft. A war map was later discovered with the markings “600HP/ S3H/1 C/N1055” that the soldiers believed came from the tag. Dated May 24, 1945, Mr Billings believes the markings match ­Earhart’s engine’s horsepower, its model, and the unique construction number of her plane.

“It looks as though the soldiers were correct and that the tag was sent to the Americans or, which can happen, it has simply been discarded during the time of war,” Mr Billings said. “I hope not, but it could have happened.”

Mr Billings believes the tag could be buried away in US ­archives.