A photo hanging on the wall intrigued Wendy St George as she was growing up.
Wendy St George with a photo of her uncle Edward Saywell and the book she has written about his service in World War II. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
She knew it was a picture of her uncle, Edward Saywell, and that he had been in the air force during World War II, but that was about it. Her family never spoke of him.
Saywell was the pilot of a Halifax bomber that was shot down on a mission to Aachen in Germany on 14 July, 1943. He was 25.
In 2003, St George started her research into exactly where the plane crashed and what happened to her uncle and the other six crew members.
The Blenheim woman has now written about her journey of discovery in a book, The Photo on the Wall: The search for a missing WWII airman.
After obtaining Saywell's military records and making inquiries in the United Kingdom, she found that one crew member, Ron Wisson, had survived and had parachuted out of the plane.
Photo: Supplied
It was then that her voyage of discovery started.
She said Wisson, who was 81 years old when they linked up, was an amazing person.
''He was so switched on it was scary and also inspirational.''
Wisson was the radio operator aboard the bomber and was the sole survivor of the plane being shot down. He parachuted to safety, but became a prisoner of war.
''He didn't really know exactly where the plane had crashed, but did have a pretty good idea, but because it was on the border between Holland and Germany he couldn't say where he came down.
"He eventually figured because he was met with hostility that it was more likely to be Germany than Holland.''
''He gave me a lot of the clues on where to go once I got to the end of what he had suggested. He then gave me the next clue of who else to ask.''
''Between Ron's efforts knowing about records and knowing how the system worked and my contacts, talking to others overseas to help, it was really quite helpful."
St George's book is made up of a series of emails between her, Wisson and many others particularly in Europe, including Dutch plane hunters, as they all tried to get to the truth about what had happened to the Halifax bomber.
She said people have commented about the way the book tells the story via emails, but for her it was the only way.
''It was what I had to do because it was in their words. By doing it in the emails you got to know the people and how talented they were, how the research actually went and the actual truth behind the research as well.''
Over the years she struck many hurdles in her quest.
''I guess the hurdles were trying to get information from people and even getting some of the actual records from the RNZAF was difficult. Not intentionally but just things that were left out. Which were important.''
The aircraft was discovered by the plane hunters on farmland near the Dutch-German border.
The site was excavated and St George later found that items were recovered from the site including her uncle's cap badge.
The Dutch plane hunters had excavated the field in 2019 in the German village of Leuth.
The metal cap badge was sent to St George and she handed it to her mother, Margaret.
St George said it was fantastic to be able to tell her mother the exact location where the plane crashed.
''And it was at least some answer and to have that little bit of metal back in New Zealand was completely amazing because that is the only thing we have ever got back.''
''I felt relieved. I felt that some of the questions had been answered. I felt that people as caring as the plane hunters had actually dug up the remains of the plane and that I knew what was there and that I had some answers.''
She said there is still quite a bit still to know.
''I would still like to know where he is buried. That is the main thing I would like to find out and also where his crew are buried.''
St George said it is possible he could be in one of the war cemeteries in a grave for an unknown person.
''I guess I hope by writing the book that maybe there might be someone who knows something more, you just don't know.''
During her research she found reference to a German report that three bodies had been removed from the wreckage and another was found nearby.
All were buried, but after the war grave numbers could not be matched to the bodies.
Ron Wisson died at the age of 85 in June 2008.
The Photo on the Wall: The search for a missing WWII airman is published by River Press.
