Army reserve engineers used specialised technology during a dig to unearth a Spitfire earlier this month.
The team, from 135 Independent Geographical Squadron Royal Engineers, based in Ewell, helped at the site in Salisbury Plain.
The group used a specialist computerised GPS positioning system to plot exactly where the plane crashed after being shot down by enemy fire in 1940.
Sergeant Len Windle, the squadron’s team leader for the dig, said: "It has been a really successful day, the team has managed to survey all the field debris and we have completed a 3D scan of the area.
"This enabled us to locate the exact final resting place of the main engine of the Spitfire."
Sgt Len Windle with pieces of the Spitfire engine recovered
Serving personnel and veterans, including those at a recovery centre in Wiltshire, took part in the excavation.
It was part of Operation Nightingale, a project established by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the Rifleswhich to aid the recovery of injured soldiers.
On 27 October, 1940, Spitfire pilot Paul Baillon bailed out safely and survived but he died in action a few months later.
His daughter Rosemary Baillon, who visited the dig, said: "It was on 27 October, 1940, that my father was brought down by enemy aircraft near Upavon.
"This was a particularly worrying time for my mother who was expecting me to be born in the March of the following year."
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