B-29 B-1 Washington WF502 code "WP-O" of 90 Sqn RAF Marham on the night of the 8th January 1953

Out again on the hills of the Welsh border this time to find the site of the loss of B-29 B-1 Washington WF502 code "WP-O" of 90 Sqn RAF Marham on the night of the 8th January 1953 , the plane flying on exercise 'Kingpin' was detailed to carry out simulated bombing at 19.000ft but after 6 hours in the air the plane suddenly entered a steep dive sadly in fighting to level the plane the air frame was over stressed and the bomber broke up leaving debris over a 5 mile line , the center section with the inner wings fell into a small wood called 'Wern Goed ' near Llanarmon-yn-Iâl , Denbighshire and was totally destroyed by fire the entire crew of 10 were all lost no cause was positively identified but a fault with the autopilot system may have been to blame .

Crew lost

Squadron Leader W.R. Sloane. [standing in for the regular pilot]

Pilot Officer C.B. Speller.

Pilot Officer M.J. Lightowler.

Sgt E.F. Wheeler.

Sgt A.J. Martin.

Sgt E.D. Pearton.

Sgt M.J. Clifton.

Sgt R.G. Hughson.

Sgt K.A. Reakes.

Sgt R.F.S Anderson.

Today at the site a few small remains were on the surface around the bracken covered impact site not much for a big plane but due to the intense fire and ease of access more then i was expecting to find .

The peace and quiet of this small vally only adds to the sobering feeling of this site in the small village church of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl a memorial was dedicated to the men lost in 2008