Final one of my last trip to the peak district is the last few remains of Lancaster PA411 of 230 O.C.U R.A.F.Lindholme flying a night training flight on the night of December 20th 1948 , the bomber with a crew of 5 and 2 instructors was to have stayed close to Lindholme but strayed too far west into the hills around Tintwistle gaining a signal from its home base the pilot believed he was much closer to home and was letting down when the bomber stuck the slope above Tintwistle Knarr.
Exploding into flames the tail section was found complete below the
main wreckage indicating the pilot had seen the hill at the last second
and was trying to climb, all 7 onboard tragically lost their lives in
the crash .
One of the usual crew Fl/Sgt R.Walker was not on the flight he was returning to base from his honeymoon when he learned of the fate of his crew who had all attended his wedding the week before. Walker had previously escaped a terrible crash with sad loss of all the rest of his crew in February 1945 when the Halifax he was tail gunner in, crashed and exploded at R.A.F Leconfield .
At the site much has changed since my first visit in 2006, back then the site was littered with remains along a shallow peat scar today the site is covered with new growth with only a collection of the larger parts of undercarriage and prop parts remaining visible. Without digging about I did find some small parts in a burnt area below the site but nothing else was visible .
Crew =
Fl/Sgt J.S.Thompson
Flight Lieutenant P.M.Maskell
Fl/Sgt R.Smith
Fl/Sgt V.Graham
Sgt W.A.Love
Crew instructors
Fl/Lt T.L.Johnson
Fl/Sgt D.W.H.Harris
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