Meteor RA487 of 66 fighter squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Hagg side, Derwent valley, December 8, 1950

A wet and windy trip out to the hills with Sean Moran from  https://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.com/ to visit sites around the Drewent Valley first is Meteor RA487 of 66 fighter squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse which crashed during a night training flight on Hagg side in the Derwent valley December 8, 1950 .
The plane piloted by Sgt J. Harrington was flying a triangular route over cloud and had completed the first leg when trouble started unable to gain a fix on the ground the pilot discovered his radio was U/S unable to call for help the pilot attempted to put down on a long stretch of road but this proved impossible with no other option he elected to climb and bail out of the plane before his fuel ran out the pilot successfully left his plane and landed safely in a field his falling jet impacted the slope of Hagg side blasting a large crater , on returning to his base the pilot was given a talking to by the head of the parachute section as during his bail out he had lost his ripcord handle which very much annoyed the NCO!

In the woods today there remains a noticeable crater with a few small remains in the bottom not a lot as much of what was seen in photos looks to have gone quite recently given the speed and total destruction of the plane other bits will lie under the pine needles and moss

Crew =
Pilot J.Harrington

USAF RF-4C Phantom 64-1018 RAF Alconbury, 6th May 1970. Unthank ,Millthorpe, Derbyshire

A trip out with Tricia to the the beautiful area around Unthank ,Millthorpe, Derbyshire to visit the crash site of USAF RF-4C Phantom 64-1018 flying from RAF Alconbury on the 6th May 1970.

The crew both experienced Vietnam veterans were flying 64-1018 as part of a pair taking part in a NATO exercise practicing combat maneuvering ,during a high speed evasive turn the controls locked given the speed and height the crew had almost no time to try to save the aircraft left with no choice ejected over Curbar edge a short distance away both landed safely but the Pilot Major D.E.Tokar hit some rocks and suffered a broken leg , the jet continued on in a high speed dive falling in to the edge of Rose wood blasting a crater some 20ft deep and 50ft wide at the edge of the wood the phantom shattered in to thousands of pieces throwing remains up to half a mile away some bigger parts even damaging farm buildings at nearby Unthank farm 300mtrs away .

Both crew were quickly recovered and later returned to active service

At the site today after a pleasant walk across the fields you find a small depression just inside the woodland the crater being filled in by recovery crews just nearby are some stumps of tress blasted by the crashing aircraft after a little walk around i found nothing on the actual site but further out some interesting bits were found the best a fluid elbow and lay on the leaves by the brook the largest part was a chunk of aluminum coupler much else remains hidden but given the speed of impact and total destruction of the plane much will be unrecognizable.
 Crew =
Pilot Major D.E.Tokar
Navigator Major P.Dunn

Avro Lancaster, MK 1 W4326 SR-C 'Charlie' , 101 Sqn RAF , Dolwen, Welshpool 16/11/42

Another Welsh site today this one near the quiet town of Welshpool and is the final resting place of the remains of Avro Lancaster, MK 1 W4326 SR-C 'Charlie' , 101 Sqn RAF flying on a night cross country bombing and photo training flight from RAF Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Yorkshire over mid wales on the 16/11/42 .

The plane arriving over Dolwen would have been practicing night photography tragically during this operation one of the photo flash units ignited in the rear fuselage the resulting fire impossible to control quickly burned through the tail controls causing the bomber to plunge into high boggy ground far above Dolwen, sadly the six of the Severn crew were lost with the plane one of the crew Sgt J R Gould did get out of the aircraft but was also lost, reported as missing at the time he was found 10 days later but due to crossed wires he was still recorded on the Runneymede memorial for missing aircrew.

On the moor after a long walk through very wet ground and nearly impenetrable woods I re found the site I last visited years ago, a bit more disturbed but mostly as I remember 2 large piles of smashed remains still lie on the edge of the crater a couple of areas of small bits containing some electrical parts a couple of bits of parachute cord and some blue leather lie on the other side but much is still buried here you can hear metal under the grass as you move about the JCB that was used in the recovery of parts years ago and shown in Edward Doylerush's 'No landing place 2 ' used to be on the track on the climb up but has now gone one engine resides in the Landwrog air museum

Crew

W.O.2 J W Spinney RCAF

Sgt S R Clarke RAF

Sgt H W A Collet RNZAF

Sgt C L Colman RAF

Sgt J R Gould RCAF

Sgt A E Beach RAF

Sgt D A J Holloway RAF

Mosquito PR Mk 9 LR412 , RAF Benson ,Oxfordshire 9th February 1944, Aran Fawddy Bala North Wales

 A long but worth while trip to the Welsh mountain of Aran Fawddy near Bala , to find the site of the loss of Mosquito PR Mk 9 LR412 the plane on a test flight from RAF Benson ,Oxfordshire on the 9th February 1944 for unknown reasons the plane crossed the coast and entered the mountains below the recommended altitude flying in good viability the plane struck Aran Fawddy with the sad loss of both crew the plane crashed at 2400ft with one engine stopped which has generated mystery given the planes excellent single engine performance and the crews very high experience level especially the Navigator F/lt Paul Riches DFC Maybe the faulty engine distracted the crew and they lost situational awareness ? the plane was not found until 5 days later .

 At the site there remains a scrape containing some small parts and in the rocks nearby there is a collection of undercarriage and skin remains buried in the rocks by the recovery crew ,further down the slop about 100ft away is another burial of parts and in a hollow by a rock a good 300 ft lower was a collection of skinning and tanks remains hidden in a sink hole walking back across the slope way off the path i found one more part with a message written one it giving the planes details dated 1990

F/O Marek Slonski-Ostoja P.A.F
F/Lt Paul Riches DFC R.A.F.V.R

Wellington BJ664, 13th September 1943 12 OTU RAF Chipping Warden ,Burrow Iron age hill fort near Cravern arms

 A nice walk out to Burrow Iron age hill fort near Cravern arms , Shropshire a massive structure but also the final destination of Wellington BJ664 flying from 12 OTU RAF Chipping Warden, Oxfordshire on the 13th September 1943 on a map reading exercise and trip to a local bombing range after arriving at Conway North wales the crew flew south into ever poorer weather until over the Church Stretton area a large thunderstorm was encountered after a large flash the plane was seen to be in trouble loosing height it crashed into trees inside the fort walls and disintegrated with the loss of all crew

 Today nothing but broken tree stumps give any hint of what happened in this tranquil place and as a scheduled monument I didn't really want to be digging around

Crew =
F/L J E Fairchild
Sgt C S Walters
F/L R T Bowen
Sgt E Gates
Sgt E A Opie RCAF
F/S B Green
Sgt E Davis
Sgt T Johnson
On the way home passed Eudon Mills near Bridgenorth where 6 days before this sad loss Wellington BJ621 from 12 OTU crashed with the loss of all crew

Sabres Mk4 XD730 and XD707,22nd of July 1954 Ashop Moor, Kinder scout RAF Linton-on-Ouse

 Second site on my last walk was over Kinder Scout to Mill Hill I visited the remains of 2 Sabre Mk 4's lying on Ashop Moor the planes flying as part of a 4 ship practice interception on the 22nd of July 1954 from RAF Linton-on-Ouse but due to poor weather the planes were returning to base , two XD730 and XD707 became separated from the lead pair and were seen to break cloud over Kinder reservoir at around 1000ft heading directly at the 2000ft Kinder but in the cloud the planes may have collided causing the crash or struck the rising ground ? either way the planes broke up over a wide area with the biggest remains being thrown into the Ashop Valley both Pilots were sadly lost

 At the site some big bits still lay on the moor further up a collection of electrical components and internal parts lie scattered near a small burnt area i found a heavily corroded tank cover and in the nearby stream this chute which i may be wrong but maybe something to do with the armament ?
there are other remains on the top of Kinder but i came over the top way off track and missed them this time

 Crew =
F/o J.D.Horne, XD707
Flt A.Green ,XD730

Hampden AE381 of 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe ,Cluther rocks Kinder, 21st January 1942

 Finally a trip up north again this time to 2 sites around Kinder the first is at Cluther rocks high above Hayfield where on the 21st January 1942 Hampden AE381 of 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe crashed in very bad weather trying to get down at Ringway, Manchester the plane flying a leaflet mission had been forced back due to the deteriorating conditions, off course the plane was following the radio beam for Ringway but passed by in the murk and blizzard conditions shortly after impacting the rocks and slope of Cluther Rock exploding into flames with the sad loss of the crew of 4 .

 At the site many small parts remain in 2 collections and under the rocks where the bomber burned i did find one corroded .303 and many small bits of glass and battery case .

Crew lost =
Sgt S.Peters
Sgt R.G.Heron
Sgt W.C.Williams
Sgt W.T.Tromans