BLACKBURN BOTHA W5103


Located on Round Hill ,part of Bleaklow in the Peak District

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  This uncommon aircraft had a poor reputation largely deserved . 442 were ordered by the RAF in 1936 to provide cover for Coastal Command , Torpedo attack, bombing and reconnaissance were its intended duties. Unfortunately it never had the engine to suit its weight . Four aircraft were lost between March and July 1940 and its bad reputation was sealed .Only 30 aircraft actually entered frontline service , only one being lost in the 3 months of that service before being withdrawn . They went on to be used as trainers but proved unsuitable for this role too , eventually ending life as target tug aircraft . This aircraft was a new one en route to No.48 Maintenance Unit at RAF Hawarden , on the 10th December 1941 .
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  The aircraft crashed into Round Hill on Bleaklow in the Peak District in bad weather , nothing wrong could be found with the aircraft and it is assumed that the pilot was trying to fly between the cloud and hillside when he crashed . The pilot , sole crew member on this ferry flight was killed.
  F/O Thomas William Rodgers of the ATA
  Two large wing sections remain on site with a plethra of smaller fragments surrounding them and scattered in a number of grougths which radiate out from the hill top crash site .