Showing posts with label Bristol Beaufighter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bristol Beaufighter. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Bristol Beaufighter RD210


Bristol Beaufighter RD210

looking up the mountain toward the gulley which contains much wreckage

On the 10th of February 1945 this aircraft flying out of RAF Pershore to test fuel consumption rates crashed into the rockface of Aran Fawddwy  presumably  they had become  lost  whilst flying through some  bad weather .  They were part of No1 Ferry Unit .

The two man crew  were killed . 
They were 

F/O Alan L. Roe    Pilot   RAAF

W/O  Derrick R. Newbury      Nav     RAF

The gulley is very steep and has a 'bad step' not far down . We descended in fairly deep snow which made the going easier at least at the top . luckily it had recently avalanched and seemed as safe as something like this can be , with broken snow till it became to thin to matter . 
The bad step was a pig and covered in ice if youre gonna go down be sure of your abilities !  Its probaly easier to go up in summer!  
It was though great fun ....less fun was climbing back up and over the mountain to get back to the car ...a basic error of thought ....Aran Fawddwy is a big mountain and we did it twice the hard way !

This is the highest bit of wreckage we found , its quite large , there is probaly more higher but the snow cover prevented us from seeing it . 
That is my ice axe giving a bit of scale .










Looking down hill at the foot of the gulley , a peice of undercarriage is eveident in the foreground . Ian can be seen looking back up giving scale to the scene . The snow is definately thinning out here .
A small section of panel
Ian looking at a chunk and looking like he has enjoyed the scramble down the gulley
there are largish chunks all the way down to the water . Although we never did find one of the engines that was reportedly at the waters edge .
Ian at the top of the gulley close to the summit , the snow on the rocks doesnt look that deep but it was over knee high in more sheltered places and on the North side of the mountain it was a punishing climb to the top despite being a more gentle gradient
Thats me , rolling down the gulley , nimble like a fox ! It looks sunny but it was just a brief respite from the snow showers that came and went all day . Its amazing where this hobby can take you .