Vampire WA400

On the 25th of July 1951 this Vampire aircraft ,piloted by F/O Lawerence Beckford,
crashed into Strines Moor in the Peak District.
The pilot had been on training exercise when he ran out of fuel on the leg back to base . It is suspected that his compass was not re-set correctly after a session of aerobatics but on realising the impending lack of fuel he used his resources and chose to attempt a wheels up landing on this flat moor.
In this he was both successful and a little lucky , for he managed not to hit any of the rocks which are strewn amongst the deep heather.
On landing he was aided from the aircraft by a local just before it burst into flames . The aircraft burned to destruction.
All thats left are lumps of molten alloy and a few fragments of tubing and glass.

This is one of the easiest of sites to visit on moorland ......you can even see my car in the shot if looked at in original size. 250 metres, tops, from the gate by the road to the crash site. Its hard to imagine that its location had been 'lost' for all those years.

Luftwaffe Dornier Do-217E-4 4342

On the night of 17 December 1942, German bomber Do 217 4342 flying from its base at Deelen- Arnhem in Holland, crashed on the moors east of Northallerton while on a bombing raid on the city of York.

The Dornier struck a wall on Easterside Hill in what is now the North York Moors National Park, some 24 miles from its intended target.

All those on board were killed in the crash. The remains of the pilot and observer were never recovered.

We found just one small fragment of debris remaining (pictured above) which we buried close to the crash site.

CREW
Oberleutnant Rolf Hausner (or Häussner?) - pilot
Unteroffizier Sirius Erd - observer
Oberfeldwebel Hartwig Hupe - wireless operator
Oberfeldwebel Ernst Weiderer - engineer

Avro Anson N9855

Crumpled wreckage

Undercarriage

On the 8th November 1943 this aircraft flying out of RAF Halfpenny Green on a night navigation exercise crashed close to the top of Pen yr Ole Wen in Snowdonia ,North Wales . There are few small bits of wreckage to be found on the steep slopes , and trace evidence at the impact point itself . Although I only looked over the edge at it and it didnt seem worth the risk going down for a proper look.
There were five crew members all of which lost their lives. The aircraft crashed into the mountain and caught fire, then dropped onto the plateau below beside the lake.

Below is an exerpt from a report that can be found on Aviation Safety Network website. There are flaws the largest one being a picture of the wing from the ventura crash that is perported to be the Anson (the anson had wooden wings which by their own report were burnt).

'' During the evening of the 8th November 1943 to crew of five took off for a night navigation exercise. The route was to have covered approx. 320 miles passing over of close to the following points Base - Rhyl - Conwy - Douglas - Maughold Head - Chetton - Base. A short way into the flight the crew received a QDM from RAF Tilstock of 050 degrees with the location of the aircraft being assumed to be in the area of 4 miles NW of Shawbury roughly on course for Rhyl. It was next plotted by the Royal Observer Corps on a route that appeared to be a direct track from Wrexham to Conwy.

A direct track from the Wrexham area to Conwy would not normally have taken an aircraft into Snowdonia, but on the night there was a 15 mph wind blowing from west north west which the Court of Inquiry remarked on as "if correction for drift was not taken the aircraft would drift south of the second turning point"

At around 20:30 the ROC observed a fire near Carnedd Dafydd, shortly before this the aircraft while flying in a north westerly direction had impacted the upper slopes of Pen yr Ole Wen. The aircraft's engines had been torn off and rolled almost 1000 feet down the mountain and the fuel tanks had ruptured with their contents igniting. The fuselage was destroyed but was not burnt by the fire. ''
The crew who were all killed were
Sgt. Ernest Andrew Hoagg RCAF Pilot
Sgt. John Hedgley Lewis RAAF Nav
Sgt. William Gavin RAF BA
Sgt. Leslie John Hill RAF WO/AG
Sgt. Douglas John Roberts RAF WO/AG

There does seem to be a great deal of confusion as to which wreckage comes from what aircraft here . Definatively the undercarriage sections at the tarn side came from the Anson and panels painted yellow also came from the Anson ....but some of the wreckage contained Lockheeds factory mark so were definately from the Ventura despite reports that state only the wing was from the Ventura.

this could be from a number of aircraft not just the Anson.