De Havilland Vampire VZ874

DE HAVILLAND VAMPIRE VZ874

A 'VZ'  in rocks denotes the location the aircraft impacted the mountain

 On the 12th October 1956  at 1910 hours this aircraft , the De Havilland Vampire VZ874 took off from RAF Valley on nearby Anglesey.  The pilot, a member of the Fleet air Arm, Sub-Lt R. Davies was in training on Vampires and had just begun his night flying training having already flown a total of 110 hours in the type. His brief that night was to fly locally and do circuits (landings and takeoffs at the airfield).
Flying by instruments alone and only ten minutes after taking off the aircraft crashed into the West of the summit of Mynydd Mawr in Snowdonia. Unfortunately Sub-Lt Davies was killed in the crash.
The aircraft is said to have exploded on impact many parts of the aircraft continued across the summit and fell into the the cwm below  on the East face of the  summit.
The alleged impact point is now marked by the aircraft's letters in the scree a V and a Z .We found nothing here now...but possibly didnt look hard enough because photographs of small fragments can be seen on the internet.
On descending into Cwm Planwydd we had more success finding engine parts and aircraft spars.
The Aircraft a D.H. 100 F.B.Mk 5 was built at Broughton as a batch order of 63 machines.

A spar and some engine parts in the Cwm

 De Havilland Mosquito MkII W4088

Undercarriage

On the 1st November 1944 this Mosquito Aircraft crashed into Mynydd Mawr in  North Wales.
Flying out of RAF Cranfield on a night navigation exercise the crew became misplaced and crashed into the hillside at a col below the summit. The aircraft broke up and was scattered over a wide area, the bulk of it coming to rest and burning out.
This location can still be seen. a liberal scattering of brass screws from the wooden aircrafts structure and molten alloy from the engines cover the site.
Further down the hill a substantial section of undercarriage remains still with timber extant attached.
Other smaller pieces of wreckage can be found with a careful search of the area.
Unfortunately both crewmen were killed in the crash. They were

Captain J. De Thuisy
and
Pilot Officer J. Marchal

Location where the aircraft burnt out

Our visit took place on the 71st anniversary of the crash.

Avro Lancaster NE132

Avro Lancaster NE132

Wreckage lays amongst the scree in the foreground 

Reduction gear still with stubs of the props attached

 On the 6th February 1945 flying out of RAF North Luffenham  , Lancaster NE132 crashed into the flank of Rhinog Fawr in North Wales whilst on a cross country training flight .
The aircraft apparently entered a Cumulo-Nimbus cloud,  ice formed upon the  fuselage and wings causing a catastrophic airframe failure . The aircraft broke up in flight plummeting down into the mountainside .

 Fatigue may have played its part for the aircraft had completed many missions over enemy territory before being 'retired' into No. 1653 HCU for use in training .

Engine parts

The whole crew of 7 men died.

F/O David H.R.Evans    Pilot
F/O Maxwell W. Moon  Navigator
Sgt. Charles W. Souden   Bomb Aimer
Sgt. George E.W. Hodge  Flt. Engineer
Sgt. Arthur D. Gash          Air Gunner
Sgt. Harold Neilsen          Air Gunner
Sgt. Alfred E. Oliff      Air Gunner/Wireless Op


F/O;s Evans and Moon were  Australian and members of the RAAF.
 Sgt Neilsen was from Chile .

It is known that two of the men managed to bale out but were too low for their parachutes to open properly .
The bodies of two other crewmen, F/O Evans and Sgt Gash  have never been found . This makes the main  impact point a war grave . Their names are on the Runnymede Memorial . F/O Evans on panel 283 and Sgt Gash on panel 272 .

Blackburn Botha L6202

Blackburn Botha L6202

The engine that never gets found ..... I stood on it but missed it ...good job one of us was looking !

Flying out of Hooton Park on a training flight on the 28th August 1943. L6202 crashed into the mountain Llwytmoor in Snowdonia ,Wales.
The weather was fine and clear except for the peaks of the Welsh mountains .
The weather though ,deteriorated after the crash which resulted in the search and rescue operation taking over 5 days to complete. The aircraft must have hit the mountain at high speed ,  the engines tumbling down the mountain from the impact point , a large gouge can still be seen in the rock made by the engine just prior to becoming wedged in this prominent position. The second engine made it all the way down the very steep slope  to the stream . 
The 4 crewmen were all killed .

Sgt. George M. Heppinstall     Pilot
Sgt. William Fearson               WO/AG
Sgt. Douglas Hargreaves       WO/AG
Sgt. Wendlin Bettin                   WO/AG

Sgt. Bettin was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force .

The usual shot !

some of the wreckage that is strewn down the hillside

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 .

Grumman Avenger FN821

On the 3rd February 1944 this aircraft from 848 Squadron crashed into Trum y Fawnog during a snowstorm . The aircraft apparently shed a wing before crashing into the ground at high speed , Doylerush says the aircraft was armed with a torpedo.
It was on a flight from Gosport to HMS Robin in the Orkney Islands stopping at Machrihanish on the way .
It is also said that there were Four people killed on the flight but some sources only say three were killed .
Whatever the truth is ,only three names are at present known . If any one can bring light to the subject please feel free to add comment with the facts .

The site showed signs that it had been recently dugby someone after loot and  aviation treasures . The very fact that this was a violent aircrash and there is a distinct possibility of a missing crewmember/passenger this is near to being grave robbing . 

The known crew who were killed were

1st Pilot S/L William Seddon Appleby (24)
2nd Pilot S/L Ernest Hartley Green (22)
Observer S/L Joe Lupton (21)

Pilot Appleby was from New Zealand , he died in the cold a long long way from home .

we found poking out of the ground the emergency door lever in part open position still attached to part of the  cockpit frame .
It occured to me that one of these mens last actions on earth may have been to attempt to escape the aircraft using this handle . See below for a clear shot of the writing on the handle .

.

Squadron badge

A Fleet Airarm Grumman Avenger

The emergency door release handle

Bristol Blenheim L4873

wing spar

impact crater

On the 23rd March 1940 Bristol Blenheim L4873 flying out of RAF Upwood on a formation flying exercise with two other Blenheims became lost in cloud .
The two other aircraft found clear sky and returned to base but the pilot and crew of L4873 became increasingly disorientated in the cloud .
Eventually, it is presumed, they decided to try and descend under the cloud cover to try and get a fix on thier position.
Instead of finding the cloud base they found the shoulder of Foel Wen in the Berwyn Mountains ,North Wales. The aircraft was utterly destroyed on collision with the mountain.
A teardrop shaped impact crater can still be clearly seen , its shape indicative of the angle of descent .
A substantial amount of still painted (in part) aircraft fragments can be seen amongst the deep grass . Fuselage parts showing signs of impact crumpling , wing sections less damaged but now heavily corroded.
The three man crew were all killed

Sgt. Maurice Charles Cotterell Pilot
Sgt Ronald Jesse Harbour Observer
AC2 Kenneth Charles Winterton WO+AG

Bristol Blenheim IV in Finnish colours

Wellington BJ697

BJ697 took off from Chipping Warden on a night- time cross-country training exercise on the 26th September 1942 .
Off route presumably lost the aircraft descended through cloud crashing near to Fan Hir on Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons .
The crew of four all initially survived the impact , one unharmed three badly injured . Subsequently , three days later, the pilot died of his injuries.
The crew were

F/Sgt Kenneth S. H. Bird (died of injuries, 29.9.42)
Sgt J. Head (unhurt, helped locals carry the injured off the hill )
Sgt. W.D. Barr Injured
Sgt.W.A.Fairweather Injured

Flight Sergeant Bird is buried in St Leonard's churchyard, Cliddesden, Hampshire.

I have found mention of a Sgt Troubridge who is alleged to have been in the crew and was an injured survivor in the crash but have been unable to substantiate this claim at the present time .

The scar which marks the imact is now denoted with a small cairn

Vampire VZ106

On the 9th October 1953 flying out of RAF Pembrey this De Havilland Vampire aircraft was flying as the lead aircraft of a pair of Vampires . Descending through cloud the pilot must have failed to see the ground approaching and hit the western slope of Fan Fir on the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The pilot of the second aircraft did see the ground and managed to avoid collision with it , a fortunate escape for him.
The pilot of the first Aircraft died in the crash. He was

P/O John Raymond Baldock

A huge amount of this aircraft remains at the site . Someone as collected the majority of it and layed it out into the rough shape of a Vampire aircraft .
These shots show the location of the main wreckage pool amidst the mountains!

Definately better on black in the lightbox , Thanks for pointing that out Al. You can see the depth of field thingy better there! gives a 3D style effect .

Wellington MF509

 On the 20th November 1944 this Wellington bomber crashed on Carrog Goch in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
Flying out of RAF Wellebourne for a nightime  navigation exercise. Shortly before  20.50 hrs the crew sent a radio message asking permission to go below cloud as they were having trouble with the starboard engine. They descended and hit the hill.
 All six crewman were killed.
They were
  Sgt CHARLES HAMEL Pilot
 Sgt JULES ROBERT RENE VILLENEUVE Nav
 F/O WILLIAM JOSEPH ALLISON B/A
 Sgt JOSEPH PAUL ERNEST BURKE WO/AG
 Sgt ARTHUR GROUIX A/G
 Sgt GERARD DUSABLON A/G
 Probaly this parks best preserved crash site, it is often visited by enthusiasts and casual walkers alike .
Despite feeling in the middle of nowhere once there,  it is in fact quite easy to get to without too much hardship..

Martin B-26 44-68072

 An unusual last journey for this aircraft and crew began in Morrisfield, Florida before continuing on its exotic way through Trinidad ,Brazil , Dakar, Marrakech,before finally landing at RAF St. Mawgan in Cornwall. The last section of the journey was to Burtonwood in Lancashire . They set off from St. Mawgan at 12.38 for the final short leg on the 1st. February 1945 . They were destined to never arrive at Burtonwood .
Low cloud and high winds resulted in them going off course and flying at just over 3000 feet they decided to either land not realising they were off course or to attempt to get a fix by dropping beneath the clouds . Perhaps unaware of the dangers of flying in the UK in cloud they descended straight into the  near  summit   of Y Garn in the Snowdonia mountain range Wales.
The aircraft broke in two on impact the front section hurtling over the ridge and down into Cwm Cywion . One crew member lay dead near the summit the other four remained in the wreckage that went down into the Cwm . Eyewitness accounts of the scene state that they could  not have  survived  the intial impact .
It was another two days before the bodies were recovered from the snow covered mountain.
The crew of 5 were
2ndLt. Kenneth W.Carty Pilot
2ndLt William H. Cardwell Co-pilot
1stLt. Nolen  B. Sowell Nav.
Cpl. Jack D. Arnold Rad. Op.
Cpl. Rudolph M . Aguirre Eng.

All were from States across America .
Up to the 60's and 70's much wreckage remained but since then 'enthusiasts ' have removed it .....very little remains now at the summit , we found small pieces of alloy from an engine cylinder casing and a few shards of glass there. More is to be found in the Cwm and on the scree but even then it amounts to very little .
A tragic event , the crewmen never really had a chance to aclimatise themselves to the weather over the UK which claimed a very many lives during the war .
An undercarriage leg in a stream   is pictured above.

Ian stood on the impact point

Canberra WK129

 On the 9th of December 1957 this Canberra B2 whilst working on Radar trails, with the radar station on the  near-by mountain  'Drum', crashed at high speed into a mountain  ridge just below the summit of Carnedd Llwelwyn  . Hitting the North-West facing slope the aircraft travelling at high speed continued over the ridge and disintegrated over and around Ffynnon Llyffant , the highest lake in Wales.
Wreckage can be found over a great distance , there is so much in fact as to be near impossible to miss. The reason for the crash is not known.
 Tragically both crew men were killed in the crash . They were

F/Lt William Albert Bell  Pilot
F/Lt Kenneth Charles Frederick Shelley Navigator

This shot shows a plaque made from part of the aircraft attached to one of the engine parts