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Galloway Air Crashes 1940 - 1979 Adventure, Hills and History By Barry Donnan 'Military aircraft crash sites are an important part of Britain's military and aviation heritage. Predominantly dating from World War II, during which there was a massive expansion in air activity over the UK, they comprise the buried, submerged or surface remains of aircraft, most of which crashed either in combat or training.' Military Aircraft Crash Sites - Historic England (2002) In my last article published on FlightSim.Com, I examined a double air crash that took place high on the slopes of Meikle Craigtarson, a remote and steep western spur of Galloway's second highest mountain, Corserine (2,617 ft) on 9th January 1939. You can read the full article here. On the 27th of November 1940, Armstrong Whitley P5009, with three crew onboard departed from RAF Dumfries for a short transit flight to RAF West Freugh. The crew were tasked with picking up a small group of RAF officers at West Freugh, before returning to Dumfries. In command was Pilot Officer Leon Szamrajew of the Polish Air Force, with Flight Sergeant Jerzy Luszczewski, as the co-pilot. 19-year-old aircraftman Douglas Barnes of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was the third crew member. The Whitley belonged to 10 Bombing and Gunnery School, redesignated as 10 Air Observer School, a month before in September 1940. Atrocious weather meant the briefed flight route was to the south of the normal track across the Solway to West Freugh. The route was intended to avoid the mountainous terrain of the Galloway hills. In this area the high ground is composed of twenty-eight mountains over 2,000 ft and four that are above 2,500 ft. In the depths of winter, thick low cloud hangs on the tops for weeks, driving rain and severe wind shear, make the area extremely hazardous for aviators. Only fifteen minutes after departure P5009 was last seen by the Royal Observer Corps, a few miles to the west of St. John's Town of Dalry. This track showed the crew were well north of their advised route and dangerously close to the mountainous terrain, on the eastern side of the Galloway hills. The Armstrong Whitley was never seen again. During the Second World War years, the rolling hills and glens of Wigtownshire were abundant in hill farms. Modern forest tracks didn't exist. The Sitka spruce plantations that are familiar to modern hill walkers, mountain bikers, and visitors came later, in 1947, with the creation of Galloway Forest Park. The nature of the terrain presented great difficulty to those who were involved in search and recovery operations. Even today, hill-walkers find the terrain challenging both physically and mentally. An extensive search of the hills was arranged, with miles and miles of boggy upland terrain painstakingly searched on foot by volunteers' teams from RAF Wigtown. Local shepherds were also asked to maintain vigilance as they wandered the hills looking after their flock. For many days, the search teams hunted high and low, with no trace of the aircraft found. Image 1. Loch Enoch from the nearby summit of Craignaw. The Merrick is the first peak on the left. Craignaw was also the scene of an air accident in 1979, when a USAF F1-11E impacted just below the summit. Loch Enoch is an extensive body of deep water. (Image 1). The remote hill loch lies to the east of The Merrick (843m), the highest mountain on the southern Scottish mainland. Only Goatfell (874m) to the west on the Isle of Arran, and Ben Lomond (974m), in the southern highlands are higher. Scottish broadcaster and author Tom Weir, writing in The Scottish Lochs, published in 1972, describes Loch Enoch as, 'a strange, ragged loch with islands at 1,617 feet ringed by naked rock slabs and strewn with boulders as if the ice had melted yesterday.' Image 2. Whitley P5009 impacted in the promontory in the middle right of the image. James McBain discussed the loch extensively in his excellent book The Merrick and the Neighbouring Hills published in 1929. Famously (and perhaps rather foolishly) James waited until Loch Enoch was frozen over in the depths of a harsh winter, before walking onto the ice, to plumb the depths of the loch. After chiselling a small hole, James dropped a weighted line into the chilly waters, recording a depth of 127 foot, making the loch the deepest in the south-west of Scotland. (Image 2). James noted, ' During my sojourn on the loch the wind never ceased to drive ribbons of snow, falling from the clouds, across the ice, and it was excessively cold.' The Galloway Highlands have thirty-one major lochs dotted around the landscape. During the First World War rumours circulated locally that German seaplanes were using the remote lochs as a secret base. Henry Morton, journalist and travel writer wrote, 'There were stories of strange signal lights and of German petrol dump placed there for the use of Hydroplanes, that had a secret base on one the locals.' Eventually a large number of soldiers from the King's Own Scottish Borderers were based in Glen Trool, scouring the hills for any signs of activity. The soldiers never found a secret base, but they stumbled across the Glen Trool Hoard. A collection of Bronze Age artifacts that had lay undisturbed for thousands of years when they were placed underneath a rocky overhang, as an offering to the gods. https://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-034-662-C Image 3. A significant amount of P5009 lies scattered beside the loch. Two weeks after the Armstrong Whitely was last seen above St. John's Town of Dalry, a shepherd discovered the aircraft wreckage on the southern shore of Loch Enoch. All three flight crew were deceased. Sadly, the remains of Douglas Barnes were never found. The boggy area around the crash site and the waters of the loch are a designated war grave, and it was assumed Douglas entered the water along with large sections of the aircraft. (Image 3). Image 4. Me, Craig and Scott after a blustery night camped near the loch. In the winter of 2018, myself and two friends, Craig and Scott, camped in a nearby forest and the following morning we trekked over the rough waterlogged terrain and placed a wooden cross of remembrance beside the crash site. (Image 4). The weather was wild and unpredictable as it would have been when the Whitley crashed. Nearly seventy-eight years later and significant remains lie scattered around the peaty bog. Pilot Officer Leon Szamrajew and his co-pilot, Flight Sergeant Jerzy Luszczewski, are both buried in St. Andrews Cemetery in Dumfries. (Image 5). Image 5. A remembrance cross we placed beside the crash site. [page][/page] On the northern shore of Loch Enoch, lies a small memorial to Tommy Withers, an enthusiast hill walker from Ayrshire, who researched the history behind many of the air accidents. Tommy also kept a watchful eye on many of the aircraft wrecks in the area. He also helped construct a memorial to the F1-11 crash near the rocky summit of Craignaw in 1987. (Image 6). Image 6. Tommy Withers memorial at Loch Enoch. During our hill-walking excursions, my friend Scott films some of our adventures on a drone, if and when the weather allows. This footage was taken in the late summer of 2020 and after a night camped out on the lower slopes of the Merrick. It's beautifully filmed and allows you to gain an understanding of the terrain and also a glimpse of Loch Enoch. In recent years, the prolonged search for two aircraft - both Spitfires - caught the public's imagination and attracted widespread media interest locally and nationally. The Loch Doon Spitfire P7540, was eventually recovered from the murky depths of the loch, in 1982. I'll return to that story in my next article. Spitfire AD540 was known as the 'Blue Peter Spitfire' after funds were raised at Newmarket in 1941 to build the iconic aircraft, in commemoration of this generous gift. The Spitfire was named after the 1939 winner of the Derby Stakes. On the 23rd of May 1942 AD540 departed from RAF Heathfield on the Ayrshire coast before climbing out over the Firth of Clyde. Pilot Officer David Hunter-Blair was at the controls of the aircraft. 19 - year old David was a local man and a member of 242 Squadron. His family lived at Blairquhan Castle, fourteen miles from Ayr, surrounded by the river Girvan and the rolling Ayrshire countryside. Strong winds and driving rain lashed AD540 as he climbed above the Ayrshire coast. David's task was to provide top cover for the RMS Queen Mary, a troopship, crammed with American servicemen and women, who had just crossed the Atlantic. After the sortie was complete David's aircraft and another Spitfire were retasked inland over the Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway county border. At an altitude of 20,000 feet David's Spitfire started to behave erratically before dropping into a steep descent through the thick clouds. Pilot Officer Hunter Blair bailed out of the aircraft at a fairly low altitude, AD540 then struck a remote hillside, near the Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (797m). An oxygen system malfunction caused the accident. David was fatally wounded, and eventually buried with full military honours on the family estate. A Royal Air Force recovery team dismantled AD540 in the days after the accident, the wings were reputed to have been transported down the rugged hillside by horse to a local farm. Other sections of the Spitfire were buried at the location. Fifty-one years later, Ralph Davidson, a dedicated member of Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Society, rediscovered the remains of the Blue Peter Spitfire, on the heathery hillside, after many months of searching. (Image 7) Image 7. AD540 and members of Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Society. On 12th July 1993 I was lucky enough to join my dad and other aviation enthusiasts at a small clearing in the forest just off the A713 Ayr to Castle Douglas road. It was a warm summers day, and the Royal Navy based at HMS Gannet in Prestwick loaned the aviation group a Sea-King helicopter to assist with the recovery of AD540. (Image 8). Image 8. A Royal Navy Sea King from 819 Squadron based at HMS Gannet, holding in the hover while its cargo nets are loaded with Spitfire AD540. We cleared the landing site of any debris that could be displaced by the downwash and then we watched in silence as the expertly flown grey Sea-King, made three runs back and forward, carrying the crumpled remains of the Spitfire in cargo nets underslung below the ten-tonne helicopter. Most of the aircraft, including the wings, was recovered having been placed into the ground by the recovery team, in the days following the accident. In September 1993, a piper played a lament as the Battle of Britain Memorial flight flew low and fast, with a wing dipped in memory of David Hunter Blair. A memorial plaque was also unveiled beside the crash site. In October 2019, the wonderful Dominic Smith and myself were able to spend an enjoyable trek into some of Galloway's finest scenery. On a bright autumn day we wandered along the wooded shores of Loch Trool, before heading up a forest track, under the Minigaff hills and onto the slopes of Curleywee (674m). On the summit I was able to point out the location of Backhill of Bush, Meikle Craigtarson, Corserine, and other key locations in the area. The views were endless, and we even managed a wee sip (or two) of whisky at the summit to warm us up before the chilly descent back to Bruce's Stone. (Image 9) Image 9. Me and Dom enjoying the great outdoors near Curleywee. Fading light restricted us slightly timewise and we weren't able to visit a nearby Avro Anson crash site on Bennanbrack. Hopefully, next time Dom? The hipflask is packed away in my rucksack. (Image 10) Image 10. Now where is the hip flask? On the 21st of July 1944 Avro Anson MG356 departed from RAF West Freugh with five crew onboard. The navigator, 25-year-old Sergeant Darius Northmore was under training, along with Sergeant Bertram Becker, an Air Bomber, also learning his role. The Anson belonged to No4 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit. Piloting the aircraft was 21-year-old Flight Sergeant Raymond Crotty of the Royal Australian Air Force. The crew were briefed to conduct a night navigation exercise in the area before returning back to RAF West Freugh. Also onboard were Warrant Officer Peter Smith and Sgt Edward Cresswell, both wireless operators and air gunners. Like so many air accidents in this area, prevailing strong winds pushed MG356 off course, and into dangerous terrain. The crew probably began a descent onto the West Freugh approach beam, mistakenly believing they were over the sea. The Anson struck the remote hillside, destroying the aircraft, with all flight crew fatally wounded in the accident. This is a site I visit regularly and what always strikes me is that perhaps another 100 foot or so, the aircraft might have cleared the high ground. The thin soil and vegetation has never grown back, and the hillside is exposed to the bedrock where it struck. Undercarriage, oxygen bottles, and other debris remain onsite, after all these years. No memorial marks the site. (Image 11). Image 11. The remains of Avro Anson MG356, with a snowy Merrick in the background. Craignaw (645m) is a gnarly granite mountain that lies in the heart of the Galloway range, to the south of the Merrick. Underneath the mountain lies the beautiful shimmering waters of Loch Neldricken, which is framed by its very own white sandy beaches. During our last walk into the mountain, during fine weather, Scott flew the drone, capturing the rugged beauty of the area. Underneath the summit lies a memorial dedicated to the memory of Captain Richard Hetzner and Captain Raymond Spaulding of the USAF. On the 19th of December 1979, a General Dynamics F111E from Upper Heyford was conducting low flying training in the area, when the aircraft struck the south side of the mountain just below the summit. (Image 12). The fast jet was totally destroyed and both crew members died in the accident. Image 12. F1-11E memorial plaque, Craignaw. In 1987 a permanent memorial was erected on the crash site, by members of a local hill-walking group. Virtually nothing remains of the F111E. (Image 13) Image 13. The F1-11 memorial on Craignaw. Virtually nothing of the aircraft remains. The memorial was erected by Tommy Withers and other members of a local hill-walking club. In my next article, I'll be looking at Cairnsmore of Fleet, beside Newton Stewart, which has its own history and witnessed a larger concentration of air accidents than any mountain in the Galloway range. (Image 14) Image 14. Cairnsmore of Fleet. In my next article I'll be looking at a number of accidents on this mountain. Barry Donnan Adventure, Hills and History

Air Crashes in the Galloway Hills By Barry Donnan The Galloway Hills are located in the south-west of Scotland and are renowned these days as a hill-walkers paradise due to their remoteness and the splendid diversity of the upland terrain. The hills form part of the Southern Uplands and the high ground contains the wreckage of numerous aircraft, dating from the interwar years through to the late 1970s. Southern Scotland's highest peak The Merrick 843m (2,766ft) is the highest in the area and is rightly described by one outdoor writer, "as the monarch of the southern Highlands". Looking onto the Dungeon Hills and the Merrick from the Rhinns of Kells. Backhill of Bush can be seen to the left of the middle plantation. The Merrick is my local hill and its start point is just four miles from my back door. Over the years I've stood on its summit trig point in rain, snow, sleet and fairly recently during a winter storm when the temperature was minus 15, with the wind gusting to 60/70 mph, as Storm Jorge battered the country. The highlight of my walking calendar is an ascent onto the Merrick during mid-summer to watch the sunset from its elevated position. Quite a breath-taking experience as the sun drops behind the rugged peaks of the Isle of Arran, bathing the rugged south-western coastline in a golden luminescence. Often, I descend back to Glen Trool under a clear twinkling sky (the area was designated as a Dark Sky Park in 2009) and the only sound is the wind blowing across the tops of the conifer plantations. Mid-summer sunset from the Merrick, looking west to the Isle of Arran. In the winter of 1307 King Robert the Bruce and his small band of supporters used these hills as a place of refuge, frequently moving through the valleys and onto the higher terrain to avoid numerous English cavalry patrols searching for them. Bruce eventually adopted highly successful guerrilla warfare tactics and skilfully used the steep terrain above Loch Trool to ambush a patrol by rolling a volley of rocks and boulders onto the men far below. Despite being massively outnumbered this small victory allowed Bruce to move northwards, and fight once again, eventually turning the tide of the wars in his favor. Bruce is highly regarded as a skillful tactician who used the natural landscape and terrain to his advantage again later in his career. A granite monument on the northern shore of Loch Trool stands on a rocky ledge commemorating the Battle of Glen Trool (1307) and was erected by locals in the summer of 1929. As a dedicated hill-walker I have explored the area for well over thirty years and have developed a deep love and affinity with the landscape and the area. In 2014 I moved to Glentrool Village within Galloway Forest Park, which allows me unlimited access to a rather beautiful and unspoilt corner of Scotland all year round. One of my interests as a historian is in people who have lived or are intertwined with the upland environment and of course the stories that lie behind it all down through the ages. Six groups of hills form the Galloways, and I have focused initially on the Rhinns of Kells, which is a 17km ridge and its highest point Corserine, which has witnessed a number of air accidents over the years. One well documented accident in particular highlights the hazards posed by these hills to aviators, and also the difficulties faced by rescue and recovery teams. Well over 40 aircraft have crashed here over the years, although the exact figure is likely to be much higher. In my spare time (and when studies allow) I have been researching a significant number of other air crashes that have been forgotten about for one reason or another. Aviation first came to Galloway, on 10th August 1913 when a Maurice Farman MF7 from 2 Squadron Royal Flying Corps landed at Cults Farm, Castle Kennedy, creating huge interest. Local schools were closed, and special trains were also laid on to mark the unique occasion. Later in 1941, the landing site was designated as RAF Castle Kennedy. In 1917, a Sea Scout Zero airship operating from the Royal Naval Air Station at Luce Bay, suffered complete engine failure while on patrol. Strong south-westerly winds blew the craft some twenty miles towards the high ground of the Galloway Hills. The pilot crash landed the airship on Larg Hill, south of Loch Trool. The crew were uninjured. The airship was stripped down on the exposed hill-side and was taken to a nearby farm by horse drawn sledges. This incident was likely the first documented air accident in the Galloway Hills. On the 9th January 1939, Avro Anson L9153 took off from Prestwick to conduct a night navigation exercise. The aircraft was flown by three members of the RAF, and a civilian wireless operator. During the flight the aircraft became unaware of his position and the navigator contacted Renfrew airfield for clarification. Shortly after, radio contact was lost, and the aircraft and its crew were reported missing. Early the following morning, William McCubbin, a hill-shepherd who lived in Backhill of the Bush, in the isolated Doon-Dee valley under the Rhinns of Kells range, noticed a plume of black smoke rising from Meikle Craigtarson. The Meikle is a huge protruding western spur of Galloway's second highest hill, the mighty Corserine (2,671ft). Backhill of Bush is remote even by today's standards and is often mentioned in local mountain literature as one the remotest dwellings in the whole of southern Scotland. (Image 4). Backhill of Bush. The rescue party spent the night here, some sleeping outside in freezing temperatures. William McCubbin's cottage is now a bothy for walkers. McCubbin walked up the extremely steep spur, taking over an hour to reach the plume of smoke. The Anson was completely destroyed, and the four aircrew had been fatally injured. He then set off down the hill-side to inform the authorities about the location of the wreckage. This must have taken considerable amount of time, as it was roughly six miles to the nearest roadhead, through rough terrain. Undercarriage of Avro Anson L9153 on Meikle Craigtarson. In many of the newspaper archives of Galloway air crashes, that I have examined, hill-shepherds like William McCubbin and others were often the first to spot anything unusual in the hills, and their local knowledge was also used to guide search teams in and out of the area. They played a pivotal role that has largely gone unacknowledged over the years. News eventually reached the RAF officers at Prestwick airport that the wreck had been found. The nearest airfield to the crash site had the responsibility of recovery. Prestwick was fifty miles away. Flight Lieutenant David McIntyre hastily pulled together a stretcher party of forty men. McIntyre was no stranger to the mountain environment and challenging winter conditions. In 3rd April 1933, David made aviation history with the first flight over Mount Everest in an open cockpit Westland Wallace bi-plane. As they flew towards the roof of the world, strong downdrafts pulled McIntyre's aircraft from 33,000ft rapidly downwards, before updrafts blew it back up again. This allowed them to literally skim just 100ft above the world's highest mountain, in freezing temperatures of minus 50, before returning to their landing strip in India. McCubbin guided the recovery party of forty men back onto the hill later that day and were astonished to find another aircraft had crashed near the wreckage of the Anson. The Tiger Moth L6932 also from Prestwick had been searching for the lost Anson on the Kells range and flew down for a closer look when he spotted the burning wreckage. The aircraft hit severe turbulence and it impacted into nearby boggy ground. The aircraft was destroyed. Both crew were unhurt and managed to crawl out of the cockpit and then headed for Backhill of Bush. McIntyre's men set off for the crash site to assess the arduous task that lay ahead of them. The conditions were atrocious on the hill-side. Winter daylight hours in Scotland are extremely short. It was already dark and well below freezing. Using hurricane lamps, the team waded through waist deep icy streams. Many were slipping on the ice, wearing ordinary shoes and thin dress trousers while their breaths froze in the winter air. The decision was taken to walk back to McCubbin's small cottage and make the recovery of their flying colleagues the following day. Backhill of Bush was renowned for its hospitality, and the McCubbin's squeezed a few men into the cottage. Others slept in the barn outside. The majority, however, slept outside under their jackets. No doubt, it was a long and cold night overlooking the Dungeon of the Buchan. Mrs. McCubbin cooked a breakfast for all the men before they set off once again. This time they managed to recover the deceased aircrew and began to stretcher them off the hill through extremely remote and boggy hill country. William McCubbin skilfully guided the party towards Loch Doon. There were no tracks, no paths. The men were exhausted. One or two collapsed but got back up and carried on. Eventually they made the road head where they met waiting vehicles. Their mission was over. Until the next call out. Loch Doon from the Rhinns of Kells, where McIntyre's stretcher party reached the roadhead and waiting vehicles, with some team members suffering exhaustion. With the onset of the Second World War, a number of RAF airfields opened on the periphery of the Galloway Hills. West Freugh, Dumfries, and RAF Wigtown lost a number of aircraft and crews. Wigtown in particular suffered heavy losses. Over a four-year period between 1941 and 1945 the Baldoon base lost twenty-seven aircraft with the loss of sixty-seven lives. Another Anson crash site, high on the summit of Corserine. One senior officer said, "Being a training unit, Wigtown had many men with limited medical categories, which meant that the servicing personnel, all fit men, had to provide the rescue parties. This hindered routine maintenance and since there no specialised equipment, such as jeeps to carry the injured, the party size was based on 16 men per casualty to allow for reliefs." He continued, "At the beginning of 1944 we were given a jeep and a four-wheel drive ambulance, but in practise they were of limited use because they could only get a shortish distance off the roads. I recall an Anson which flew straight into the side of Cairnsmore of Fleet. The scene of the crash was about four miles from any road and the bodies had to be carried up to the top of Cairnsmore before starting the journey back. Before they got to the road the men were so exhausted - it was two in the morning - I had to give orders to leave the deceased aircrew under the lee of a wall, and send out a fresh party in the morning to recover them." Eventually a dedicated Mountain Rescue Unit was set up at RAF Wigtown in early 1944, one of only four in Scotland. There was significant collaboration between the base and their colleagues in RAF Llandwrog in Wales, who also operated near mountainous terrain and had set up a pioneering Mountain Rescue Unit. Wigtown also enlisted the help of an ex-member of the Alpine Corps, who trained the thirty volunteer members in skills, such as mountain navigation, coordinated search techniques and other necessary skills, allowing them to operate in this remote corner of Scotland. The author outside Backhill of Bush, after enjoying a traverse of the Rhinns of Kells. The area continues to be used by fast-jet and rotary wing aircrew as a designated low-flying zone, which are cleared to 250ft and 80ft respectively. For those interested in learning more about the area, the old RAF Dumfries, is the site of an excellent Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum. www.dumfriesaviationmuseum.com There is also the Solway Military Trail, featuring four trails including the above aviation museum. www.solwaymilitarytrail.co.uk Finally, if you visit the south-west of Scotland, be sure to pack your walking boots and spend a wee while exploring the beautiful Galloway Hills. You won't be disappointed! Barry Donnan