High Ground Wrecks

[F4MPHIXER]

Is there still much interest in High Ground crash sites? I've just found my box of old books from the late 80's, early 90's when I spent most summers walking the hills looking for wrecks. High Ground Wrecks, Crash Logs etc approx 30 on the subject all need to go as the box is taking up room. Is it worth trying them on a well known internet auction site or has the interest now faded with little to be found?

[Atcham Tower]

Have a look at abebooks.com. You'll be surprised at the prices asked for some of them. Defiant Crash Log at £95 anyone? Definitely worth trying that auction site!

[F4MPHIXER]

That was interesting to hear, I've got the Defiant, Mosquito and Hampden log available and various others on crash sites in Snowdonia, Peaks, Lakes and Yorkshire.

[scotavia]

That has triggered a major nostalgia outbreak for me..

BAAC,WWIG,SWWAPS,DAS,CAMRA...White Rose Base,Wreckology column in Aviation News and walking to countless lumps of rock on hillsides cursing the innacurate grid refs !

I still have my boxes of books,notes and a few pictures.

[Anon]

I seem to remember one or two of the guide books purposefully gave incorrect grid references as whilst they reported on the site they didn't want people going there and taking bits away.

There were murmers of culpability in the event of someone getting lost or injured looking for something that wasn't where the books said it was.

Anon.

[Air Ministry]

This was a boon in the pre-book guide/pre-internet days. A single sheet, printed list of Peak District wrecks, published by Paul Connatty, one of the N.A.P.S. stalwarts. This is Issue No. 10, November 1975.

In fact I still use the map references he quotes as a guide when planning the occasional nostalgic walk on the hills with my chum. They are usually pretty accurate and assisted by GPS it's quite easy to locate the sites. Nothing like they were "in the good old days" though.

[paulmcmillan]

Intersting list


Air Minitry what do #19 and #22 say please. I can't make out the type


Paul

[Air Ministry]

Hi pm, I kept the resolution low because I haven't seen Paul in years and while I doubt he would mind me posting a scan of his log as a piece of nostalgia for us old bog trotters, he might not wish the details to be published.

That said, item 19 refers to a USAAF A20, which I don't think was ever confirmed, and item 22 is incomplete - site: Blackden Edge, no type or other details listed. I'm sure contemporary researchers could fill us in.

[Atcham Tower]

I've got a copy of that list too. There was an A-20 crash in the Peaks but some way south of that position on relatively low ground.

And for Anon, the HGW books certainly never featured deliberately wrong map refs, just errors from poor map reading or duff gen from contributors! A few particularly good wrecks were simply left out but they got pillaged anyway.

[Alan Clark]

That old list has some interesting features on it, shows up what information was & wasn't available then.

The Blackden Edge site is Halifax HR727, it was a fairly spread out site back then. Even 10 years ago it was still well spread out but has virtually all been gathered in more recent years into a single collection. The other site on that area of Kinder is Wellington X3348.

As Dave said the A-20 was quite a way to the south between Buxton & Leek, that 'rumour' at the head of the Longdendale valley seems to have been a corruption of the Botha on Round Hill a little to the SW.

[scotavia]

Two other early sources of HGW were the RAF Mountain Rescue location sheets for Valley and Kinloss,these were to help the teams be aware of existing wrecks when called out to search.

I have a few puzzles to solve in Scotland regarding HGWs and this year will make some new flights in the C 172 over the mountains with my camera and then study the results at home on the PC screen. My first target is to look around a part of the Cairngorms where I was told a helicopter pilot saw a H shaped tail unit in a gully. On the same flight I will make close up views of the known locations where medium to large remains exist such as the Canberra.