Liberator G.R. Mk.V FL949

Crew / Passengers	Rank - If Applicable	Position e.g. Pilot	Status
Oldrich Bures	Warrant Officer	Pilot	Killed
Milos Bodlak	Flight Sergeant	Co-pilot	Killed
Otto Mandler	Flight Sergeant	Navigator	Killed
Zdenek Launer	Flight Sergeant	Flight Engineer	Killed
Ivo Karel Englander	Flight Sergeant	Wireless Operator / Air gunner	Killed
Martin Dorniak	Sergeant	Wireless Operator / Air gunner	Killed
Antoni Bednar	Flight Sergeant	Wireless Operator / Air gunner	Killed
Josef Zapelal	Flight Sergeant	Wireless Operator / Air gunner	Killed

The aircraft was returning to Wick from an uneventful anti-submarine patrol in near arctic conditions, with low cloud, high winds and heavy snow, and clipped to hill about 100ft from the summit and was completely destroyed and all of the Czech crew were killed.

Much of the wreckage was eventually dragged to the bottom of the hill by the recovery crew from No.56 Maintenance Unit who spent 5 weeks on the Island. Their early work during the month of January had to be abandoned due to the ground being frozen and during February and March had to stop their work due to frequent snow and gales.

The aircraft had been built by Douglas at their Tulsa, Oklahoma, plant under contract as a B-24D-DT with the US Army serial number of 41-11755. Above is a photograph of one of the Douglas test pilots in the aircraft at Tulsa. Thanks to Kevin Gray of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum for providing the photograph of the aircraft.

Myself stood with the first piece that we found off the aircraft. This section of skinning from one of the wings lies on the lower slopes of the mountain.

A short way up from the previous part is one of the Pratt & Whitney 18 cylinder Twin Wasp engines from the aircraft.

Peak District Air Accident Research

Liberator G.R. Mk.V FL949 coded PP-Y of No.311 (Czech) Squadron RAF, crashed on the Cuilags, Island of Hoy, Orkney on the 1st January 1945.