Site last updated 1st February 2012
Peak District Air Accident Research

Peak District Air Accident Research

Peak District Air Accident Research

 

Avro Shackleton M.R. Mk.2 WB833 / T of No.204 Squadron (Ballykelly Wing) RAF flew into Glenmanuilt Hill on the Mull of Kintyre during the morning of the 19th April 1968.

 

 

Crew / Passengers Rank - if applicable Position e.g. Pilot Status
Robert Clive Leonard Haggett Squadron Leader Pilot Killed
David Robert Burton Flying Officer Pilot Killed
Michael Creedon Flying Officer Pilot Killed
Roger John Duncan Denny Flight Lieutenant Navigator Killed
George Craigie Fisken Flight Lieutenant Navigator Killed
John Richard Frank Creamer Sergeant Air Engineer Killed
Rodney Hellens Flight Lieutenant Air Electronics Officer Killed
Thomas Frederick Anglin Buttimore Flight Sergeant Air Electronics Operator Killed
Bruce Robert Dixon Sergeant Air Electronics Operator Killed
Ronald Cecil Stratton Master Signaller Air Signaller Killed
Nathaniel Michael Duffy Sergeant Air Signaller Killed

 

The aircraft had taken off from Ballykelly in Northern Ireland on an anti-submarine exercise early on the morning of the 19th April 1968, it is reported to have been tasked with located a Royal Navy submarine that was in the area.  The area that day was shrouded in thick sea mist and at about 10:30 the aircraft was heard in the area south of the Mull of the Kintyre shortly after as it climbed up through the mist the aircraft struck rising ground near Garvalt cottage killing all 11 crew members instantly.

 

WB833 had been the prototype Shackleton Mk.2, the aircraft was converted on the production line as work had begun on the aircraft as a Mk.1 production aircraft.

 

The spot where WB833 ploughed into the ground is marked by this large scar with many small fragments of wreckage.

 

Above is the view from the crash site looking out to sea, with Ailsa Craig in the far distance.

 

During 2008 a granite memorial plaque, dedicated to Sgt Nat Duffy was erected by his girlfriend, Angie. This plaque has been positioned on the inside wall of Keil Cemetery which is located a short distance away to the east of the crash-site'

My thanks goes to Angie Ingles for the photograph.

 

Following the memorial plaque being placed at Keil Cemetery a much larger memorial has been dedicated to all of the crew who were killed at the crash site. This was constructed in late summer 2011.

Image Copyright - Angie Ingles

 

The crew were buried at various cemeteries throughout the British Isles, below if a photograph of Squadron Leader Haggett's grave at Newark Cemetery, just outside of the Polish War Graves plot.

 

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