Beechcraft C-45 44-47194 of the 632nd AMS, 371st Air Service Group, USAF, crashed on Black Combe near Millom on the 12th March 1947

 

William Joseph Daner DFC Captain Pilot Survived
Artie Garner 1st Lieutenant Co-pilot Survived

 

At around 14:00 on the 12th March Capt Daner & 1st Lt Garner left Prestwick in Ayrshire for RAF Bovingdon in Hertfordshire where they would then fly onwards to Germany. After approximately one hour, while flying at 2,000ft in a snow shower the aircraft struck the seaward side of Black Combe a short distance below the summit. The aircraft was badly damaged by the crash but electrical power from the batteries remained to the radio which continued to receive, however the transmitter had been damaged preventing a distress call being made. By nightfall the weather had not improved and so the two crew decided to remain with the aircraft overnight. The following morning conditions had improved and they made their way off to Holeghyll at the foot the hill.

Wreckage at the crash site of Beechcraft C-45 44-47194 on Black Combe, Millom, Cumbria
After the crash much of the aircraft was cleared, but a large amount of framework and undercarriage parts were left on the moorland below the summit of Black Combe.
Wreckage at the crash site of Beechcraft C-45 44-47194 on Black Combe, Millom, Cumbria
The crash site looking towards the north west. Shortly after the crash, two school boys from the area climbed the hill to take a look at the wrecked aircraft. They found it unguarded but while at the site the weather closed in and they became stranded on the hill in blizzard conditions. Just like the crew of the aircraft they spent a cold night on the hill inside the wrecked C-45 before making their way off the day after.
Wreckage at the crash site of Beechcraft C-45 44-47194 on Black Combe, Millom, Cumbria
One of the main undercarriage oleos from the aircraft.
Wreckage at the crash site of Beechcraft C-45 44-47194 on Black Combe, Millom, Cumbria
A second view of the wreckage looking to the North along the coast in the direction from which the aircraft approached.