Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF816 of No.20 OTU crashed on An Lurg in the Cairngorms on the 14th August 1944

Vickers Wellington Mk.X at the Royal Air Force Museum

 

Philip Lionel Bennett Paterson Pilot Officer Pilot Killed
James Michael Downey Sergeant Navigator Killed
Harold Todhunter Sergeant 2nd Navigator Killed
Stephen Fraser Sergeant Bomb Aimer Killed
Denis Henderson Rankin Pilot Officer Wireless Operator Killed
Robert Arthur George Bailey Sergeant Air Gunner Killed

 

On the night of the 14th August 1944 Pilot Officer Paterson and his crew were briefed to carry out a cross country navigation training flight from RAF Lossiemouth. Having taken off from there the aircraft was not heard from again and once it’s expected time of return had passed overdue action was taken. At around 06:20 on the 15th RAF Lossiemouth received reports that and aircraft had ‘exploded’ in the air somewhere near Nethy Bridge on the edge of the Cairngorms. It took some time to locate the crash site and confirm which aircraft it was, as a consequence it was not until 22:30 on the 15th that the aircraft which had crashed on An Lurg, a hill covered by moorland to the NE of Bynack More, was identified as HF815.

Crash site of Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF816 on An Lurg, Cairngorms
The main crash site of HF816 on otherwise fairly bleak moorland to the east of the Cairngorm Mountains. The crater caused by the crash is clearly visible.

Other than the report that the aircraft had exploded in flight there is little additional detail about what happened to the aircraft. The crater at the crash site and spread of wreckage suggests that it dived into the moorland after control of the aircraft had been lost.

Crash site of Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF816 on An Lurg, Cairngorms
Most of the wreckage at the crash site has in the mid 2010s been collected together and piled up, as seen in this photograph. One of the aircraft’s shattered Hercules engines in the lower left of the image.

The crew of the aircraft were buried at various locations, with two in Moray, one each in Cumbria, Northern Ireland, Suffolk and London.

Crash site of Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF816 on An Lurg, Cairngorms
This photograph is looking South-west towards Bynack More, of which An Lurg is an outlying minor summit. Cairn Gorm is on the right hand most side of the image.
Crash site of Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF816 on An Lurg, Cairngorms
Scattered for some distance to the east are further fragments of the aircraft, these are just some of those items.