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Welcome to this website dedicated to all those airmen who through the toils of war,machine malfunctions,harsh elements,inexperience
or just plain old bad luck,fell prey to the mountains & hills of the United Kingdom & Ireland. |
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NEW SITES IN USA A recent visit to some crash sites in the States of of Massachusetts & Connecticut has inspired the author to include accounts on these aircraft, see contents to the left for details.
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My aim is to perpetuate the memories of all those airmen who failed to return,and honour all those who survived high ground
flying accidents
against incredible odds. |
My interest in these aircraft & their crews began back in 1972,
when out in the hills with a friend,
I discovered the wreck of an American Liberator bomber.
I learned some years later that it was a PB4Y-1
(a US Navy designated B-24)and that on the night of 18th Dec 1943,
whilst returning from an Anti-Submarine patrol over the Bay of Biscay,
the crew got lost after their radio was rendered unservicable by bad weather,
and flying in dense cloud and low on fuel,
they had all baled out over Lincolnshire.
The depth charge laden bomber flew on and eventually
crashed down on the moors above the town of Stalybridge,
but fortunately the deadly cargo failed to explode,
so there was no death or injuries to any civilians.
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Over a decade passed since the discovery of the wartime wreck,
and a book was found with the story of the PB4Y-1 and its crew.
Then, learning of other aircraft wrecks in the mountains & hills,
estimated to be in their thousands,
I became curious about their flights and began to research their histories.
By 1994 I had gathered enough material for a small booklet entitled `THEIR FINAL MISSION` and covered stories on 8 B-17 Flying
Fortress wrecks in the UKs Mountains.
Research has continued ever since and 4 more books followed (See books page)and todate I have covered stories of over 200
aircraft,
with files & documents on well over 3,000 in the UK & Ireland.
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COPYRIGHT (c) David W.Earl 2004. All material on this website belongs to the author and full credit is given to all contributors of photographs contained herein. No part of this site may be reproduced without the permission of the said owner,unless full credit is given, and use is solely for research or personal use, and not for financial gain. |
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