RAF Coastal Command Liberator BZ724 of 59 Squadron at
Ballykelly,Northern Ireland, had been operating in the
North Atlantic on an anti-submarine mission on the night
of 17th/18th August 1944, when due to bad weather, and
nearing the end of its lengthy patrol, it was diverted
to RAF Tain in NE Scotland.
It would appear that after making a descent through
cloud and very short on fuel, the Liberator struck the
moor above Helmsdale and disintegrated. Most of the
crew of 10 had died in the crash, however a couple had
survived, though one was so badly injured that he was
to die before help could reach him.(This info is not from
an official source, but came from locals during my enquiries
when I visited the scene for research on the book).
The sole survivor of the crash was in fact the pilot,
and he was still strapped in his seat, a little way
from the wreck when two farmers Alex & Jock Cuthbert
reached him and carried him off the hill.
Crew of BZ724.
Pilot: P/O John Lloyd. RNZAF.
Co-Pilot: F/O Ronald H.Legrow. RCAF.
Navigator 1: P/O Robert Seigler. RCAF.
Navigator 2: Sgt Harry F.J.Newell. RAFVR.
F/Eng: Sgt Ernest .N.Lowe.
W/Op: P/O Alan J.McLay. RAAF.
W/AG: Sgt Gordon.A.Grill. RAFVR.
W/AG: Sgt Donald Pratt. RAFVR
W/AG: Sgt Alan W.Christie. RAFVR.
W/AG: Sgt Thomas H.M.Instone. RAFVR.
A story on this accident with much more on the investigation
by an officer at Ballykelly, can be found in volume two of
`Hell on High Ground` (See books page for details).
Photo: Canadian Aviation Museum.
Footnote: Crew details had originated from a historian in N.Ireland,
a recent enquiry prompted me to re-check crew details,
there were a few discrepencies with spellings & crew
positions, the discrepencies have now been ironed out and
hopefully all the above details are now accurate. My apologies
for these minor errors that I had not the time nor the resources
to correct in the book.
Liberator BZ724 - N.Scotland
