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In 1941, the people of Newmarket raised £5100 as part of the war effort, towards Spitfire Vb, AD540, which was presented
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the RAF, and named "Blue Peter", after the 1939 Derby winner.
On May 23rd 1942, at 1pm, AD540 took off from RAF Ayr to provide aerial cover to the approaching vessel "Queen Mary" laden
with US sevicemen. Flying her on this occasion was Pilot Officer David Hunter Blair.
On the way, Blue Peter, and a second Spitfire, piloted by Flight Sergeant Gordon "Matt" Mathers, were directed to investigate
a suspected enemy sighting inland. Soon, at an altitude of 20,000ft, Blue Peter was seen to behave erratically, and then descend
through the clouds. David Hunter Blair had fallen unconcious due to a fault in the oxygen system, and regained conciousness
as the aircraft plunged to a lower altitude. Unable to regain control, he baled out. However, his parachute did not deploy
fully before he landed, and he died in the remote valleys of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in South West Scotland. He was nineteen.....
The accident was witnessed by a local farm worker, and David was subsequently buried with full military honours on the family
estate of Blairquhan Castle, some 15 miles from where he had been killed.
The wreckage of Blue Peter was buried on site and lay undiscovered until 51 years to the day after it crashed, by a team including
members of the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Group, led by Ralph Davidson, chairman of the Scottish region of The Spitfire
Society, and later covered by a team from the BBC children`s programme Blue Peter. |
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David Reid, Chairman of the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Society poses with Blue Peter`s Merlin 45 after it was excavated. |
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The Merlin being recovered by a Fleet Air Arm Sea-King helicopter from Prestwick, July 12th 1993 |
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My involvement with AD540 began briefly in 1994, when I took my family to the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum at Dumfries
during a visit to my parent`s in Cumbria, at this point I lived some 350 miles south in my native Essex. Already interested
in Merlin engines, I was touched by the story, took some photos, and went home after a thoroughly enjoyable day.
It was not until 1998, after I had been living in nearby Carlisle for some years, that our paths crossed again! This time
I offered to restore the tatty-looking Merlin in exchange for some parts I needed to finish my MerlinXX project.
David agreed, provided I got it done during the museum`s winter shut down, about six months, (he drives a hard bargain does
Davie!), "No problem" I said, but probably actually thought, "my wife`s going to kill me, she won`t see me until March next
year!"
Anyway, I succeeded, aided by many a late night, and the tools I already had to dismantle it with, and below are the results: |
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This engine now stands proudly in the collection at Dumfries again, and it`s story is one of thousands that live to remind
us of the horrors of war, and the unneccessary waste of life it brings with it. It must never be forgotten that the Merlin
engine was really only immortalised as a result of its successes in wartime, it would still have been an engineering masterpiece,
but would probably not have developed into what it did, and may have remained quite obscure. People always talk of the "magical
sound" of the Merlin, and to me, as an engineer, it has that quality, just as a select few other types of engine do.
But to many people, who were there, some of that "magic" also refers to the security that sound provided in troubled times,
and the Merlin earned that.
The DGAM is at Heathall, Dumfries, and can be contacted on: 01387 251623. Or click on the link below to access the DGAM website. |
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