A sad and sobering tale.....
I was inspired to post these pictures after seeing Robs post, the u.k. is littered with crash sites, though few as well preserved as this. Our friends in America and elsewhere could be forgiven for thinking England is a small place but there are still places that are desolate and lonely where it is easy to lose your life when the weather turns against you, within the same square mile as this site there can be found remnants of a Lancaster and a Dakota.
The story of B29 "over exposed" is that it came in low in poor visibility over the peak district in the north of England on route to Burtonwood airbase near Warrington where I live and for one reason or another clipped the top of the peak, believe it or not tales of low flying ,silent ghostly aircraft abound in this part of the country and I can assure you the people who live in the peak district are tough and hardy folk not given to nonsense.
It is a difficult place to find requiring a degree of research and map and compass skill if you don't know the route but the local people go up there annually on the anniversary and hold a service of rememberance for the those poor American boys who lost there lives...
N.
To true Neil, I can remember seeing something about this on the tv a while ago.
It was not a war documentary but some type of walking prog.
But true there are many sites scattered around the UK where wreckage is still strewn as it crashed.
How many tell a story.
Thanks for looking Si, due to the remoteness of the site they brought down the crew first and then anything like guns or things they didn't want the Ruskies to get hold of, the rest is still up there to this day.
N.
Somewhat surprised there were/are no scrap metal collectors scrounging about trying to make some money.
Now that its common knowledge i suspect every man and his dog will head up there and strip the place clean, that will be a pity
It`s a pity that these sites cannot get the protection that most of the war wrecks that are dotted around our coastline.
Sadly Craig some bits have been pilfered but this practice is frowned upon and rare, there is a tale of a local farmer who took quite a large piece to keep as some kind of sick souvenier but was plagued by a series of bad luck which did not stop until the item was returned...
Most people just show respect and leave it untouched.
N.
Interesting story Neil. Thanks for sharing. I too am surprised that so much of it still remains.
Thanks for looking Alan ,like I said to reach the site requires a good few hours walking over difficult terrain and requires the use of map and compass,even then due to the undulating nature of the ground you could be a hundred feet out and walk past it, this was our second attempt .
N.
Sometimes it is easy to forget what a large place our planet is. When I flew to Arizona, passing over huge expanses of empty land, it reminded me. And made me wonder why humans tend to crowd together in big noisy, smoky clumps.
God rest their souls.
Because that's where 'everything' is...I'd imagine driving 50-60 miles to go to the store would get old really quickly (and then the only "store" would probably be a Wal-Mart!).
YOU know what I mean-they could at least spread out a little...and what's the matter with Wal-Mart anyway?
What is Wal-Mart ? ,is it like the Quikie-mart where Apu works in the Simpsons.
N.
Hi Neil. No Quikie-Mart is supposed to be 7-11, a small supermarket place where folks can buy cigarettes, milk, and waste their money on the lottery. Wal-Mart is much larger, one can get almost anything there at cheaper than usual prices. Hence it is a running gag here that the , um, less than high class shop there. Look at the link I sent Craig for reference. Now that I'm thinking about it, it really does'nt belong in this thread about a solemn subject.
It's hard to believe that someone in this world doesn't know of Wal-Mart...I thought they were EVERYWHERE (it sure seems like it here).
Neil,Walmart own Asda but the clientele bears no relation.
Thanks Neil, I never associate B-29's and England, and I surely never think of parts of the British Isle as desolate... There it is ! And thanks to these fine people for respecting and honoring boys from another country, who gave their all.
Thanks for looking Joe, actually parts of the north of England, quite a bit of Wales and most of Scotland are pretty empty like the last picture shows.
The RAF had quite a few B29's post WW2 ,they were designated as "Washingtons" as it is our tradition to name heavy bombers after cities for some reason, the pictures I've seen show them painted white .
N.
Scratch that last bit Joe , I just had a look and found plenty of pics of RAF Washingtons in bare metal.
N.
interesting lesson...i too am amazed someone hasn't scarfed those relics up
Alright Neil mate, cheers for the article. When I was in my late teens, near the village I lived was a crash site of a Lancaster from the 50's. Although we searched for evidence, it was in the top end of Kielder and we could not find a trace in the dense forest. It is true what you say though, we live on a tiny little island but the majority of areas are very rural and remote.
Cheers mate, there's quite a few in Snowdonia as well.
N.
many brave men die in operational accidents every year. may they all rest in peace