Tuesday 28 December 2010

Bristol Blenheim Mk.V AZ876



Weather and work have interfered with recent outings, but just before the weather closed in I went over to Idridgehay in Derbyshire to see what remains to be seen at the crash site of this Blenheim, which took off from Ashbourne in July 1943 only to nosedive straight into the ground killing all of the crew. Answer- this patch of nettles in a slight depression.


My picture above is rather less interesting than this one, (which I got from Pat Cunningham) of the armour plating taken away by enthusiasts subsequent to an unlicensed excavation of the site by the farmer in the last 90's.

The farmer also dug up an extensive collection of personal effects, including a wallet containing a leave pass and a month's wages. It's bad enough for a serviceman to get killed, but dying with a full wallet and a leave pass, that's a tragedy!

Location: SK 29599 47544

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2 comments:

Alasdair said...

do you know what became of the personal effects?

Sean said...

Pat Cunningham tried to get them accepted by a number of museums, not sure where they ended up, will ask hum next time I see him...