Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III X3348 coded ZL-Z

Less wreckage and more scattered than before, but this Wellington crash site is still recognisable by the geodetic. If you recognise geodetic that is.

Location: SK 12807 87554

Armstrong Vickers Wellington W5719

Maybe a bit less here than last time, but hard to tell. Even Matt couldn't find much recognisable.

Location: SK 11062 87549

Vickers Armstrong Wellington Mk. X HF465

We have been so busy for a while now that I haven't even had time to put up this snap I took of a memorial to this Wellington forced into the ground by a thunderstorm near Nantwich.

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Location; SJ 720 448

Vickers Armstrong Wellington Mk. III BK405

Bits found at the crash site near Boylestone, Derbyshire of a Wellington lost during a training exercise in 1943.

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Vickers Armstrong Wellington Mk. 10 LP397

Had a day out with Pat C on Wednesday to a few sites I'd not been to previously (as well as the Fauld Crater).

These are a couple of bits from the Church Mayfield Wellington crash site.

Location: SK15449 44950

More info: Crash date 13th June 1944- an experienced pilot for once, brought down by a thunderstorm

Vickers Varsity T1 WJ897 / G-BDFT

Though the unfortunate 'plane dated back to 1952, this crash took place in 1984, with a crew drawn from the enthusiast group which had just restored the aircraft.

This memorial was erected in 2009, replacing the less-formal one which was at the site prior to that.

A collection of the burned aluminium debris which still litters the crash site (in Marchington, Staffordshire) is shown beside the plaque.

We have received a communication from a relative of one of those who were aboard with concerns that the coordinates below will encourage diggers and metal detectorists to disturb the plantings they have made at the site.

As Pat Cunningham already published the site coordinates in 2005, we will leave them up, but we very much hope that the conscience of anyone reading would prevent them disturbing this recent crash site using these coordinates.

Location: SK 15103 30064

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Vickers Armstrong Wellington Mk.IC DV718

A tough 19k in fog and rain brought us precious little of this aircraft which crashed at night in low cloud and rain on Riggs Moor.

The poor visibility around here which did for all but one of the crew of the Wellington has caused us a few problems too. The weather was relatively fine until we came to the search area, and visibility then dropped dramatically, just as it did last time we were here.

We were out of light before we had a chance to complete our search, and had to do a couple of K over cloughs and groughs in the dark, which was a good navigation exercise. We found this lightweight bit, around 400mm square, but I'm pretty sure we were almost 100m from the main site.

The crash site is big, and having been assured it could be seen from 100m (if only you could see that far), we are certain we will get the main site at our next attempt, (especially as I spotted it on Google Earth this morning!)

Location: SE 02205 73365

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Vickers Armstrong Wellington Mk. III BK405

A bit of an easy walk with Pat Cunningham this afternoon at the Boylestone site of the fatal crash of this Wellington shortly after take-off.

This was the most convincing scrap we found in a reasonably thorough metal detector search, despite a report that the field was so littered with metallic scraps three years ago that you wouldn't need a metal detector to find them.

The magpies have struck again!

Location: SK 20342 35419

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III BJ778 ZL-AD

All that remains of "A for Apple", (which was one of the most complete crash sites in the country) are these few rusty scraps, with previously molten and corroded scraps of aluminium all around.

Follow the link below to see what happened.

Location: SE 58035 99440

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk III BK347 Coded Q

You missed a bit, anoraks! A lonely fragment of the eight and a half tonnes of bomber which crashed into the hillside on 21st April 1944 whilst on a cross country flight from Hixon.

There are closer shots of it over on the flickr site, I just liked way the sky looks in this one.

This may well be all that is now left above ground at the site, as it has been been serially looted since then by "enthusiasts", many of who amusingly refer to themselves collectively as "Preservation Societies", as discussed previously.

No-one outside the world of "aviation archaeology" knows where the rest of this 'plane is, and even in that world, no-one is telling.

Location: SD 74157 81562

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington BJ697

Wellington BJ697
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

All that is left at the September 1942 crash site of the Wellington from 12 Operational Training Unit, Chipping Warden. No sign of the exploded ammo reported by others. Souvenir hunters!

"GPSWalker" unusually gave the the most accurate position for this site, prior to ours:

Location: SN 83250 18390

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk 10 MF509

Wellington MF509
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

The extensive remains of this RCAF Wellington on Carreg Goch, Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons, with memorial in the foreground.

A little documentary video can be seen at the link below. Nice that the National Park staff coordinated opposition to it being taken away to someone's garden in Preston, rather than colluding in it, as we are told they did in Snowdonia.

Location: SN 81618 16921

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.IC Z8808

Gouthwaite Moor: Wellington Z8808
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

Another day out above Pateley Bridge, but no electric blue skies this time. Snow, sleet, wind and rough underfoot, it was hard going.

Our main objective, the extensive Wellington wreckage on Gouthwaite Moor proved elusive once again, though you could have hidden much under the showdrifts.

We did however find this digger. We are resisting the urge to comment further about diggers.

We offer as a consolation details of a couple of local sites which have not yet been found by anyone.

Handley Page Halifax Mk.V DG404 coded OO-A or Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.IC Z8808?

Halifax or Wellington?
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

We found this bit of aircraft aluminium on our walk to the Halifax, more or less halfway between the reported crash sites of the Halifax and a Wellington.

Location: SE 10236 67759

Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III HF613 coded DD-R

Wellington: Hope
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

This memorial and the Canadian maple planted in the wooden frame behind it were placed to mark the crash site of this RCAF Wellington in the ford in the river nearby.

The crash site itself threw up a practice bomb a few years back (not a live one as reported elsewhere on the 'net), which was blown up by the army with an unsatisfying explosion, according to witness reports.

Location:SK 16003 83421

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.X HE466

Wellington
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

Detail from one of the wreckage pools at the crash site of this Wellington on Foel Grach above Llyn Dulyn.

Location:SH 69197 66492

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.X HE466

Wellington
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

Geodetic from the above crash site confirming this to be a Wellington.

Location:SH 69221 66507

Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III DF611 coded W

Wellington: Scraps A515
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

Proved the site of the crash of this Wellington next to the A515 near Newhaven. 30 yards behind the bodged wall shown in the pic of our first attempt, the ground is apparently full of metal scraps like these.

Location:SK 15671 61630

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III BJ652 coded Z

Wellington: Scraps
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

This is the most recognisable of the scraps at this Welllington crash site. It is from a Type B Electro-Magnetic Fuzing Unit Ref.No. 5D/606. It's part of the Universal Bomb Carrier. At least, that's what we were told here.

Location:SK 19956 62069

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Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III BJ652 coded Z

Wellington: Bomb Release and Cover
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2

This item identified as a bomb release and cover by posters on the Aero Part Identify Board as being from the Smerrill Wellington would have been our best find of the day, if it were indeed part of the 'plane.

Location: Quite a distance from the impact site...

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