Plane Wrecks in Mid-Wales

Bertie Bollockbrains · Jun 5, 2019

A few more WW2 era plane wrecks and I promise no more after this. Back to more conventional explores when the weather warms up a bit.

Five wrecks all in mid-Wales done over two trips in May - one of those trips being in mid-winter like conditions:

1. AVRO LANCASTER B. Mk.I W4326, DOLWEN HILL NEAR LLANGADFLAN

Belonging to No.101 Sqn RAF, it took off from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor in East Yorkshire on the 16th November 1942 for a night cross-country bombing and photographic exercise, the intended ‘target’ was St Tudwal’s in Gwynedd. A bright flash in the sky was observed and the aircraft then dived into moorland. On investigation there was evidence that a photoflash had detonated in the release chute, the explosion resulted in the tail section of the aircraft detaching from the fuselage. 7 crew members were killed. A considerable amount of airframe wreckage, including several sizeable sections from the engine nacelles, can be seen at the site where a large boggy hollow remains. The site was excavated in 1988 and two of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines recovered.

The Avro Lancaster is a four-engined heavy bomber, designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942. Primarly a night bomber it was used in the infamous Dambuster raids. 17 largely intact Lancasters remain of which 2 are airworthy.

The largest pile of wreckage seen from a distance

A second pile lies a short distance away

2. LOCKHEED F-5E LIGHTNING 44-24229, PLYNLIMON NEAR ABERYSTWYTH

Whilst on a ferry flight from Chalgrove Air Station in Oxfordshire to Base Air Depot 1 at Burtonwood near Warrington on the 11th September 1945, the aircraft hit the mountain. The following day a shepherd sighted the wreckage and reported it to the police. When investigators surveyed the scene it was discovered that the aircraft had clipped the slope below the top of a nearby ridge while descending at high speed, shedding the propellers, and then flew on for some distance before impacting inverted. Based on this, the investigators concluded that the pilot had lost control while flying on instruments, after entering cloud, and was recovering from a dive when the aircraft struck the ground. Substantial remains including wing, tail boom and tail-plane sections were recovered in the late 1970s, while one of the Allison engines was recovered in the 1980s. Several sizeable sections of the aircraft still remain including the forward section of the port tail boom with the inboard section of the port wing still attached. The turbocharger of the port engine was cut of the wreckage, unlawfully, circa 2002/3.

The Lockheed F-5E was a photo reconnaisance variant of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning - an American fighter aircraft. It had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit. It was noted for being unusually quiet since the exhaust was muffled by turbo-superchargers.

The site seen from a distance

And close-up. the obvious circular hole is where the port turbocharger was relatively recently cut out

Assumed to be the exhaust

A trail of wreckage down the slope

The lowermost piece

Bertie Bollockbrains · Jun 5, 2019

3. AVRO ANSON N5019, MOUNT Y GAMRHIW NEAR BULITH WELLS
Became lost during a night flying exercise on the 10th July 1940 and flew into high ground at Mount Y Gamrhiw near Llanwrthwl killing 4 crew members. A fifth crew member was seriously injured and dragged himself some distance for help. A hollow measuring 10m by 5m and about 0.7m deep is seen, containing various skin fragments and pieces of melted aluminium. Other material visible includes corroded small steel fittings, a piece of perspex, some small pieces of wood, etc. There is a trail of fragments running downslope (to the north-north-east) for about 40m approaching a flooded hollow and this may have been used to dump material that was not recovered. It seems clear that the aircraft approached the site from the north-north-west, hitting the ground about 35m (vertically) below the summit of Y Gamriw. A site that I first visited last year but was unable to find.

The Anson was developed in the mid-1930s a multi-roled aircraft. Initially for maritime reconnaissance. During WW2 the aircraft was soon found to be obsolete in front line combat duties and the aircraft was then used an aircrew trainer. It remained in use by the RAF as a trainer until 1968. A single Anson, based in New Zealand, remains airworthy.

A trail of fragments leading to the water-filled hollow

4. DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO P.R. Mk.IX LR412, ARAN FAWDDWY
On the 9th February 1944, having taken off from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire to air test replacement flaps and also to complete a cross-country exercise, the ROC lost track of the aircraft, its last estimated position being roughly 5 miles north-east of Dolgellau. The aircraft hit the summit of nearby Aran Fawddwy, but it was five days before a farmer came across the wreckage and reported it to the police. Both the pilot and the navigator were killed. A propeller hub unit with the badly corroded remains of two blades attached lies close to the impact point, where many small fragments of aluminium are scattered. Sections of armour plate and parts from the undercarriage assemblies are lower down the slope along with several crumpled fuel tanks, which lie in a hollow by a large boulder. One of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines from the aircraft is mounted on a stone base by the entrance to the nearby Esgair-Gawr farm. One of three wrecks on Aran Fawddwy hill. The other two were not done due to winter-like weather.

The Mosquito is a twin-engined shoulder-winged multi-role combat aircraft and unusual in that the frame is constructed mostly of wood. In 1941 it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world. It was often flown in precision intelligence-led attacks. In 1943 a morning Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station whilst Hermann Göring was speaking, putting his speech off air. Four airworthy examples remain.

A sheet of armour plating

A second pile of wreckage is much further down the slope - about a 100m away, consisting of undercarriage components and crumpled fuel tanks

A Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and a plaque are mounted at the entrance to the nearby Esgair-Gawr farm

5. AVRO LANCASTER B. Mk.III NE132, FOEL DDU, THE RHINOG NEAR HARLECH
During a night cross-county training exercise from RAF North Luffenham in Rutland, on the night of 6th February 1945, the aircraft entered a high-speed dive after penetrating clouds. Structural loading from an attempted dive recovery is understood to have resulted in a section of the port fin and several wing panels separating from the aircraft in flight before it hit the rocky hillside. Such was the severity of the impact that two of the crew were never found and they are officially listed as missing. The shattered remains of the aircraft are scattered across the hillside. In 1997 a memorial plaque was mounted on a rock outcrop at the site.