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Registration
or Serial: PB456
Operator:
Royal Air Force
(101 Squadron; RAF 1 Grp. Bomber Ops.)
Operating Base:
RAF
Ludford Magna
(X4LM)
Base
Location: Ludford
Magna (5 miles from Market Rasen), Lincolnshire, England.
Current
Airport Status: Thor missile site until 1963. Now decommissioned and restored to
agricultural use. Few remnants of airfield remain.
(Principal airport data courtesy of
John Woodside,
A
Catalogue of UK Airfields)
Aircraft Nickname:
Lanc; Lankie
Aircraft Type & Background
The Avro
Lancaster was designed initially as a heavy bomber. It was developed
from the Avro Manchester bomber, but the unreliable Rolls-Royce
Vulture engines of the Manchester were replaced on the Lancaster
with four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. However, the Lancaster Mk.III variant
featured here was fitted with four American-built Packard Merlin
engines.
Aircraft Accident Details
This Lancaster had taken off from its
base at Ludford Magna in Lincolnshire. The crew from 101 Sqadron RAF
were on a night navigational exercise (Navex) which took it over
Scotland.
Some time later, the aircraft got into
difficulties while flying in the vicinity of Loch Lomond, and some miles
west of its scheduled course. The actual cause of the accident is
unknown, but apparently the aircraft broke up in mid air,
crashing to the ground in flames at Conic Hill, near Balmaha at the southern
end of Loch Lomond.
Casualties
All 7 crew members perished in this
accident. These were:
The four RCAF members of the crew were buried at
Dumbarton Cemetery, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
(At 18 years old Sgt James Watt was amongst the youngest
RCAF airmen in Bomber Command to be killed in action (KIA).)
At some future date, it is hoped that a memorial to the
airmen who died can be sited in the village of Balmaha.
BELOW: An Avro Lancaster Mk. 1
bomber.
Photo: [Pre-1957] United Kingdom
Government.
Formerly, Crown Copyright. Now, public domain. |
Accident Date
13 September 1944
Accident
Site
Conic Hill
(366m / 1,200ft)
(nr. SE end of Loch Lomond)
Region: Stirling
Nearest
town or village:
Balmaha
OS Grid Ref:
N/A
Hill Walking
Notes
[Accident
location only. No known remains.]
Easily
accessible low rising moorland / hill slopes with rough
track. Peat bog in the vicinity of crash site.
Full hill
walking equipment recommended, including map & compass (GPS
optional). All hill areas subject to fluctuating weather
conditions, sometimes with extensive and prolonged mist.
Present Condition
Two of the four Packard Merlin engines and much of the
wreckage of this Lancaster was removed from the site by RAF recovery
teams. However, some significant parts were not recovered at
this time, as these had sunk below the boggy ground.
In October
2006, however, the remaining parts have been recovered
from the crash site by a team from the
Dumfries and
Galloway Aviation Museum,
The recovered parts, which are now on
display at this Museum, include the other
two Packard Merlin engines, together with several smaller items. All
had been well preserved while lying beneath the peaty ground at
Conic Hill.
For a more detailed account of the
recovery by Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum, see
The Merlin newsletter for Easter 2007 (PDF document).
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