de Havilland Tiger Moth T6464, Saddleworth.

‹ Return to

de Havilland Tiger Moth T6464, Saddleworth.

Sergeant Michael O’Connell, Royal New Zealand Air Force, crashed in low cloud on the moors above the Chew Valley, Saddleworth, 12 April 1945 and was killed.

Sgt O’Connell was nearing completion of his training. It would appear he failed to turn back to base at RAF Sealand near Chester upon encountering low cloud, but beyond that it is not known why he crashed his Tiger Moth.

I don’t really believe there are ghostly aircraft haunting the hills, just did this to add a bit of interest to an otherwise dull shot.

Details from Peakland Air Crashes – The North by Pat Cunningham.

12 comments on “de Havilland Tiger Moth T6464, Saddleworth.
  1. Tech Owl says:

    Nice composition – made me look twice!
    I have no idea really but isn’t 45 a late date for a TIger Moth crash?

  2. Ian D B says:

    Cheers Bryan. They were still used as training aircraft – hence the yellow paint job. But their instrumentation was basic, and consequently to fly in cloud was to disobey orders.

  3. pasujoba says:

    I bet its Creepy coming across a crash site in mist .
    Theres a new book out this month Ian , called ‘ Aircraft Wrecks the walkers guide’ . Its pricey at £20 , available from Pen and Sword ,publishers .

  4. Ian D B says:

    Yeah, I’m still waiting for Amazon to deliver it, should’ve been here last week.

  5. redrocker_9 says:

    Oh this is a good one, love the water reflection.

  6. Neal. says:

    I think the addition of the plane gives an interesting angle to the pic.

  7. Deputy Don says:

    It spooked me when I first clicked on this! An imaginative composition!

  8. ​favourite waste of time​ says:

    I love the spooky add in — and really – for a second I thought it was really there…

  9. Pleasureprinciple2012 says:

    Nice add on for scale and idea for those unaware of what a Tiger Moth looked like, looks as if it is a right boggy area, wonder how much has been lost in the depths.

  10. Ian D B says:

    Thanks everyone.

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/opsblock/]
    This was in a boggy little hollow. No idea what’s under the peat. I was getting bitten to buggery by midges when I took this, and didn’t hang around to look closer.

  11. andyholmfirth says:

    Like the ghostly biplane.Looks a right boggy spot !

  12. Gary Shield says:

    very very clever work Ian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*