Halifax Bomber LL505 FD-S, crash site on Great Carrs.
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Halifax bomber LL505
Wreckage of Halifax Bomber LL505 FD-S which crashed October 22 1944 on Great Carrs in the Lake District, England, killing all 8 crew on board (7 Canadians, 1 British).
Looking West.
The Halifax was on a night navigation exercise from Topcliffe in Yorkshire when they ran into thick cloud. The pilot descended so that the navigator could get a visual fix on the ground but the bomber crashed on the ridge between Great Carrs and Swirl How.
16 years after the crash, A Wainwright in his guide to the Southern Fells, wrote;
“The aeroplane, travelling from west to east, failed to clear the ridge by a few feet only; at the place of impact the undercarriage was ripped off (and still lies there in a rough grave of stones) but the crippled machine went on over the edge to crash far down the precipice…”
Crew;
F/O J A Johnston RCAF
F/O F A Bell RCAF
P/O R N Whitley RCAF
Sgt H E Pyche RCAF
Sgt C G Whittingstall RCAF
Sgt D F Titt RCAF
Sgt G Riddoch RCAF
Sgt W B Ferguson RAF
One comment on “Halifax Bomber LL505 FD-S, crash site on Great Carrs.”
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[…] Carrs isn’t far away from Swirl How on the same ridge. It is most famous for a Haxifax Bomber crash in 1944 that killed all crew members. It doesn’t take me long to reach the top. Now for the […]
I dont think he would have had his gear down.. so must have scrapped along the ground and tore the undercart out from the engine nacelle, then carried on at speed along the ground and over the edge.. shame.. if the gorund had been flatter and not so close to the edge I bet he would have got away with a forced landing and they would have possibly all walked away from it. yet another example Ian of "If only he had been a few feet higher" how many of these have you and Paul seen and or been to see…
P.S. Just read the info on the page link… jumped in with both feet there Ian. It seems the wreakage was pushed down the slope by the RAF recovery teams after breaking up the aircraft to avoid a mis placed distress call from overflying aircraft etc. Similar to the C47 at Shelf Stones we went to recently. As you have said before Ian.. sad that lost of the wreakage has been "spirtited" away into private collections? Really sad that some of the crew could have survived if found earlier…
RIP lads.