USAAF B24J Liberator 42-52003, Mill Hill, Kinder Scout, Peak District.

USAAF B24J Liberator 42-52003, Mill Hill, Kinder Scout, Peak District.

Crashed on Mill Hill, Derbyshire, England, after a shaky take off.
Sgt Najvar & 2 Lt Creighton Haopt of USAAF both survived the crash. 11 October 1944.
This was a brand new B24 on its delivery flight. Took 3 attempts to get off the ground and was damaged in the process. Flying through cloud, Sgt Najvar had apparently noticed the aircraft was close to the ground and advised the pilot to climb. The latter nodded as if he understood, but did not alter position and the aircraft flew into the hillside. Differing reports have the two airmen walking away from the crash, to Sgt Najvar waking up in hospital a few days later.

The site is at grid ref SK 05844 90610 and SK 05731 90583. Ref from Pat Cunningham’s book, High Peak Air Crash Sites.

Below; Ghost story based on this crash, in spite of the small detail that the crew survived. Scanned from The Great Outdoors mag of December 1985