Mustang AP208

Mustang AP208

29 November 1942. P51 Mustang AP208 of RAF 4 Squadron, piloted by Flying Officer Sholto Paton Marlatt RCAF, was one of two on a photographic exercise. The aircraft had taken off from RAF Clifton north of York. For reasons unknown but which can be guessed at – the area was covered by dense cloud that morning – F/O Marlatt flew into the hillside at cruising speed and was killed in the crash.

The photo above and the others below where the heather has been burned, were taken in 2009. The others were taken August 2024.

Notes on visiting the site.

The crash site is at grid reference SD 60795 50780.

There is free parking at Langden Brook. There are plenty of spaces but it can get busy at weekends.

I visited 11 August 2024, leaving the car park before 5am, hoping to catch some early morning sunshine having checked the weather report.

The track along Langden Brook and then up the side of Mouse Hill is straightforward. Not marked on the map is a spur heading north-west. I took this skirting past the thick patch of bracken, then picked up an intermittent path across the moor.

The valleys were filled with low cloud, and as the sun rose, so did the cloud. Arriving at the site at dawn, it was too gloomy for photographs so I pressed on to the crash site of Defiant N1651, returning later that morning to this crash site.

For the return to the car park, I followed a path thirty metres or so to the south-east of the crash site. This path goes straight through the bracken which wasn’t too bad tbh and emerged back at the spur.

I first visited and photographed this site in 2009. It looks to me like some of the debris has been lifted though it could just be more scattered around.

Below: these three photos were taken August 2024

Below: the following three photos were taken in 2009.

Below: Looking west along the valley of Langden Brook from the track across Mouse Hill.

Below: photo of a 4 Sqn Mustang

image source: World War Photos