Halifax JP182

Halifax JP182

24 January 1944, the two-man crew of Halifax JP182 were killed when the aircraft crashed 50 feet below the summit of Eel Crag in the Lake District.

The crew were Air Transport Auxiliary Flight Captain Bernard Short and Senior Flight Engineer Arthur Bird. They were ferrying the Halifax from RAF Kinloss in the north-east of Scotland, to RAF Kemble in Wiltshire / Gloucestershire (now Cotswold Airport).

It’s possible the crew had descended through the cloud in the hope of obtaining a visual fix to determine their location. The pilot had apparently been in three or four air crashes previously.

Below: Debris in a sheepfold beneath the crags, a wide angle view taking in Grisdale Pike and Skiddaw in the distance.

Notes on visiting the site.

I did not attempt to visit the impact point which is high up among the crags. The photos show some of the remaining debris below the crag which has been pooled in a sheepfold and in a hollow nearby.

I parked at the small free car park just outside Braithwaite on the B5292 and followed the track to the mine. I was aiming to cross Coledale Beck at the ford and follow the mine road up towards Coledale Hause. However there had been a lot of rain the day before and water was flowing fast over the stepping stones. Instead I tried to cross at various places upstream, finding a spot at grid reference NY 19952 21497 (photo below) where another stream flows into Coledale Beck. I then followed that stream uphill to join the track. There is a faint trod either side of the stream.

As the track levels off, Coledale Beck is rejoined. There isn’t much of a path but it’s easy enough to follow the stream which soon disappears underground and in front of you is a short path running left to right. Follow this to the right into the hollows and the sheepfold comes into view about 150m distant.

Grid references:
Debris pool in the hollows NY 19543 20637
Sheepfold NY 19549 20564

Below: these two photos show the fragments of debris in the hollows to the north of the sheepfold

Below: Eel Crag as seen from the track between the car park and Force Crag Mine.

Below: Two photos taken during a visit to see the interior of a Halifax bomber at York. These are the pilot and flight engineer positions.