Hi
I’ve been reading this forum for some time but have finally taken the plunge and registered so this is my first post (Please go easy with me 😀 ).
I have been researching the loss of LM 720 on 15/01/45 at Salthouse in Norfolk with the loss of all seven on board. I have been to Hendon and have a copy of the accident report card and some information on the Radar mast which it collided with after being diverted due to Skellingthorpe being fogged in. The Radar mast was on the top of Bard hill and the aircraft was mistakenly heading for Langham. I have been trying to find a picture of LM 720 and pictures of Bard hill during the war before LM 720 demolished the mast.
Thanks
By: The Yokel - 23rd April 2008 at 07:20
Hi all
Surprised to see this thread pop up. Amazing photo of the mast tower. The tower itself, according to one of the operators who was at the top shortly before the crash, was originally going to be shipped out to South America as part of an oil rig.At the outbreak of war got pressed into service as a Radar tower. This was the first time the crew had taken LM720 on a raid, their regular aircraft went on to be one of the few Lanc’s to do over 100 Ops.
Andy
By: Hornchurch - 23rd April 2008 at 00:53
Know this is an old thread, but was just browsing and found this story.
http://www.salthousehistory.co.uk/radar3.html Remarkable photo of pylon after LM720 crashed into it.
regards Richard.
Many, many thanks Richard, for ‘resurrecting’ this thread (in that case !).
As a Norfolk-Coastal resident who often rides Motorcycles thru’ Salthouse etc, I was blissfully unaware of this particular local(ish) incident – of extreme interest to me, yet so very sad & tragic in it’s outcome.
Astounding bad-luck for the crew, given the fact that general area is relatively low-lying…….. according to the Topography in the Ordnance Survey Landranger = Bard Hill is given as 50ft (the highest point~), with Langham so tantalisingly close by behind Blakeney & the low-lying Morston Marshes.
By: Richard gray - 22nd April 2008 at 23:40
Know this is an old thread, but was just browsing and found this story.
http://www.salthousehistory.co.uk/radar3.html Remarkable photo of pylon after LM720 crashed into it.
regards Richard.
By: The Yokel - 6th April 2006 at 18:06
Hi
Thanks for the reply. Yes it is one of the four mast stumps on the site. The brick building you can see I belive is the IFF block and behind where the picture was taken is the stand by set house (I think this was where the generators were sited). A very picturesque part of Norfolk in the sunshine but not in the early hours of a january morning when this aircraft came to grief.
Yokel.
By: Rlangham - 6th April 2006 at 17:50
Not sure if you’ve seen it before, but the top picture on this website http://www.fentonphotography.co.uk/harchy.html is the remains of a WW2 radar mast on Bard Hill, perhaps it’s the same one the Lanc hit?
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April 6, 2006 at 5:43 pm