Long ago I was taken to a bleak spot on the moors by my late dad – circa 1960. I remember him showing me a few twisted pieces of metal, pointing to the ground and referring to it as a crashed Heinkel.
He should have know as well as anyone – he was working for Rolls Royce at Barlick after doing his apprenticeship with Vickers. Like me, he was also a lifelong modeler. I remember him and mum telling me about the drone of lone German bombers at night as they searched in vain for the engine factory at Barnoldswick. Was that what the crashed plane was looking for?
For decades these stories and that site have haunted me. I’ve never been back to find it – I was transported to Australia aged 9.
Then recently I was told by a modeller from the Burnley district that the Heinkel crash site is on Mearley Moor adjacent to Pendle Hill and the crew is buried at Worston.
Does anyone have information about this site and perhaps a pointer on where I might find out more?
By: Kookaburra - 15th September 2010 at 15:18
Ta very much Nick. That’s most helpful. The links are fascinating and I will get hold of the walking book.
It’s funny how these stories can get mixed up. I wonder if my dad took me east past Skipton into the Dales – or north past Settle where we used to fish on the Ribble ? Probably never know for sure.
By: N.Wotherspoon - 15th September 2010 at 10:40
Hi Kookaburra
Definitely NO German losses at all in this area and no German war graves at Worston – nearest site is that of a P-47 42-22758 from East Wretham, en route to Warton which crashed on 6th Feb. 1944 on the west flank of Pendle, which is the Mearley Moor side and twisted fragment may still be found when the bracken covering much of the crash site dies back in winter. Also in this area is a long standing local rumour of a force landed Spitfire that I have never managed to substantiate through any documentary records – one local even claimed to have a sheared off wooden prop blade taken as a souvenir , but I never managed to gain access to view it. Nearer to Barnoldswick was Defiant N3328 close to Gisburn, but there was nothing to see there and it was in a farmer’s field – locals did here it circling the Barnoldswick area just prior to the crash.
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September 15, 2010 at 2:46 am