During a recent trip to the Hebridean island of Hirta, the main island of the St Kilda grouping, I came across this propeller / hub assy, lying beside the quayside for the military base. There was no plaque or suchlike to describe what it was.
Having seen a picture of another prop assy that lies on top of Connachair beside the crash site of Beaufighter LX798, they look remarkably similar. However, I did not manage to climb Connachair due to time, weather and ‘other half’ issues…..
It would appear this prop was feathered before the accident, or am I mistaken?
I also never got a chance to see the wreckage of Sunderland ML858, again for the same reason I didn’t get to the top of Connachair.
However, in the restored church on the island, there is a memorial to the 3 known crash sites on the St Kilda islands. Interesting how the Wellington was never identified. A book I bought from the NTS shop in the island says that there was an RAF team sent to the island of Soay (to the north of Hirta) and recovered Canadian remains in 1979, but I find it interesting the aircraft was never identified. I haven’t fully read the book yet, but I believe it says there is a choice of 2 aircraft it may have been – I’ll update the thread once I get that far!
Hope you enjoy the pictures, and look forward to any comments or other information.
Kind Regards,
Scotty
By: sapper310 - 29th December 2009 at 12:02
There wasn’t much to see at the Beaufighter wreck – I was told by the SERCO man on the island that it had skimmed the hilltop shedding its wings before the fuselage plunged off the clifftop – I think I remember him saying that after the accident they found a flying boot complete with foot on the clifftop but no other sign of the crew (could be a tall tale that’s developed over the years)
The “After The Battle” article mentioned earlier by Sunderlandnut has what is probably the most extensive research done by anyone on the St Kilda aircraft crash sites and is well worth £5 if you are interested in this particular subject. According to John Barry (article author) your SERCO source is mainly correct except the flying boot and shoe found had no foot inside it. At the Wellington crash site on Soay a size 8 “square bashing” boot was found complete with human foot inside so that is probably the source of that particular element of his story.
REgards
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August 31, 2009 at 5:16 pm