India, what's next????

Buried treasures.

Talk about a privateer on the moon, the same rubbish journal reported a few years ago that six Lancasters were burried at Elsham Wolds with an aerial photograph to prove it. I wonder what happened to them? possibly dug up, refuelled and flown to join the lonely Privateer LOL. 🙂

Hi TT,

The Cat is at Uidh, Vatersay.

JX273, F, of No.302 FTU took off from RAF Oban on 12th May 1944.

The following snippets are from the No.281 Sqn ORB, RNLI Records of Service 1939-46 and a letter from a chap to the Barra News.

Wreckage reported on mountain side near Vatersay by No.281 Sqn.

MAY 12TH. – BARRA ISLAND, HEBRIDES.
At 7.15 in the morning a doctor of Castlebay telephoned to the life-boat honorary secretary that he had received a telephone message from Vatersay post office that an R.A.F. Sunderland flying boat had crashed on the hillside, at Uidh, Vatersay, and that members of the crew were badly hurt. A light westerly wind was blowing with a slight sea. The doctor asked for the
services of the life-boat, and at 7.50 the motor life-boat Lloyd’s put out with him on board. She took a motor boat with her and reached Uidh in a quarter of an hour. Three of the crew took the doctor ashore in the motor boat, and found three airmen dead, and of the remaining six, three so seriously injured that stretchers were needed. The life-boat made two trips to and from Uidh with the dead and injured and arrived back at her station at 1.30 that afternoon. The local R.A.F. officer asked if the life-boat could again be used to take out the injured men to a ship which had arrived from Tobermory. She set out at 3.30, made two trips with the men and returned to her station at five o’clock. – Rewards, £10 1s.

BARRA News
On May 12th 1944 a Catalina flying boat JX272 (Sic. RMcN) took off from 302 Ferry Training Unit at Oban for a night flight exercise. The pilot was Flight Sgt. J R Clyned and his co-pilot Sgt. E A Kilshaw with 7 members of crew. It left Oban and the next turning point was to be Barra Head, but the navigator became worried that they were well off their intended course. On re-checking his compass the navigator found that they were indeed off course. He then checked with the pilot’s compass and found that this was giving the wrong reading. The pilot began to climb immediately to a safe altitude but when they reached 700ft the aircraft crashed into the hillside on Heishavel Beag on Vatersay. Three members of the crew were killed and the other six injured. The RAF took away the engines, weapons, radio and radar. The rest of the aircraft was broken up and dumped at the bottom of the hill where parts of it can still be seen today. The lifeboat brought the three bodies and six injured crew off Vatersay to Barra.

One of the survivors from that crash, Sgt. Calder returned to Barra on holiday about 3 years ago and was very moved to see the wreckage of the Catalina in Vatersay. During his visit to the Heritage Centre he was informed that the lady who attended his injuries on the night of the crash in Vatersay was still alive and in St. Brendan’s home and he was able to visit her. Since then he has provided more details and a photograph of the crew of the Catalina.

A letter received this week expresses concern that the wreckage is still there: “I write regarding parts from the above aircraft having noted same laying by the roadside on the Isle of Vatersay on August 6th 2001. My interest arises as not only being a former Royal Air Force and career civil air pilot but also as possessed of a wide knowledge of aviation history together with prolonged active participation in historic aircraft ownership, restoration and preservation. Given such background it will be clear why I prefer not to see the remains of a fatal aircraft accident left neglected by the road-side some 57 years after the tragic mishap.” The writer may not be aware that the Catalina is regarded locally as a memorial to those who lost their lives that night and that action to provide an information plaque on the site is being considered.

Link to photo of wreckage
http://www.ww2inthehighlands.co.uk/folders/crashes/othercrashes.htm

Regards
Ross

Rumour has it there is a rare prototype of the Melvyn Mk.1a wrapped in hessian and concealed in the undergrowth 72 paces N-N-E of the Taj Mahal.

Anticipate it in a container at Duxford in about three weeks.

Mark

The first one that gets recovered will be cannibalised to make a flying Seafang. 😉

Mark

Now that would be a sight 😮

Poona Tempests…

In theory aren’t there still a couple of Tempest II’s still on the airfield? I believe 6 were recovered, 6 were ‘buried’ on site and I am sure I was sent a picture somewhere showing a couple still left!!

There were 3 Typhoons tested in Libya during the war (451 squadron I believe) wonder if these escaped the scrap man after the war? (they were flown until the spares ran out and then grounded…never made it back to the UK).

4. Cold Water Lake finds – still aircraft in Michigan?

There are over a hundred military aircraft in Lake Michigan. I’ve worked on Steven Craig’s Wildcat & the paint inside the fuselage/cockpit is the original paint……. the stuff in the fuselage looks like it was painted in the last few months. It also has the original paint, with stenciling, on the inside of the one for fuel filler covers.
The guy who lives opposite my ex mother in law was a instructor on one of the lake Carriers. Quite a character, Ernie Neumann (sp?). His log books have Stearmans, SNJ’s, Corsairs, Wild/Hell/Bearcats & SBD’s…

Guys

PNG is by no means dead – lots of stuff is coming out of there all the time – it’s just how it’s done and who gets it and do you hear about it – The good thing is that now a lot of the recovered stuff is being collected rather than scrapped.

Here is a recent P40 as an example and some pics of the P38s all of this is recent and will form the basis of real projects – not stored away in some barn for 20 years hence.

Regards
John P

In Peter Vachers book there was reference to him being asked if he wanted to take a trip ‘off the beaten track’ to view a couple of Spits, he declined due in no small part to the dodgy area they were supposed to be in.
Also what about some Sea Furies and Tempests in Pakistan somewhere ?

Dave

The first one that gets recovered will be cannibalised to make a flying Seafang. 😉

Mark

One strange ac – sort of rotund looking – presumably to accomodate the engine. Always thought the wings looked familiar. And a tricycle undercarrige!

The first one that gets recovered will be cannibalised to make a flying Seafang. 😉

Mark

AHA! Now you give away your little sectret . . .

Often wondered if there are any Attackers hidden away in Pakistan, I always say that the FAAM Attacker is the only KNOWN example to exist.

The first one that gets recovered will be cannibalised to make a flying Seafang. 😉

Mark

Rlangham, you live in good times (I know you know that!). The Hurri scene was so barren up to the 1990s. And I never thought I’d ever see a BofB veteran fly, let alone be found.

Jagan, if I may ask, because of India’s population size, is there a proportionally large vintage aircraft scene?

What are the actual chances of a warbird being found in one of those countries and brought back to England or another country where it could be restored, to static at least? Personally i’d love to see more Hurricanes, but any would be good news.

Oh by the way TT, the Martin Maryland and the Baltimore are believed to be extinct, sadly.

Often wondered if there are any Attackers hidden away in Pakistan, I always say that the FAAM Attacker is the only KNOWN example to exist.

Well i was born in 1988 so i was a bit late…. don’t know how anyone could fall for it though! Then again i did manage to persuade a friend i was going on a trip to Africa to hunt wild animals and if we got bored the local air force would let us borrow some fighter jets to chase the animals down…

Didn’t the wings currently on the ex-Doug Arnold Hurricane now with TFC (KZ321) come from India?

Yes they did.

I located them by chance at Dehra Dun at the Doon School on my first trip in 1976.

I was on my way to make the initial inspection of SM832.

Mark

Did you not see it? Worst/Best Spoof headline ever – badly posed shot of a B-24 on the surface of the moon – legendary 1980s headline – back me up someone!

Cant find a copy of the front page on google – but if you google Daily Sport Bomber on Moon you’ll see I’m right!

TT

B-24/privateer on the moon?! What’s that about?

LOL!

Great question Cees – the way i see it there are few untapped resources left for locating warbirds…now that the Eastern Block is more or less slave to the $

I imagine:

1. China
2. Libya (as discussed on an earlier thread)
3. Still (boobytrapped) hulks in Afghanistan
4. Cold Water Lake finds – still aircraft in Michigan?
5. North Atlantic Route ice bound aircraft such as Glacier Girl
6. Misc wrecks in the various wildernesses of the world
7. India, Burma and the Far East inc PNG (although thats been pretty well taken
care of)
8. The B-24/Privateer wot was on the moon according to the Daily Sport.

Love the romantic notion of stumbling across a North West Passage province, dining with the Maharajah and ‘finding’ his lost 1920s-1930s air force…

As a post script, a visitor to the Museum recently told us that she has seen the wreck of a Catalina on the Isle of Barra, Scotland – anyone know more?

Finally and i have a random head on tonight – are there any Martin Marylands still extant?

Cheerio

TT

I was looking at www.warbirdregistry.org, and in the B24 registry, it lists two B-24s reported stored at Poona.