Serious Aviation Archaeologist researching south west crashes

Serious Aviation Archaeologist researching SW crashes

WW2 crashes in Cornwall are detailed on www.rafdavidstowmoor.org . The site owner may have more details on specific crashes.

Quote “Blenheim R3912 took over 10 years to recover, which i belive your group once held a license to recover previously??. I firmly belive that in this world you make your own luck, and if you want something bad enough you will make it happen and get it eventually”

yep, i know you worked hard on that one Tim, although, i must admit i am still hurt over being rejected a invite, I would have gladly had nothing but just to see her come out of the ground, I was very sore for quite some time,
especailly as we used to look at the odd site together Years ago ,
still, all in the past now , water under the bridge,

801

i am there , when can i pick it up, can o go tommorow, Keen, bloody hell ,more than keen,:dev2:

give us the details, and i would love to go,as long as everythings above board

Radial engine

Thanks,
good dig in hand then, shame its a whitley, bloody useless they were,
i suppose the engines are worth recovering, nice rocker covers, and some nice early data plates , as for the rest ,
Game on,
as for the blenhiem wouldnt mind a cockpit off of one of them, but i bet theres not much left of it especailly with sea water and all,
but if it all cant be saved then cut the nose off at least

spitfires are a little thin on the ground now to be dug up apart from the odd nutty farmer who wont allow access. rare old bird the whitley even though they are not the most streamlined and good looking,. Well if you are that keen to try your luck to find a engine, I was told of the remains of German DB801 engine on the firing range at lulworth granade range from a FW190 12 months ago by a warden. Wont even need a digger as its sitting on the top, just a good flac jacket.

Think with a bit of talking you could get access especally in the closure periods. I will sent you a map ref if you are keen or is that to ambisous and a little south for you

somerset merlin 25s

was thinking of breaking em for Trinkets 😀

merlins

THEY ARE MERLIN 25 ACTUALLY, GOT UN RIGHT HERE IN THE SHED., real crackers, just a shame they were post war,:D

Hi Merkle, i read your post with interest. you are not alone in finding it hard to find crash information or avaialle sites——but thats why most of us here do it!!!! As you will read, the sites are still out there -Fighter Ace with the Whitley and others such as Tangmere 1940 have proved this.
Blenheim R3912 took over 10 years to recover, which i belive your group once held a license to recover previously??. I firmly belive that in this world you make your own luck, and if you want something bad enough you will make it happen and get it eventually. I am hoping to realise my lifetime dream of recovering some Merlins X2 in the near future-again its been more than 10 years from the first contact with the landowner its April 2008 and im still in there:diablo: :diablo: !!!!!!!.

I am finding that valuable research time is to be had whilst on the throne, nothing better than serching through air britain at that time of the day!!!

On the other side, the SAE would be more than willing to offer artifacts collected from Somerset crash sites to the proposed Museum.
Best regards, Tim :diablo:

Recovery info

Hi Merkle, i read your post with interest. You are not alone in finding it hard to find crash information or avaialble sites——but thats why most of us here do it!!!! As you will read, the sites are still out there -Fighter Ace with the Whitley and others such as Tangmere 1940 have proved this.
Blenheim R3912 took over 10 years to recover, which i belive your group once held a license to recover previously??. I firmly belive that in this world you make your own luck, and if you want something bad enough you will make it happen and get it eventually. I am hoping to realise my lifetime dream of recovering some Merlins X2 in the near future-again its been more than 10 years from the first contact with the landowner its April 2008 and im still in there:diablo: :diablo: !!!!!!!.

I am finding that valuable research time is to be had whilst on the throne, nothing better than serching through air britain at that time of the day!!!

On the other side, the SAE would be more than willing to offer artifacts collected from Somerset crash sites to the proposed Museum.
Best regards, Tim :diablo:

By the way , I have all the Air britains apart from 1939-45 FAA
but they are sketchy at the best of times ,
its old research i am keen to find

They are reference books, compiled and condensed from years of “old research”. I’m sure that if you make an appointment at FAAM Yeovilton they will be only too happy to help you find more detailed information based on what our books contain. It is all there!

Elliot, ELIOTT – Merkle’s slagging off your pet 😀 😀 😀

Roger Smith.

blenhiem,

why not try the old trick of tying old oil barrels to it and bringing it up that way, towing it to a slip way :dev2:

😀

Thanks,
good dig in hand then, shame its a whitley, bloody useless they were,
i suppose the engines are worth recovering, nice rocker covers, and some nice early data plates , as for the rest ,
Game on,
as for the blenhiem wouldnt mind a cockpit off of one of them, but i bet theres not much left of it especailly with sea water and all,
but if it all cant be saved then cut the nose off at least

Well told the location of it if you fancy getting you feet wet, its should be in good condition as it has fresh water flowing onto the site. Like you said the back end is already missing so it would make a nice cockpit project.

Hooked up onto it one day fishing but the old dingy would not pull it out:diablo: a real shipping hazzard:D

Whitley

Thanks,
good dig in hand then, shame its a whitley, bloody useless they were,
i suppose the engines are worth recovering, nice rocker covers, and some nice early data plates , as for the rest ,
Game on,
as for the blenhiem wouldnt mind a cockpit off of one of them, but i bet theres not much left of it especailly with sea water and all,
but if it all cant be saved then cut the nose off at least

south west sites

Well there may be a good whitley dig in the pipe line this year, just getting the ok off the landowners to apply to MOD for recovery. Even helping out the few projects that is going on there will be more wreckage than you could poke a stick at, so i think i should be able to spare some for westland zoyland.

I know where that blenhiem is located now, bit to big a project for me but would have a nice cockpit attached if you are serious at a recovery.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Blenheim wreck that occasionally surfaces through the mud in the Severn Estuary. I don’t know the identity, but it could be L6597, a Blenheim Mk.I of 5OTU at Aston Down that crashed near Sharpness on 15th July 1940. There are numerous reports of it from the 1960s onwards, but I don’t know its current location. It was reported as intact in the 1970’s. I guess it’s gradually drifting further out into the estuary, so heaven knows what condition it’s in. Bit difficult to retrieve though. I’d be interested to find out more. There have been similar reports of a propeller in the mud near Portishead, although I don’t think it’s the same wreck, see http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=55992

Andy A.

West Country?
There’s a tunnel that goes into the hilside at Downderry in Cornwall. Huge (green?) doors, big enough to get a train in. The tunnel is at the Eastern end of the village within feet of the main road.
There used to be a Chain Home radar site on the beach there (3 or 4 huge towers). As you come down into the village you round a hairpin bend & the next road on the right has the tunnel entrance… (as far as I remember it’s on the corner of that road, if not you’d be damn close)
Google earth grid ref would be:
50 21 41.74N
4 21 40.55W

There was a B36 at Boscombe, though I think it skidded to a halt within the boundary. The one at Lacock came down all over the place (the crew dropped into three counties), not just in the wood but has been fairly well picked over. Wartime alloy corrodes badly but the magnesium alloy a B36 was made from doesn’t last well at all. It was the biggest aircraft to crash in the UK though, going by wingspan.

What about the B36 that crashed at Boscombe Down? Well, in a field ‘almost at’ Boscombe Down!

I believe the crew were lost on a training flight from Texas! 😀

She was repaired at the A&AEE and flown out.

Bri 🙂

yep, i know the one, actually crashed near Lacock, in a wood,
problem with the “big stick” is just that, its SOOoooo BIG , all i can imangine me finding there is tons of “skinning” thats all i ever seem to find:( ,
its no wonder they call me the “scratcher”, surface scratching about and only
finding skinning, would be nice one day to find a instrument face or a few decent data plates, or blow me, a engine one day, if it got any worse i think i would hang me coat up, and call it a day, a sell off all my gear,
doing cockpits must be alot easier,than scrabbling around for bits of tinning, at least you get something to show for all the work youve done over the years, sorry to sound so Glum, but i have near enough had it,Like most of us on the forum (i imagine) ive had years of the mrs moaning about it, my mates who restore planes taking the pi@@ out of me, and its been bloody expensive, not to mention thousands of hours over the years,and pretty much sod all to show for it.
Is there anyone else out there who has been a scratcher like me ??:D
ive been in this game since i was 14 years old, and now i am 36, and stil i have never seen a JCB dig, let alone a engine come out of the ground:(

What about the B36 that crashed at Boscombe Down? Well, in a field ‘almost at’ Boscombe Down!

I believe the crew were lost on a training flight from Texas! 😀

She was repaired at the A&AEE and flown out.

Bri 🙂

catterick tanks

Unlikely there are tanks down mines @ Catterick, I was local & there are no mines @ Catterick, several quarries in the area, years ago there were WW2 tanks on the Army ranges around Catterick/Richmond.Be interested to know where your friend thinks the mines are located.There are disused lead & copper mines in Swaledale, visited most of them in my youth, no tanks in any of them.

My friend is now long dead,
He was Goerge Morley of the old South west aircraft recovery group,
He was in the RAC,then was transferred to the Paras , then in palestine after the war, and his last job was a transferal to the RAC,as a instructor,
he was given the job of “trying to cut up 2 churchills” and they gave up,
he was based at catterick, he said they managed to dispose of them down a disused mine shaft, he was allways on about it, shame he has now long gone,
he allways wanted to find them again, but was a OAP, with little money to do such things,

Not a tank down a mine but the remains of one of two tanks on a Norfolk beach! Was there in the snow week before last. Failed to find an already dug Whirlwind but these were lying on the Titchwell bird reserve. Probably beyond saving though. Re the Museum, the Hodgkiss collection is still both existing and collecting. There would certainly be stuff to loan for a museum at Weston Zoyland. Hell of an undertaking mind. Good luck, Ian.