Whitley BD295 – Site Cleared??

Which route did you take? I used the track from the north and followed it onto the hill to where it ends near the first of the shooting butts and up the moor from there, not that I saw much as it was inside a cloud once I left the river.

I visited BD295’s wreck site this afternoon and I’m pleased to say that there are still a few crushed panels etc. Getting to this site is not straightforward and it took me 4 hrs and 15 minutes of walking to do the round trip! Thanks to Alan Clark for his assistance.

Hi Andy

Exhaust stubs went to the BBMF from one high ground Whitley in the 1970s – they were just unbolted at the site and whisked off by helicopter!

There was also a dig at another site where engine parts were supposedly removed for the BBMF, but I doubt they were actually used as the engine in question had shattered into pieces. Certainly the metal was extremely well preserved.

Your best bet is to speak to someone who was in the BBMF at the time!

I am sure I heard an account of the RAF excavating a Whitley crash site many years ago to recover the engines. Incredibly, the account was that spares were being sought for the BBMF!

The story from an extremely reliable ex RAF source(and which I believe to be true) was that the engines were duly recovered but that partial crew remains were re-buried at the site. It is an extraordinary story I know, but one I have been trying to get to the bottom of for some while but without much luck.

Do you know the site in question, Elliott, or what the background to this tale actually is?

Thanks for that Elliott.

Johnnie

Hi Johnnie

No – it was not cleared – there was not much there when we did our recovery to start with however. Only items that could be used in the rebuild were taken. Certainly I have reports that some 20 years ago there was an oil cooler or radiator at the site – this had long gone by the time we visited.

The ground is very flat and broken up making the site very difficult to find even under the best of conditions.

Regards

Can anybody tell me if the crash site of Whitley BD295 has now been cleared. I know the Whitley project recovered some parts, but I wasn’t sure how much they cleared.

Johnnie

It was a few years ago that I went but there was still a fair amount there then. That was after Elliott’s first visit to the site, I don’t know about any subsequent visits.

You can see what was there in October 04 from the page on my site.