There was a brilliant radio 4 series and a book by ‘Bob Servant’ where he took the scammers for a ride. http://www.bobservant.com/BobServantEmails.html

I have used several responses.

‘Excuse me, there’s someone at the door’, leaving them hanging to see how long they’ll wait – 15 to 20 minutes actually.

Or, ‘It was funny when Peter Sellers did it but yours is rubbish’,

‘What is rubbish sir?’

‘Your comedy accent’.

Vey nicely done. The difference in contrast between the subject and the background could have been better rendered though, especially in the long distance shots. 7 out of 10 for photography, 10 out of 10 for modelling skills.

Oh well, it’s looking like I’ll have to eat my words.

Vey nicely done. The difference in contrast between the subject and the background could have been better rendered though, especially in the long distance shots. 7 out of 10 for photography, 10 out of 10 for modelling skills.

Hi Elliott – I haven’t actually seen the part in the photos. It was my friend Joe who went up Ben Rinnes and he didn’t see any other wreckage. I did ask him, and he says he didn’t see any numbers or lettering on it. I don’t know where this find is in relation to the photo Al posted, so it would be interesting to see how the parts are oriented on the hill.

To me, the flanges on the end of the pipes suggest a seal of some sort. I thought it was certainly too big for hydraulics, and overly generous for fuel, or oil.

I dunno – hot air perhaps?

Can anyone identify the item below, found on Ben Rinnes?

[ATTACH]203921[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203922[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203923[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203924[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203925[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203926[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]203927[/ATTACH]

The remains of the Rothes Ju-188

[ATTACH]203913[/ATTACH]

Well, it’s nice to see that the Warwick remains are still extant, but it looks to me as if they’ve been substantially disturbed. I hope there’s a good reason for this.

Personally, I now feel that crash site excavation ought to be confined to providing confirmation of an aircrafts ID, to assist an analysis of what actually happened or to provide parts or patterns to display as a museum exhibit or to help restore an airframe. If rooting around or moving wreckage doesn’t assist in this, I’d rather it was left alone – although I must admit, I was prone to looking for souvenirs in my callow youth.

I was satisfied and rather moved today when Joe, Al and I finally located wreckage from the Ju-188 near Rothes. On the other hand, it looked to me as if all the wreckage we found had been piled together which, whilst probably done with good intentions, makes it next to impossible to work out how the aircraft and its crew ended thier existence. However, finding such wreckage provides a conclusion to a paragraph in an article I recently submitted to my local newsletter:

Some time ago I used the Rothesian to enquire if readers had any memories of local wartime aircraft accidents in the Rothes area. I received a number of responses which helped me glean some historical information.
.On 24th September 1940, during a cross country exercise from RAF Kinloss, Whitley P5006 of 19 OTU crashed on Ben Aigen. All on board were killed. The crew consisted of
Flt Sgt C H Ashley
Sgt D S Proudfoot
Sgt N R Foley
Sgt E S Millard
Sgt P H Lucas DFM
Sgt I D S E Hay.
A friend of mine was in contact with Sgt Hays sister, Rhona Hay, who was born after her older brother had died in the accident. Rhona provided a map reference and asked us to take some photos of the cairn at the site which, as a 3 year old, she’d helped her father to build in 1945. We located the accident site in the woods on the north side of the large ravine which runs down the face of the hill. At the site were a few pieces of wreckage and a jumble of mossy rocks which looked as if they had been placed there. We cleaned off the moss and rebuilt the stones into a small cairn, and took some photos which we sent to Rhona. Although there is a cairn on the summit, I’m not sure this is related to the Whitley accident as many hills around here have a cairn on the summit. I think it more likely that the jumble of rocks we found were the remains of the memorial Rhona helped her father to build. It was satisfying to be able to add something to the story of this accident and to provide Rhona with a memento.

On 14th February 1942, Wellington N2825 from 20 OTU based at RAF Lossiemouth took off for night flying practice. Around 2335 hours the aircraft crashed at Drumbain. The accident was attributed to engine failure. Five of the crew were killed and Sgt Burr was found injured. The crew consisted of:
RAF PO Cobb, R E Captain (Pilot)
RAF PO Witter, A S (Pilot)
RAF Sgt H Clark, (Observer)
RAAF 407283 Sgt J Bishop, (Wireless Air Gunner)
RAAF 400344 Sgt J H Goldie, (Wireless Air Gunner)
RAF Sgt N A Burr, (Air Gunner)
Sgt’s Bishop and Goldie, both of The Royal Australian Air Force, are buried in Lossiemouth Cemetery.

On 21st June 1944, in the early hours, a German Ju 188F-1, Werke Nr 280608 A6+HH came down on the hill around 2 miles to the NW of Rothes. This was a reconnaissance aircraft based in Norway and it lost an engine, which came down 1/4 of a mile away. It was scattered wreckage that was found, some time later, with the crew dead. The crew, Fw F. Schanze, Oblt J. Winne and W. Sebisch are buried in Lossiemouth cemetery.

Thanks to everyone who helped. If there are any other wartime aircraft incidents in the vicinity of Rothes that I’ve missed, I’d be very interested to do some further research.

Only one more loose end to tie up – I have yet to find the Drumbain Wellington site but when I do, for me, it will be enough to know I’ve helped to ensure that this piece of local aviation history is accurately documented.