THIS IS THE DUMP IN 1977, AN MR3 A T4 AND THE REMAINS OF ANOTHER BADLY BURNT

Quoting the “Scotland Scanned” book of that same year – “WB847 Shackleton T.4 (8020M) coded B arrived in 1968, ex MOTU, as a potential gate guardian – still largely complete on the fire dump.
A similar aircraft WB846 “Z” was finally burnt out in 1975.
WR953 Shackleton MR2C “F” of 205 sqn – burnt out shell remains on dump.
XF730 Shackleton MR3/3 “F” arrived 24/6/71 from 42 sqn – the last Shackleton produced for the RAF is still fairly intact on the fire dump.”

A pity there seems to have been a change of mind re the gate guardian idea.

I suspect it is V9817 used by 1 Gunnery and Tow Target Flight, 8th Air Force in 1944. It carried RAF markings apart from the fuselage roundels. Not sure of location though possibly Templeton as seen here –

http://www.controltowers.co.uk/t-v/templeton.htm

Can’t help with an exact location but Canopus is in wartime camouflage and is probably therefore on the “Horseshoe route” adopted when it became impossible to operate safely over the Med. This route varied from time to time as the war progressed but the map here gives a good idea of the bases originally used and the photo may have been taken at one of the coastal locations shown –

http://www.nzstamps.org.uk/air/teal/chs11.jpg

Further info on the pilot here –

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/clark2.php

You’ll have waited in vain this evening.

Thanks for clarifying that – thought I’d managed to nod off between all the excitement 🙂 Nice shot of the DH51 at the start at least.

Anyway – after 50 years I was finally reunited with the Shunting Engine that I previously mentioned,it was based at Cupar Sugar Factory (fife) when I was a wee lad.
I visited Brechin a week or so ago – unfortunately the ‘steaming’ season had finished but she was being prepped for a private run : )

Hi Baz, there is an identical engine to the Brechin-based one on the Royal Deeside Railway at Banchory in Kincardineshire. Called “Salmon” to commemorate the submarine HMS Salmon which was lost off Aberdeen in 1940 the steam engine was built a fair bit later than the Brechin one (1942 as opposed to 1926) but there seems very little difference between them – even the controls seem unchanged.