Not a flying boat but a Wellington

Vickers Wellington (Photo : Wikipedia)

Thanks to my cousin, John Turner, who contacted the archivist at Davidstow Airfield museum, I can now confirm that it was not flying boat but a Wellington crash that my mother witnessed.

Even better, this crash occurred with no loss of life although the crew were quite shaken up. Well wouldn't you be?

From the crash site, one can see the control tower at Davidstow airfield jut below the horizon, far left 

My 89 year old mother is writing her memoirs and this was one of the mysteries in her life that we wanted to clear up.

This is how she relates the tale of her sighting and also how we resolved this long-standing mystery.

"While we were staying in Cornwall during the war, I witnessed an air crash.

"This must have happened while we were staying at Otterham Mill, near Boscastle with Mrs Hocking. I suppose it was a sort of private evacuation and we arrived at Otterham station with our bikes on the train. My father couldn’t stay long as he had to get back to his work in his London bank.

"My godmother, May Fountain, lived in Boscastle and we used to cycle down to the coast to visit her and in this particular memory we were probably on our way to see her.

"Somewhere along the way, I saw what I took to be a flying boat crash into a hill. There was a big plume of smoke but I don’t remember hearing anything. I was very shocked because I realised that I must have seen people die in the crash. Nobody said anything at the time so I must have been the only one to see it and as there was a war on there was no mention of it in the papers.

"As the years went by, I occasionally asked my family about this but nobody could recall anything.

"When I began to write my memoirs, this memory came back to me more strongly than ever. I had often thought about it and was still curious to know, not in a morbid way, what had happened.

"My son did some research into crash sites and flying boats but could find nothing that matched my memory.

"A few years later we mentioned this my nephew and godson, John Turner. By then he lived just off the Atlantic Coast Highway or A39 near Bude and, as well as his work for Exeter University in Cornwall, he was a flying instructor. It was through one of his flying friends, Rod Knight, who was also a volunteer archivist at the museum at the old airfield at Davidstow, that he made an important discovery. 

"Rod takes up the story.                                                                                                

“'I have looked through my crash log files and the only one that fits depends on when the family first came to Otterham Mill.'

“'As the mill is situated in a valley bottom, it is very unlikely that your aunt saw an air crash from there. However, if she had been up at Otterham station, looking up the hill, towards the south she may have seen the following – not a Short Sunderland flying boat but a Wellington in Coastal Command colours flying from Davidstow.'

“'24/09/43 : Wellington XIII, HZ701 of 547 Squadron RAF Davidstow Moor, took off on an air test. Just after becoming airborne, the starboard engine started to fail and the pilot turned back in an effort to regain the airfield. Unfortunately, the engine failed completely before he was able to do so and he had to force land the aircraft in a field near Tichbarrow.'

“'If the date is correct and if she was at Otterham Station, she would have seen this aircraft in trouble and when it crashed it would have looked like it had crashed into the hillside. A lot of ifs, I know, but it’s the only one that seems to fit.'

“The aircraft was written off but the crew were unharmed, if a little shaken.'

“Tichbarrow is the highest point on the A39 between Camelford and Bude, not far from the Davidstow cheese factory.'”

"The twenty fourth of September is the day after my birthday and it fits exactly with how we would have marked the occasion of my fourteenth birthday. I would have cycled with the rest of my family to visit dear Auntie May, who was also my godmother. 

"I am so pleased to have my mind put at rest.  

"I am especially pleased that no one was hurt, if a little shaken.

"I had to wait 75 years, however. 

"A few months after this revelation, on a sunny day in the summer of 2018, we visited the crash site with my nephew John. We could see how high Tichbarrow is. There are two earth barrows on its summit and between them an old Observer’s Corps bunker. Looking inland we could just make out the control tower of Davidstow Moor airfield in the distance so the air traffic staff must have been able to see the incident as well."   

The crash site at Tichbarrow, revealed to my mum at last. And there were no fatalities

Long ago I had an Airfix model of a Short Sunderland but never had a Vickers Wellington.

It's not too late to put that right.

Tichbarrow is a very interesting site. During the cold war, the authorities built an Observer Corps bunker between the two barrows. I wonder what interesting things they dug up?

The barrow nearest to the A39 was partially excavated in 1972, during road widening, and holed and cup-marked stones were recovered from it. This barrow is barely visible these days.

Just visible in this view is the barrow nearest the road. We didn't notice this one at all for a track to the observer's post has been made through it (Photo © English Heritage. NMR. 24163.32) 

On the southern slope of the same hill are other tumuli, one of which was excavated in 1864 by J D Cook, revealing the skeleton of a very tall individual. Subsequently, this barrow became known as The Giant's Grave.

We didn't visit those as my mother has osteoporosis and a lot of walking becomes painful for her. She did well to make it up to my cousin's place but was wiped out afterwards. 

She said she slept better than ever knowing those young men had not died.

A view of Tichbarrow with the entrance to the old Observer's Corps underground bunker nestling between the two mounds

I have bought the Haynes book of the Vickers Wellington, though. I can remember my father trying to explain the type of construction employed, construction that must have contributed to the survival of the aircrew.

My mum, sister and cousin at Tichbarrow

I have never been to Brooklands but it is on the list, especially now, as the museum there houses the surviving Wellington and it's called R for Robert.

I will also have to visit the other tumuli on the southern slope. Probably in the summer, though - I can't see the other side of my valley today.