Victims of Caithness wartime air crashes are commemorated

Victims of two wartime air crashes have been commemorated more than 80 years after they lost their lives in the hills of south-east Caithness.

Poppy crosses were laid and a dedication ceremony was observed at an event involving members of the Wick, Canisbay and Latheron branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland and the Air Training Corps, with the help of Welbeck Estate which provided all-terrain vehicles.

The locations of three crashes – two in the early 1940s and one in the 1960s – had lain unmarked for decades. But a few years ago plaques were put in place as part of a project instigated by James More, an ex-military man from Wick who has researched many of the crash sites in the county.

The plaques, commissioned by the Legion, were unveiled at a Remembrance Sunday service in 2019 and they commemorate a total of 13 men.

The first is in memory of the six crew who died when a Whitley MkV aircraft, operating with 612 Squadron from RAF Wick, came down on May 1, 1941. They had taken off on an anti-U-boat patrol from Wick on April 30 and were returning in the early hours of the morning when their aircraft flew into the northern end of East Scaraben above the Berriedale Water.

A mine detonated on impact, leaving a large crater that is still visible along with scarring on the hillside.

Commemorated on a second plaque, which is attached to the same stone, are three who died when an Avro Anson aircraft operating with 20 Operational Training Unit from RAF Lossiemouth crashed near the same site on August 18, 1942. There were two survivors, who later died on active service, and their names are also inscribed.

A third memorial pays tribute to the two crew who were killed when a Canberra PR7 aircraft of 80 Squadron RAF Brüggen crashed on February 2, 1966.

Squadron Leader Les Grant, of the North Scotland Wing of Air Training Corps, and Warrant Officer Peta Donachie of Wick ATC, part of 1285 Caithness Squadron, were joined on the recent outing by Legion members Alex Paterson and Tommy Munro and estate representatives.

They didn’t make it to the Canberra crash site but have asked the estate to lay poppies there when next in the area.

Sqn Ldr Grant praised Welbeck Estate for its support.

"They were very good," he said. "They organised to take us up – there's no way the Legion members would have been able to walk up there.

"The first two crashes were obviously during the war and the third one was in the mid-1960s. I think it's good that we can still commemorate these people who lost their lives.

"Up until a few years ago there was nothing there apart from the crash sites themselves to remember these people, so it's good that these plaques are now in place after all this time.

"It was a pleasant experience to be there, and such a lovely day as well.

"It's not an accessible area – you can't just pop up a look. You have to plan in advance.

"If the estate hadn't supplied their vehicles the Legion members wouldn't have got there – it's great that they came along.

"It was good cooperation between the Legion, a local historian and the estate.

"It was James More who instigated it, as there was nothing there originally to recognise these personnel that perished."

The most well-documented air accident in the area is the one involving a Sunderland flying boat which crashed into the hillside at Eagle's Rock on August 25, 1942, killing 14 passengers and crew – including the Duke of Kent, the King’s youngest brother, who had been due to tour RAF stations in Iceland in his role as a senior welfare officer.

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