On 5th June 1937 this aircraft belonging to No.98 Squadron was being flown from West Freugh airfield and was heading for Hucknall airfield in Nottinghamshire. Prior to taking off the crew were instructed to fly down the west coast of England to Sealand, because of bad weather the aircraft flew off this route and inland, when it flew into high ground in the Lake District flying in very poor weather. The aircraft was reported as missing until it was found later that day by Mr S.R.Jackson and Mr J.Jackson of Nelson, Lancashire who were walking the fells north of Windermere. The aircraft was found to have hit the ground near to the head of Threshthwaite Cove and both men in the aircraft were killed. A large team made their way toward the crash site and the bodies of the crew were later recovered to Hartsop village. Little else is known about the accident. Another 98 Squadron aircraft crashed near Port William, Scotland on the same date and Vickers Vildebeest K4607 had crashed on Crinkle Crags the day before this incident and is detailed on its own webpage. No.26 Squadron (Army Co-Operation) recorded the incidents in their squadron record book as they dispatched six of their aircraft to Carlisle and three aircraft to Speke to search the hills from the air but recorded that both crash sites were actually located from the ground.
Pilot - Sgt Joseph Mitchell (564264?), aged 24. Buried First Drumbanagher and Jerrettspass Presbyterian Church, Co.Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Mechanic / Passenger - LAC Gerald Murray. Buried St.Coleman's Cemetery, Lurgan, Co.Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Nothing is known of either men other than Joseph Mitchell trained at 2 FTS at Perth and gained his Wings on 25th August 1936, he had 61 hours flying time on the Hawker Hind type at the time of this accident. I thank Mr Phil Webb for supplying the photograph of his grave shown above.
A contemporary photograph of the crash site, probably taken within days of the accident occurring. This appeared in the July 1966 edition of Cumbria magazine and was a reader's photograph, submitted by T.A.Fawcett, Windermere. The photograph was later used in Michael Hurst's book listing Lake District flying accidents and I thank him for allowing it's use.
A long shot of the general area of this accident.
The photograph above shows the valley in which the aircraft crashed at the side of. The photographs below show more close views of the general area of the crash. I first visited this site in October 2011 on a very wet day though re-visited on a sunny day in May 2014 to photograph the site. The aircraft crashed fairly high up the fellside but many of the larger and heavier items either fell or were pushed down the hillside when the site was cleared. Up until the 1970s the remains of the engine block and propeller hub remained below the crash site but were probably recovered by a group later connected with Millom Museum in the 1970s or 1980s.
My first find in 2011 was a stainless steel piece of the aircraft in good condition despite 75 years of being on the fellside. The Hawker part numbers shown below were found on this after gentle cleaning at the site.
A collection of small fragments of the aircraft close to the area the aircraft crashed as seen in 2014 and a section of wing or tail with a lead weight still attached below.
A burnt piece of bakerlite with the top of an Air Ministry crown visible on the left.
A stainless steel strap up at the point of impact.
In a stream lower down is this battered panel with a full part number and Hawker inspection stamp.
Two of the these large tanks remain below the crash site.