On the 25th August 1943 Hampden P5334 of 519 Squadron (formerly 1406 Metrological Flight) took off from Wick airfield in Caithness at 09.35hrs. The unit measured climatic conditions to enable future weather predictions to be made and these flights were made over a large area as far away as Iceland and to Norway and the Faroe Isles. At 13.25hrs a message was heard at Sullom Voe, in the Shetlands, that P5334 was suffering engine trouble, ten minutes later their final message was picked up and no trace of the aircraft was ever found.
Later that day 519 Squadron's Commanding Officer, F/Lt Puplett took off in Hampden P2118 to search for the missing aircraft. P2118 had been searching for around eight hours for the missing Hampden when at midnight they were flying through a thunder storm when heading back towards Wick to land. The aircraft struck the side of Ben Loyal, a few miles south of the village of Tongue in the far North of Scotland and fifty miles from their base at Wick. The dates of death of the crew suggest that one was killed instantly and two died before help arrived but in the early hours of the following day. The fourth airman was seriously injured, he had been thrown clear in the impact and when he came round he found the aircraft on fire around him. He then crawled behind a rock to take shelter. Six hours later a rescue party arrived from the nearby farm at Ribigill a large farm house between Tongue and Ben Loyal, the rescue party were led by shepherd Mr E Campbell and Dr F Y McHendrick. The survivor was strapped to a piece of aircraft wreckage and carried him down from the mountain. after a long trip by horse and cart he was taken by RAF ambulance to Golspie’s Lawson County Hospital about forty miles away. He arrived there some 15 hours after the crash and was found to have very serious injuries including a
broken right leg, a smashed up left foot and severe facial injuries and was initially not expected to live. Having spent some 18 months in hospital he rejoined his squadron taking up a ground-based role but was keen to be in the air again. He flew again before the War ended. Shepherd Eric Campbell and Dr Fowler Yates McKendrick M.B. Ch.B were both awarded the British Empire Medal for their rescue attempt on that night (Gazetted 3rd December 1943. In all they made six trips up and down to the aircraft that night, recovering the injured man and the bodies of his comrades. Dr McHendrick was also praised for his efforts in keeping F/O Faulks alive as they removed him to safety.
Pilot – F/Lt Henry Robert (Mick) Puplett DFC RAFVR (82680), aged 22, of Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. Buried Chislehurst cemetery. Kent. Died 25th August 1943.
Navigator – P/O George William Ritchie RCAF (J/16320), aged ? of Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada. Buried Wick Cemetery. Died 26th August 1943.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner – F/Sgt Thomas Reginald Trevor Hudson-Bell RCAF (R/99900), aged 20, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buried Wick Cemetery. Died 26th August 1943.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Cecil Arthur Faulks RAFVR (135462), of Sheffield, Yorkshire. Seriously injured.
Unconfirmed 4th death, extra Nav/Obs - Name unknown. Not listed in the squadron record book.
P/O Ritchie's and F/Sgt Hudson-Bell's graves at Wick Cemetery. Photographs kindly provided by David Earl. David's book Hell on High Ground gives an excellent account of this loss. He met the survivor a number of times and it is through his conversations that the fifth (and as yet) un-named airman came to light.
This incident was also well documented in Nick Roberts' Handley Page Hampden "Crash Log" series of books. In the 1970's when the Law was much different regarding recovery of aircraft parts without a licence (as one needs today) Nick recovered a large section of the cockpit canopy. When Nick moved house in 2008 and having limited space for such items this canopy section was offered to myself and Graham Sharpe to re-house until a more suitable home could be found. A chance meeting at the museum at East Kirkby by Graham in July 2008 with the Hampden Project will see this canopy section be put to use by them. The photograph to the left is the section at the crash site, the one to the right is in my garden prior to its transfer to East Kirkby. As a result of Graham's correspondance with the Project team, they expressed an interest in a site visit to determine whether any further recoveries on Ben Loyal would be worth while. In August 2009 while on holiday in the area myself and Will Lund paid the crash site a visit, recording all visible remains and their positions and I am to pass on my finding to the Project and leave the rest to them.
As stated Will Lund and I located the crash site in August 2009. Had the aircraft been flying literally yards to either direction the impact would have been on rock and almost certainly there would have been no survivors. It would appear that the aircraft flew into a steep but boggy hillside some two-thirds the height of the mountain. A climb to the impact site
shows some small fragments of burnt aircraft with larger peices well embedded into a marshy area. Larger sections of the aircraft are still to be found down
the mountain side for some 200 metres though these may have been collected together in places. The paint work and the metal of the larger sections are in
suprisingly good condition. The largest of the peices are one exhaust collector ring and a big portion of the bomb-bay/main spar. All parts bare the "EEP"
inspection stamp confirming it was built by English Electric at Preston.
A large undercarriage leg now semi-buried close to the point of impact. At the time Nick Roberts visited in the 1970's this was in the position between the two rocks in the photograph below where Will Lund is stood.
A photograph to prove this is in Dave Earl's "Hell on High Ground" book which gives a superbly
researched account of the loss. His account suggests a fifth airman was onboard but if so then he is, as yet, un-named.
Almost certainly where the main bulk of the aircraft burnt out.
A large centre section of the aircraft, probably part of the main spar and bomb bay photographed in August 2009.
The same section as found by Nick Roberts in the 1970's.
F/Lt Puplett's DFC was Gazetted on 20th May 1943, through his actions in late 1942. The Citation reads.. "while engaged on a meteorological flight, this officer attacked and severely damaged a Fw 200. Later in November 1942, when engaged on a similar flight, one engine of his aircraft failed at a height of 20,000 feet. All unwanted equipment was jettisoned and F/Lt Puplett, with cool determination and flying skill, brought the aircraft safely back to base".
Cecil Faulks was born in 1920. prior to joining the RAF he worked at a chartered accountant in Sheffield. On joing the RAF he trained as a wireless operator / air gunner at 6 (c)OTU at Thornaby before being posted 1406 Met Flight. He begun operational flying in May 1942. Faulks along with another gunner were flying with Puplett in the incident in which Puplett's DFC citation credits the shooting down on the enemy aircraft. The 1406 Met Flight became 519 Sqdn on 18th August 1943. I understand through an email from his nephew that he died on 9th October 2014 in Sheffield. He was 93 years old.
The farm of Ribigill featured in a 2009 BBC Television program "Who do you think you are" and documented the family of comedian David Mitchell. They lived there until the 1930's.