On 22nd March 1945 this aircraft flew into the side of Braeriach while on a transit flight from Digby in Lincolnshire to it's home base at Longman airfield near Inverness. 526 Squadron was involved in the calibration of equipment throughout the war. This aircraft broke up on impact and the six men on board were sadly killed.

Oxford HM724 had crashed on virtually the same point some eighteen months previously with a happier outcome for its crew who remarkably survived. The wreckage of both aircraft is to still be found on Braeriach very close together and is referred to on many walking websites. The Oxford wreckage is much closer to the main path from the Lairig Ghru to the summit than the Blenheim but there is much more of the Blenheim than the Oxford. The Blenheim appears to have struck the ground flying roughly west to east and its forward momentum carried much of the wreckage over the edge and in to the Lairig Ghru. Both engines were never recovered and while only one is close to the crash site the other continued on its way after the crash and is to be seen much lower down the mountain.

Pilot - WO Charles Henry Fletcher RAFVR (1375522), aged 30, of Bridlington, Yorkshire. Buried Moor Allerton Churchyard, Yorkshire.

Navigator - F/O John Eric Shaw RAFVR (149328), aged 27, of Darlington. Buried Darlington West Cemetery, Durham.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Stanley Charles Gale RAFVR (176940), aged 28, of Brighton. Buried Hove New Cemetery, Sussex.

Passenger - Cpl John Michie RAFVR (997051), aged 29, of Bucksburn. Buried Kemnay Churchyard, Aberdeenshire.

Passenger - LAC Angus McIntosh Fulton RAFVR (982742), aged 27, of Paisley. Buried Hawkhead Cemetery, Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Passenger - LAC Adam Veitch Bryce RAFVR (1069192), aged 36, of Gordon. Buried Gordon Cemetery, Berwickshire.

John Shaw received his commission from Temporary Warrant Officer to P/O on probation (emergency) on 10th June 1943 and rose to F/O (war subs) on 10th December 1943.

Stanley Gale received his commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 22nd May 1944 and rose to F/O (war subs) on 22nd November 1944.

Angus Fulton's grave in Hawkhead Cemetery, Paisley.

I visited the crash site in August 2011 with Will Lund as part of a long walk from the Sugar Bowl near Glenmore Lodge over Braeriach and Cairtoul and out to the Linn of Dee. The weather was poor as I climbed Braeriach and combined with needing to carry on with the long walk meant that my time at this crash site was limited. It is known through searching other websites that a lot more wreckage of the Blenheim is to be found much lower down the mountain into the Lairig Ghru but because of the time and effort it would have taken to locate this wreckage and climb directly up out of the Lairig Ghru from there it was deemed not physically possible on my visit. We did however locate what was probably the main crash site area and a scattering of wreckage as the same altitude as well as one of the two engines. All was in good condition.

A Bristol Mercury engine, easily identified.

Further pieces of the aircraft include a section of armour plating in reasonable condition given the winters it has gone through.

This section of stencilling was found on a large piece of what appears to be wing section. The "R2" refers to Rootes; the company who built this aircraft.

A second piece of the aircraft containing a part number and an inspection stamp different to the typical Rootes ones. A number of pieces at the site show this "ACE" stamp but its meaning at the time of creating this webpage is not yet known.