P-51D Mustang 44-72181 at Cudworth Pasture, Denshaw.
On 29th May 1945 twenty three Mustangs belonging to the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, USAAF were to be flown from their base at Debden to Speke, Liverpool where they would be crated and shipped out to the Far East to be used in the war against Japan. All twenty three were due to fly in formation but those who planned the route did not take into account that the Pennine hills were there and that poor weather conditions would affect visibility as they flew north. Problems on route appear to have seen the formation split up. One aircraft Mustang 44-64084 crashed in a field south of Glossop killing the pilot FO Darnaby H Wilhoit USAAF. Mustang 44-72181 managed to get slightly further but crashed while letting down through cloud north of Castleshaw Upper Reservoir, on Cudworth Pasture killing the pilot. Another pilot, who was flying in formation with 44-72181 clipped the ground close by, witnessed the explosion of his wingman, but managed to remain in the air and landed (possibly all the way back at Debden) safely. Some of the remaining twenty aircraft made it through to Speke, some turned around and returned to Debden while some may have made landings elsewhere.
Pilot - 1st Lt Harold H Frederick USAAF (O-812408), aged 23. Buried Odd Fellows Cemetery, Clay, Kentucky, USA.
This pilot was shot down by flak over France on D-Day but managed to reach Allied lines and eventulaly returned to his unit. He held an Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart. He would have initially been buried in the UK but his body exhumed and returned to the USA after the War.