The latest walk of the Montrose Aerodrome Museum Society took place on
Sunday October 25, to the wreck of an Airspeed Oxford twin-engined trainer
from RAF Montrose, which had crashed on a night navigation exercise in
Glen Lethnot on 26th October 1944. Maybe because of the bad weather up
to the weekend, or the change of the clock, a much depleted group (two!)
set off from Waterhead Farm along the glen path into a bitting wind, but
with bright sunshine. Apart from the mud and streams to wade across, the
first part of the walk was only noted for the crossing of the wood and
wire bridge over the Water of Saughs, very! shaky, with the river foaming
over the rocks below. The path up Shank of Donald Young was a bit overgrown
and obviously not well used, but it took us up to a more open hillside,
where across the burn a stag appeared, guarding a sizable herd of deer
which trotted over the skyline away from us. Plenty of grouse were encountered
on this hill, and a bird of prey glided and soared over its flanks.
Checking
our bearings we skirted the top of the hill to miss the burn, and headed
round through a peat hag to where the wreck should be. We soon found scattered
pieces of metal leading to the main crash site, where larger panels and
the solid undercarriage fixings could be found. As the Oxford was a mainly
wooden aircraft only alloy panels and the heavier forgings remain, covering
the area of the crash site. Sheltering for a welcome cup of hot soup and
rolls for lunch we were able to view the surrounding scene, and with binoculars
I could just about convince myself that I could see Scurdyness lighthouse
gleaming in the far distance against the sea. After investigating the site
and taking photos for our records, we decided to make our way to the next
one, about two miles further on. However, as this meant walking into the
wind across the tops, with no path, and the time now being after 1 o’clock,
we decided to play safe and head back, but not before disturbing dozens
of grey/white mountain hares, who were enjoying the sun sheltered in the
peat hags. The path back down, past a cairn of white granite which could
almost be a memorial to the wartime flyers, seemed even more slippy than
before, and I lost count of the number of times I measured myself on the
ground, ending up covered in glaur, much amusement for some!. The trail
back was spent thinking about the wreck and the fate of the young men who
had come from all corners of the world to train here in Scotland for a
war that seems so remote now. We were glad to get back to the cars at about
three o’clock as the weather had turned, the sun gone and rain threatening.
All in all an interesting day out, and plans are now being made to visit
another two wrecks in the same area. Graham McIntosh.
Here are a couple of Oxford sites with info:
Silver
Dart
Virtual Aviation
Museum
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