| Summary : The crash site of aircraft HR727, a British Handley Page Halifax Mark II bomber, which crashed on 5th October 1943. The aircraft was part of 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force Bomber Command, operating from Snaith airfield. It was returning from a raid over Frankfurt, during which an engine was disabled by an enemy night-fighters guns. Subsequent low fuel, loss of radio contact and navigational problems were all factors in the crash in the Blackden Edge/ Ashop Moor area, in which five of the seven crewmen lost their lives. At the end of the 20th century/ start of the 21st century, a concentation of wreckage within a wider scatter of aircraft fragments was reportedly on site, possibly still including sections of armour plating. Please note that a licence to excavate or recover remains from an aircraft crash site must first be obtained from the Ministry of Defence before carrying out any such work. The site lies within both the Peak District National Park and the Dark Peak Site of Special Scientific Interest. |
More information : The crash site of aircraft HR727, a British Handley Page Halifax bomber, which crashed on 5th October 1943. The aircraft was part of 51 Squadron, operating from Snaith airfield. It was returning from a raid over Frankfurt, during which an engine was disabled by an enemy night-fighters guns. The official RAF crash record card did not take into account the testimony of the crash survivors and according to source 1, unfairly apportioned the bulk of blame to the dead Flight Engineer for navigational and other errors. However the German night fighter's gun action, subsequent low fuel, loss of radio contact and navigational problems were all factors in the crash in the at Blackden Edge (map reference 132878) in which five of the seven crewmen lost their lives. When source 1 was first published in 1982 the wreckage still on site included sections of armour plating. (1)
Source 2 locates the crash site of aircraft HR727 at Ashop Moor, map reference 132878 on Landranger map 110. (2)
At the start of the 21st century, a concentation of wreckage within a wider scatter of aircraft fragments was reportedly still on site. (3)
HR727 was one of a batch of 250 Handley Page Halifax Mark II aircraft delivered by Handley Page, Radlett, between December 1942 and August 1943. it was assigned to 76, 102 then 51 Squadrons. The aircraft is said to have ran out of fuel on return from Frankfurt, Ashop Moor, Derbyshire. (4) |