Lake District: Wreckage of bomber crash remains after 80 years

Aircraft LL505, a British Handley Page Halifax Mark V heavy bomber, crashed onto Great Carrs on October 22 1944.

The Canadian crew of eight men were on a night navigation exercise from the RAF Topcliffe and were all killed in the accident. The men were aged between 19 and 33. 

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Due to its remote location, RAF salvage teams could not remove the wreckage and instead cut it up and pushed some parts into Broad Slack.

One section of the wing (Image: Andy Braithwaite) Many large sections of the aircraft can still be seen at Great Carrs eighty years after the crash where a memorial cross stands to this date to remember the lives of those whose lives were lost. 

Two engines from the aircraft are in the Ruskin Museum and the RAF Wyton Museum.

Andy Braithwaite, a fell walker who saw the site recently, said: "What is unusual is how much of the wreckage still remains which I guess is down to the remote location.

"Also, it is quite a poignant sight to see how close the crew were to not crashing. And good that someone has gone to the trouble of maintaining a memorial at the site."

The crash site on Great Carrs (Image: Andy Braithwaite) When asked if the rest of the parts of the aircraft would be taken to a museum, a RAF spokesman said: "The most significant parts of the aircraft have already been removed (some by RAF Chinook), to ensure they were preserved for posterity and are already on display in museums.

"There were thousands of fatal crashes in the UK during the Second World War and it is simply impractical to commemorate them individually. The crew's bodies were recovered and given a full military burial and their graves are maintained today by the UK Government via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 

"Their sacrifice is remembered by the RAF, who maintain files on all lost airmen and aircraft, and maintain suitable memorials such as on the Embankment and at St Clement Danes, the Bomber Command Memorial also identifies all members of bomber command including those of the RCAF in the Halifax Bomber."