Daily Archives: March 20, 2012

Bleaklow B-29 Superfortress

B-29 Superfortress

Had a wonderful walk with Stormy yesterday, trying out my Nav Skills with compass and map… very pleased as it was our first time out this way it worked perfectly, lead me straight to my target SK 09042 94912 which is just east of Bleaklow Trig point on Higher Shelf Stones, takes aprox 50-75 mins walking depending on your fitness but nothing too strenuous. you do have to beware the peat bogs much to Stormy’s dismay, she did the full on Vicar of Dibley, thought it was a puddle and finished up neck deep in sludge and dirty water, course the little love then shuck this all over me!

Info:-

Superfortress B 29 “Over Exposed” was only a 25 minute trip from Scampton, Lincolnshire to Burtonwood USAAF base, Warrington, England.

Captain Landon P. Tanner took off on the morning of 3rd November 1948, at around 10.15. His crew for the trip consisting of co-pilot, Captain Harry Stroud; engineer, Technical Sergeant Ralph Fields; navigator, Sergeant Charles Wilbanks; radio operator, Staff Sergeant Gene A. Gartner; radar operator, David D. Moore; camera crew, Technical Segeant Saul R. Banks, Sergeant Donald R. Abrogast, Sergeant Robert I. Doyle and Private First Class William M. Burrows. Two other crew members were Corporal M. Franssen and Corporal George Ingram. Acting as photographic advisor was Captain Howard Keel of the 4201st.

When Over Exposed failed to arrive at Burtonwood an air search was initiated, and that afternoon blazing wreckage was spotted high on the moors near Higher Shelf Stones. By chance members of the Harpur Hill RAF Mountain Rescue Unit were just finishing an exercise two and a half miles away, so they quickly made their way to the scene of the crash but there was clearly nothing that could have been done for any of the crew 13 Died. It is doubtful they ever saw the ground.

A place that’s not only spiritual but also has a beauty about it, weird to say but you feel an affinity with the lost souls up there, as the clouds dominate the skyline and the freezing cold wind whips against your face you can hear faint whispers of voices but not in a fearful tone.

Below is a shot of the Trig point itself, after a little muddy walk from the wreckage you feel the full force of the wind as it whips up the valley from Glossop below.

very much worth a visit and a most enjoyable and memorable walk.

 

Bleaklow is a high, largely peat covered, gritstone moorland, just north of Kinder Scout, across the Snake Pass (A57), in the Derbyshire High Peak near the town of Glossop. Much of it is nearly 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and it is the source of the River Derwent.

Trig Point