Sunday 4 July 2010

Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Torridon




I've walked through Coire Mhic Fhearchair before, on my way to Ruadh-stac Mor on Beinn Eighe but had forgotten about the tragic incident of March, 1951. It was therefore a great surprise to me on Friday on my descent from Sail Mhor to come across a great deal of wreckage still strewn around the area. A Lancaster bomber on a training mission from RAF Kinloss hit the Triple Buttress with the loss of all life, and due to the terrain it took 2 months to recover the bodies. This incident led to the formation of the RAF Mountain Rescue teams as we know them today.
I've read that afterwards the aircraft was blown up with explosives, and this is the reason for all the debris covering such a large area. Having "Googled" about aircraft accidents around that time, I'm really shocked about how many there were. Such a tragic loss of life !

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