2019
NT9411 : Pond south east of Wether Cairn
taken 5 years ago, 4 km NNW of Biddlestone, Northumberland, England
Pond south east of Wether Cairn
On 17th February 1945 a Halifax bomber, returning from an aborted mission to Germany, crashed on the heather-covered slopes of Wether Cairn. The following day, the injured sole survivor of the seven man crew, the 21 year old rear gunner, was found, by a local shepherd, staggering around the hillside in thick mist and suffering from shock, badly twisted ankles and hypothermia. He was taken down the hill to the shepherd's cottage at Puncherton and, after being treated by a doctor, he remained there for a few days before being taken by horse and cart to the nearest roadway where an RAF ambulance met him. The on-board bombs were eventually exploded by the recovery crew creating large craters in which a cluster of pools subsequently formed. This is one such pool (for other photos of this and other pools see
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Link. For a selection of detailed free to download walking routes in the area visit
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