EVEREST EXPEDITION
RAF 2002 carries an
excellent article by Ted Atkins on the RAFMR Everest expedition, with some
spectacular photographs.
1ST
ANNIVERSARY OF THE RAF MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM’S ASCENT OF EVEREST - 22ND
MAY 2002
The RAF Mountain Rescue
Team’s tribute to the Millennium was an expedition to climb to the summit of
Mount Everest. The successful ascent was particularly noteworthy as members
of the MRT are full-time servicemen who support the Mountain Rescue Service in
a part-time capacity and give up their off-duty time in the evenings and at
weekends to train with the team.
Chief
Technician Dan Carroll who is an airframe and propulsion technician presently
serving at RAF Leuchars and Corporal Richard Bale who is an air electoral
technician from RAF Kinloss reached the summit of Mount Everest on the 22nd
May 2001.
Postscript:
Mount Everest is the
world’s highest mountain, a super-giant among giants. It is named after Sir
George Everest, a British surveyor-general of India in the nineteenth century.
The Sherpas, Nepalese people famous as mountain climbers and porters call it
Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the World. The mountain was first climbed on
the 20th May 1953, by two men in a British-led expedition: the Sherpa
Tenzing Norgay and the New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
Memorial Flight 2002
SCOTTISH BOG REVEALS
WARTIME SECRETS
RAF teams were called
out to an unusual incident in Scotland on August 23rd 2001 when the
wreckage of a wartime Manchester bomber surfaced in a remote bog in
Aberdeenshire.
The
small amount of wreckage is believed to be from an Avro aircraft that crashed
in the Gartly area in foggy conditions in 1943. All of the Polish crewmen
were believed to have been killed in the incident.
Although
most of the wreckage had been cleared at the time, it appears parts of the
aircraft must have landed in the surrounding bog.
A
local farmer was walking in the area and discovered what appeared to be a
pistol, ammunition and possibly some human remains.
Grampian
police were alerted, along with specialist RAF teams. A party from Kinloss
mountain rescue team, led by FS Al Sylvester, cordoned off the site.
Ammunition
Explosives
ordnance personnel from Lossiemouth were also called out to recover the ammunition
and a Very pistol.
RAF
spokesman Mike Mulford said: “The recovery operation went smoothly and the
teams worked well together.
“The
Very pistol was found to be live but no-one could say if it was in a condition
to be fired or not.
“It’s
not every day that RAF wreckage surfaces in a bog like this, but the services
reacted quickly and safely.
“The
story of the Manchester crashing in the bog is well-known in the area. It is
a tale that has almost passed into legend so the farmer would have made the
connection straight away that what he saw must have belonged to the
Manchester.”
The
Manchester was the twin-engined predecessor of the famous Lancaster bomber.
Although criticised by bomber crews as unreliable, the teething problems of the
aircraft assisted in the development of the Lancaster.
One
Victoria Cross was awarded to a Manchester pilot, FO Manser of 50 Squadron, for
his actions during a night raid over Germany in 1942.
•
RAF
Mountain Rescue teams, led by FS Pete Winn from Kinloss, have just returned
from Iceland where they have been carrying out a long-term recovery operation
on an RAF Fairey Battle that crashed in 1941. Four men were killed in the
crash.
Memorial Flight 2002
Al
Sylvester adds: We picked up a wee job for a crashed Manchester last
Summer. Some kids had been digging in an area where it was rumoured that the
aircraft had crashed. The kids found some wreckage and some human remains, i.e.
part of tibia we think. They freaked out and called the police. We turned up an
hour later, called in bomb disposal to give the area the all clear and then we
finished by giving the area a full sweep. The people on the farm had been
superb and had found several rounds and a Very pistol and a watch. I don't
believe anything was followed up apart from what you have read recently. I hope
this of some use to you, it was a quick callout with very significant memories
for a lot of older members of the local community.
At
the time I believe it was a very good PR exercise for the RAF.
A TASTE OF
MOUNTAIN SEARCH AND RESCUE
JAMES
HENDERSON, RETIRED POLICE SUPERINTENDENT
On the
morning of Christmas Day, 1956, I was on duty along with several of my
colleagues in the police station at Fort William, all of us looking very much
forward to our Christmas dinner, and enjoying the bonhomie which normally
prevails at such times, when someone said, “Oh, look at this”. I looked out
of the window and saw a young lad making his way staggeringly towards our
office. The remark was made by one of our lads to the effect that the young
gentleman seemed to have been celebrating Christmas rather early.
However,
it was immediately apparent that this was not the case; he was, in fact,
extremely exhausted and incoherent in his speech. It became apparent that he
was about to reveal a mountaineering mishap, and on regaining his equilibrium
somewhat he was able to explain that he and four others while climbing Ben
Nevis had become exhausted but was unable to say on which part. I then took
him to see the relief model of Ben Nevis, which is kept at the police station
for such purposes, but he was quite unable to make any sense of it: none of the
gullies or other salient features was recognisable to him. He explained that
they had gone in near a distillery and then followed a burn for some distance
before actually starting the climb. I took this to be Allt a Mhuillinn on the
way up to Castle Ridge. By the time they reached the summit they became
exhausted and quite unable to face the return trek. They could see the lights
of Fort William, and I realised that, instead of the summit of Ben Nevis, they
were somewhere near the summit of Castle Ridge. His mention of seeing the
lights made me realise that they had spent the previous night there, and this
he confirmed. It was obvious that if not already dead, his mates would be in
a very poor condition from exposure as the weather, although dry, was bitterly
cold and stormy.
So
much for our Christmas dinner: nothing else for it but to organise an advance
search party and set off as soon as possible.
The
advance party consisted of constables Duncan MacKenzie, George MacKay, Angus
MacKay, William MacKenzie and myself. (Regrettably, all the constable are now
deceased.) An advance party has to travel with the bare necessities in the
interest of speed. Nevertheless we carried a Duff stretcher. Having
contacted the Lochaber Mountain Team we set off by way of Allt a Mhuillin in
increasingly worsening weather conditions.
In
those days we were very poorly equipped, having neither suitable clothing nor
proper equipment. We met two well equipped climbers on their way back and I
asked one of them if I could borrow his ice axe. He let me have his ice axe
against my signature on a scrap of paper. They then departed but not before
explaining that conditions on the summit were well nigh impossible.
I
despatched Duncan MacKenzie and George McKay some distance to the west, while I
continued upwards to the summit of Castle Ridge with Angus MacKay and William
MacKenzie. Some distance from the summit there is a steep but fairly smooth
snow covered slope, relieved somewhat by the odd boulder projection. It had
become clear that Angus and William, without the aid of ice axes, could not
continue, and I left them in the meagre shelter of a cliff at the foot of the
snow slope. I continued upwards alone.
The
weather by this time was simply appalling. It was impossible to stand up; to
have done so would have meant being blown off the ridge like a feather.
Without the use of my ice axe I felt I would have been lifted off the surface.
The severity of these conditions is well nigh impossible to describe. The
gusts on striking the ridge sounded like tremendous peals of thunder lasting
for several seconds, to be followed by several seconds of deathly silence; a
most eerie sensation.
I
have never, before or since, experienced anything remotely resembling the
ferocity of the weather conditions prevailing that night.
I
had earlier visions of being able to lead these unfortunate lads to safety, if
they were still alive, but it became increasing obvious that nobody could have
possibly survived such terrible conditions. I began my crawl backwards to the
point where I had left Angus and William and shouted without response until,
during one of the deathly silences, I heard a boulder crashing its way down the
mountainside some distance away. I then had a response and we were able to
join up.
By
this time we could see the torch lights of the back-up team at the west end of
Lochan Meall an Suidhe where they had sensibly decided
Our thanks go to the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, from whose
journal these two accounts of one incident - the police account and the RAF
Kinloss MRT report - are taken
Thanks, too, to Heavy Whalley, who passed them on to us
|
to stay. We
joined these lads where it was discovered that Angus had very successfully
erased the seat of his trousers, thereby allowing his posterior to enjoy an
extra measure of frosty air, giving rise to a good natured banter by some of
the inevitable comedians present.
Duncan
and George then rejoined us to reveal their own hair-raising experience.
Traversing a steep snow covered slope, Duncan slipped on his back and shot down
several feet, and got his heel against a small projecting boulder which broke
his descent, but he was quite unable to move for fear of another fall.
George, who was carrying the Duff stretcher, undid the securing leather straps
and tied them together, and was then able to release the stretcher, which,
without an extra inch to spare, Duncan was able to grab. With their combined
effort Duncan was able to inch his way out of danger.
The
search was then abandoned and the parties returned to Fort William for the
night. The following morning, the search was resumed in the same area, and we
found the frozen stiff bodies of three of the victims not much more than 50
metres from where I had been on the previous night. The fourth victim was
nowhere to be found in that area.
However,
two ravens were seen circling high above Castle Ridge: an ominous indication
that something was amiss. Despite much scanning through binoculars there was
no sign of a body in the base area of the Castle precipice. It was
impractical to conduct another SAR in that area that night, and we returned to
Fort William with the three bodies already found.
Next
morning in much better weather, a party set off for that area and after a brief
search we found the fourth body. It was apparent that some time after his
mate had left to report the matter to the police, he too had set off, but due
to darkness, or numbness of the brain due to the cold, he lost his way and fell
over the precipice.
The
finding of bodies and their recovery is not the end of police responsibility in
the matter; they have to notify the next of kin, and prepare and submit
comprehensive reports for the information of the Procurator Fiscal.
Alas,
I am no longer fit to engage in these operations, but naturally I am still very
interested in the activities of our local search and rescue team. It is most
gratifying that, to my knowledge, not one of the LMRT and the police team has
come to grief in the execution of these operations. Long may that continue.
Timetable
of events - the official RAF account
25th
December 1956
1530 PO
Alexander and 9 members of the MRT set off up the tourist path with 1 Thomas
stretcher, 1 casualty bag and 1 first aid box and pack.
1700 Party
arrived at Half Way Lochan (144727), whence lights could be seen flashing at
many points on Carn Dearg, suggesting that the climbers had not yet been found.
(This was later confirmed by one of the police search parties descending the
path from Carn Dearg.)
1700 Flt
Lt Cooke and Kinloss party arrived at Forward Base. Sgt Younger and SAC
Thompson sent to join search party. SAC Fraser arrived at Forward Base to
report that the climbers had not been found, and that in view of the extremely
high winds, freezing temperatures and darkness, the civilian parties were
coming off the hill while the RAF team would spend the night at the CIC hut
(166723). Since the day’s search had been unsuccessful it was decided to try
to obtain more precise information from the surviving climber, and Flt Lt Cooke
and SAC Fraser proceeded to Fort William hospital to try to interview him.
Flt Lt Cooke and SAC Fraser returned to Forward Base and Fraser and LAC Comrie
volunteered to take rations to the party in the CIC hut. Fraser thought that
there might be a chance of finding survivors if a further search were made that
night, and wished to take in the summit of Carn Dearg on their way to the CIC
hut. In view of the extreme weather conditions Flt Lt Cooke advised against
this. (It later transpired that Fraser and Comrie attempted to continue the
search, but had to give up in the early morning owing to the ‘below zero’
conditions. That they attempted it at all reflects great credit on them for
doing their utmost to try to save life.)
26th
December 1956
0830 MRT
arrived at Half Way Lochan (143727). LAC Comrie was sent to forward base to
report and to notify Base Leader that a red signal from Meall an t-Suidhe
(138729) would signify that bodies had been found. From information received
via SAC Fraser it was decided to search the area well to the north of Carn
Dearg, near to the cliff edge, and the party was divided into pairs for this.
1015 LAC
Muir and Sgt Younger located three bodies, which were frozen. A red signal
was fired and all MRT parties (at 157722 app.) converged by 1030. A start was
made in getting the bodies down by lowering them down snow slopes on ropes
until scree was reached.
1330 A
police party with one Thomas and one Duff stretcher arrived within a few
hundred feet of the bodies’ original position after this party had seen more
red signals. Their stretchers were lowered down the snow slopes to the scree
below and four policemen also climb down. All three bodies were then made
ready for lowering on the stretchers. No news having been received at Forward
Base, Flt Lt Cooke and Cpl Hannon set out towards Carn Dearg to try to obtain
information.
1530 Stretchers
lowered down from the screes and hauling down the Allt a Mhuilinn began.
1815 First
two stretchers arrived at Aluminium Works via railway bogie, and were
transferred to civilian ambulance.
1845 Last
stretcher arrived at Aluminium Works via railway bogie, and was transferred to
civilian ambulance.
2000 Consultation
with inspector at Fort William police station revealed that little hope was now
held out for the fourth missing climber, and it was decided to defer a search
for his body until 28th, in order to give the search parties time to
recuperate and reorganise, unless civilian volunteers were available on the
morrow. Consent of RCC was obtained to this.
27th
December 1956
1000 Telecon.
Flt Lt Cooke/police inspector at Fort William revealed that no civilian
volunteers were available to search for the fourth body that day. It was
therefore confirmed with RCC and OC Flying Wing that 2 x 3 tonners and eight
members of the MRT should return to Fort William for this purpose.
1900 MRT
arrived Fort William police station and was accommodated there overnight. In
consultation with the police inspector it was decided to start as early as
possible on the following day in view of the short daylight hours. The police
accordingly warned the civilian volunteers to be ready for a start at 0600 on
the following morning.
28th
December 1956
0700 A
party 17 strong, composed of 8 RAF and 9 police and civilians, left the
Aluminium Works with 1 Thomas stretcher and ropes to begin the ascent of Carn
Dearg by the Allt a‘Mhuillin. A strong, blustery wind and occasional rain
showers made the going difficult.
0815 At
first light the party reached a small wooden shelter at approximately 155755
and the rain showers turned into snow. In the face of the strong wind-driven
snow the party continued up the Allt a’Mhuillin path for one and a half hours
before bearing right to ascend the scree and heather slopes leading to the foot
of the crags to the North of Carn Dearg.
1000 After
traversing for some 200 yards the upper party located the body lying on a steep
snow gully some 40 feet below the commencement of sheer rock. The steepness
of the snow gully made it necessary to keep the stretcher some 100 feet below
the body on easier ground, and the body was secured by a rope and then lowered
down to the stretcher from an ice axe belay. At the transfer point the stretcher
party made a shelf in the snow, the body was strapped on to the stretcher, and
the stretcher was lowered on ice-axe belays from that point for another 2 or
400 feet down to the Allt a’Mhuillin path. From this point the Thomas
stretcher could be dragged over the frozen heather and controlled by eight men,
although a halt was made at the wooden shelter previously mentioned, the party
reached the Aluminium Works by1230 hours. The last mile was covered by means
of the single-track Aluminium Works railway, the management having supplied a
bogie and two diesel locomotives to bring the party down.
1230 It
was then learned that the funeral of the three climbers was to be held at Fort
William at 1300 hours on Saturday 29th December, and permission of
RCC was obtained for three members of the RAF Kinloss team to remain behind,
one to represent the RAF at the funeral and two to take supplies of food up to
the CIC hut in the Allt a’Mhuilinnn to relace that used by the search party on
the night of Christmas Day.
Lochaber
Mountain Rescue Team Journal
Nick
Couloir’s Problem Page
Dear Nick
I’ve been studying Mountain Rescue for some
time now and have decided to make a career of it. I’ve watched ‘999' on the
telly a lot and just love the idea of getting dressed up in all that fancy gear
and whizzing around the country in LandRovers with ‘Mountain Rescue’ on the
side and blue lights flashing. Someone suggested that I write to you for
advice on how to get started in my new career.
Arthur Braincell
Dear Arthur
Join the RAF.
Nick.
Lochaber
Mountain Rescue Team Journal.
(Heavy
Whalley will no doubt be able to advise on whom and where libel writs should be
served.)
ESSEX
BUNROES
Places in
Essex 120 metres or more, listed by Derek Keeble.
No.
Metres Parish Place Map
Ref
01 147 Chrishall Oldfield
Grove TL443363
02 128
Chrishall Crawley
End TL445396
03 125
Berden Park
Green TL460286
04 124
Helions Bumpstead Sage
End TL635417
05 122
Debden Hamperden
End TL570307
06 120 Ashdon Winsey
Farm TL617411
“Bunroes” is
a play on the Scottish idea and title of Munroe Listed Mountains. Essex hills
are bun-sized in exaggerated comparison with the Highlands.
Essex
Rambler, August
2002
COLIN
PIBWORTH BEM
Both this
year’s and last year’s issues carry obituaries of Pib. Frank Card has written
a long celebration of Pib’s life which will appear in the Alpine Journal
2002.
NO
ORDINARY CALLOUT
The following
letter appeared in the May issue of High.
Dear Sir
I read Frank
Card’s article ‘No Ordinary Callout’ in last month’s High with
considerable interest, not least because as a member of the Cairngorm Mountain
Rescue Team I had been actively involved in the search for the missing aircraft
and pilots.
It saddens me
that Mr Card has chosen to write about this rescue because from the perspective
of our team (bearing in mind that the crash happened on our patch near the
boundary between the Cairngorm and Braemar MRTs) the handling of the search and
rescue effort by the RAF was very poor.
A number of
inaccuracies are also present in the article, some of which are detailed
below.:
2 Those
RAF personnel deployed to search the Cairngorm plateau near Ben Macdui were
faced with deep new snow. Avalanche danger can present a problem in parts of
the generally flat plateau, but local knowledge and careful route choice can
easily circumvent this difficulty. Additionally, in these circumstances
search efforts are hampered by slow progress on foot; CMRT has a dedicated ski
section which could have searched the most likely areas far more quickly and
effectively had we been deployed to the eastern plateau.
3 The
weather that week (and especially the windspeed) was not unreasonable for the
time of year, as the records from the Cairngorm weather station show. To put
this in perspective, a party of students under instruction from Glenmore Lodge
spent the whole of both Wednesday and Thursday (including overnight snowholes
and night navigation) travelling across the Cairngorm plateau.
4 On the
evening of the first night (Monday 26th) we were stood down at 21.00
GMT. CMRT were tasked again on Tuesday 27th to areas well away
from Ben Macdui and our services dispensed with at 19.00, just as the RAF were
‘stepping up’ their search for the remaining missing pilot. On Thursday 29th,
with the pilot still missing, the CMRT Leader phoned the police to enquire why
we were not searching with a man still missing in our search area. At 21.45
the Team Leader was contacted by Grampian police, who had by now taken over the
SAR effort and asked to assist on Friday. The missing pilot was located very
close to the wreckage at 11.45 on Friday, by a party including members of CMRT.
I have no
wish to sour relations between civilian and RAF teams, who do generally work
well together in their common goal of saving life, but it is galling to read an
article which is so misleading. This is a private letter from me, but written
with the full knowledge of the CMRT leader.
Cathy
Mordaunt, Mondhuie
Frank’s
response appeared in the July issue:
In her comments on my article ‘No Ordinary
Callout (March), Cathy Mordaunt (letters, May) queries why the RAF “played the
leading role without consultation with the local team....”. Like pretty well
anyone else closely involved with the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service I
have but the highest regard for the civilian teams, so clearly some explanation
is needed.
I was
seeking to tell the story of an RAF Mountain Rescue Service operation from the
RAF teams’ viewpoint, though I hope giving proper credit to other agencies at
the appropriate points. As I thought all civilian mountain rescue teams were
aware, the RAF Mountain Rescue Service is always the prime mover where aircraft
are concerned. This is largely for reasons of training and expertise:
aviation fuel, armaments, ejector seats and man-made mineral fibres all pose
serious risks. (None of this precludes the RAF teams from helping the
civilian MRTs on request, subject of course to service requirements.)
Overall
responsibility for locating missing aircraft, both military and civilian, in
the UK, rests with the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force, delegated
to Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss. When an aircraft
is reported missing or crashed, the ARCC brings in one or more MRTs, the senior
Team Leader acting as the ‘On Scene Commander’. On the F-15 incident, this was
Flt Sgt Al Sylvester, Team Leader of RAF Kinloss MRT. RAF teams,
incidentally, do not have ‘patches’; all are trained and equipped to operate
anywhere in the UK and sometimes overseas. Some were in Bosnia when the
bullets were flying; and readers may remember the SAR (with the Malaysian Air
Force and other agencies) of two British Army officers and three Hong Kong
soldiers on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, in 1994. WO Alister Haveron, who was on
the F-15 search, was involved in both of these.
Not only Kinloss and
Leuchars personnel have Scottish MR experience; many members of the English and
Welsh teams can claim the same. Cathy Mordaunt suggests that having civilian
teams and police to organise the search “allows rescuers with the best local
knowledge to be deployed to the most likely search locations.” Yes, where
climbers are concerned, but searching for an aircraft, especially a fast jet,
brings in other considerations: the direction and speed of the aircraft, the
behaviour of a fast aircraft on impact, precisely when and where the radar
blips disappeared, the ability to calculate parachute drift after ejection.
Missing
aircraft are not like missing people; they move much faster. Teams need to
search the whole area, and in poor visibility and deep snow, accurate
navigation is important to ensure 100% coverage. It was not known that the
crash was on Ben Macdui until a joint RAF Leeming/Braemar party found the site.
When Alister Haveron’s party found the tailplane of the second aircraft and
many other items on 28 March, it became fairly certain that the second pilot
was at the crash site, probably buried under the snow. It was after this that
the Grampian police took over the search; both aircraft had been located, and
the search was now for a missing person.
Some of the
RAF Kinloss team were indeed away on an Everest expedition, but that is not
unusual and such enterprises are never allowed to hamper the service’s
efficacy. [Indeed, they are encouraged as valuable extra training.*] Plenty
of Kinloss experience remained; three on the search had a range of 32 to 20
years under their belts and might be a bit upset at the contrary implication
Cathy
Mordaunt is, apparently, saddened by the very fact that I wrote the article.
I did so because the RAFMRS is one of my major writing areas, and the American
double F-15 crash on Ben Macdui was one of the Service’s major incidents in its
distinguished 58-year history.
It was the
RAF that set up the first permanent mountain rescue teams in 1943, and since
the war the relationship between the RAF and the civilian teams has been
excellent. Long may that continue.
Frank
Card, Braintree
