The plane, piloted by Captain L P Tanner, was on a short flight, carrying mail and the payroll for American service personnel based at USAF Burtonwood.

First on the scene were members of the Harpur Hill RAF Mountain Rescue Team, who had been in the area on training exercises when they picked up radio messages trying to locate the aircraft. Later on the same day, firemen from Glossop also attended the site but it was clear that there were no survivors.

The following day, a large rescue team assembled to locate all the bodies and bring them off the moorland.

Even today, nearly sixty years after the fatal crash, the shattered remains lie over a wide area – a reminder of the devasting impact. The weather (and souvenir hunters) have diminished the massive pieces of metal but what is left makes a strange and solemn memorial amid the wild beauty of the moors.

(reference “Dark Peaks Wrecks 1” by Ron Collier and Roni Wilkinson, pub. Pen & Sword Books Ltd, available from Baytree Books, Glossop and other good bookshops).

Map reference – 090950, Higher Shelf Stones, Bleaklow. Near Glossop, Derbyshire. (OS Map OL1, Dark Peak)