SCUBA divers will return to a Cumbrian lake this weekend where three World War Two airmen perished in a fatal plane crash.
Saturday’s dive trip will be poignant as members of the Keighley branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) have been in touch with the families of two of the lost crew members following a media appeal sparked by their first trip to the site at Wastwater.
Their second visit will involve a search for the tail section of the plane which has not been seen for decades and will give Keighley BSAC members an opportunity to better survey the site to record the wreck for future generations.
On a January night in 1945 a Royal Navy Grumman Avenger crashed into a scree slope, known as Great Gully, high above the Lake District’s Wastwater which lies at the foot of Scafell, England’s highest peak.
It was piloted by Barnard J Kennedy, a Canadian, from Hamilton Ontario, and he lost his life alongside wireless operator Phillip Royston Mallorie and navigator Gordon Fell.
After the scuba divers found the engine block of the plane during a dive last year, they decided to turn detective and find out more about the men on board.
Since then, via a media appeal, they have been in touch with family members of both Gordon Fell and Phillip Mallorie.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here