INLAND WATER SITES
Aircraft which have ditched or crashed into Orkney Loch's
Miles Martinet & 35 foot towed winged target, Isbister Loch 14/7/1944
P/O Eric Haslem & P/O Scougall 771 Sqdn, took off from Twatt on a target towing duty when, due to engine failure or some other problem they ditched their aircraft into the shallow waters of Isbister Loch. Pilot P/O Haslem suffered a concussion but P/O Scougall was fine. No one seemed to know what happened to the Martinet and there were rumours that it had been salvaged from Isbister shortly after the crash. The aircraft never appeared on the records again so if it was salvaged it was beyond repair and would have been scrapped. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to find records dealing with 771 Sqdn.
The Loch is very shallow, only two to three feet at its deepest, and seems strange an aircraft could be still here without anyone knowing about it. If it is still there, being a wooden aircraft, it will be very broken up and scattered in the shallows. ARGO&S member William Shearer talking to a local farmer one day heard that some wreckage, possibly from an aircraft had been seen in very shallow water. William went out in a small boat and saw some of the wooden wreckage and a piece was recovered after a GPS position taken, and photographed for identification. This was then returned to the Loch
The Loch is very shallow, only two to three feet at its deepest, and seems strange an aircraft could be still here without anyone knowing about it. If it is still there, being a wooden aircraft, it will be very broken up and scattered in the shallows. ARGO&S member William Shearer talking to a local farmer one day heard that some wreckage, possibly from an aircraft had been seen in very shallow water. William went out in a small boat and saw some of the wooden wreckage and a piece was recovered after a GPS position taken, and photographed for identification. This was then returned to the Loch
William Shearer with a piece of wreckage raised & photographed for identification. Photo: Kevin Heath
The target tailplane. Photo: Kevin Heath.
The wreckage appeared to be that of a wing with both a leading and tailing edge but was far to small to be from a Martinet ! so what could it be? After hours on the internet, emails to Austrailia and numerous phone calls it turns out that this is almost certainly the tailplane of a 32 foot towed target, the same type the Martinet was towing when she ditched.
A reason for the aircraft having problems at take off may be explained on the following website, also some great photo's of a 32 foot target : http://www.qam.com.au/aircraft/frog/frog.htm
32 foot winged targets at Twatt. Photo: Gregor Lamb Collection.
Isbister Loch Photo: Andrew Brown .
Sea Hurricane 1 Z7089, Peedie Sea Kirkwall- 05/12/1942
This aircraft being flown by Lt. Thomas N Bush RNZVR 771 Sqn,and records have it down as Ex-Workshops at Hatston. Lt Bush was from 771 Squadron at HMS Tern (Twatt) so it is likely that he had been to Hatston to pick up the Hurricane after repairs and fly it back to Tern when for reasons unclear and from a height of 600ft it was seen to crash into the Peedie Sea, Kirkwall. Lt Bush was killed in the accident.
Lt. Thomas N.Bush. Photo: NZ Weekly News. Headstone in St.Olaf`s. Photo: Dave Earl.
Lt Thomas Noel Bush aged 27 was son to Charles & Margaret Rubina Bush (Nee Wilson) of Wellington City,New Zealand. He was buried with full military honours in St.Olaf`s Cemetery, Kirkwall.
The Peedie Sea, Kirkwall. Photo: William Shearer.
Clumly Quarry. 1/10/2009
Above: Dan Wise, Roy Temple and William Shearer setting up to investigate Clumly Quarry with the ROV.
Rumours have pesisted that some rubbish was dumped in Clumly Quarry at the end of WW2 from the airfields at Twatt and Skeabrae. Due to the hazards of diving with unknown wreckage and in possible poor visibility it was decided to first do a recce with an ROV. Unfortunatly we had an eletrical failure with the control box which will be fixed and we will have another attempt very soon
Towed Target, Loch of Sabiston, Dounby.
ARGOS members William Shearer & Kevin Heath visited a farm near the Loch of Sabiston and were told of a towed target that crashed during WW2. The target was seen to fall from the sky and bury itself into the bottom of the loch about 50 yards from the shore with the tail sticking out above the water. A search is planned at some stage to see if the nose of the target can be located
(c) Copyright 2020. Aviation Research Group of Orkney & Shetland.
All rights reserved. Due to the immense amount of research that enabled us to build this site we would like to point out that all material on this website is owned by A.R.G.O.S though photos are credited to their respective owners. Anyone wishing to use material for their own website or any other purpose are requested to contact us first expressing their wishes. Permission will usually be granted to none profit making ventures, i.e. websites for educational and/or historical purposes, though a link to this website and acknowledgement to the original owners of any photographs will usually be requested.