Braid Fell
As noted, Alex’s Hampden crashed on Braid Fell, a ‘fell’ being a type of large hill or ‘highland’ in Scotland. The remote area was developed as a bombing and gunnery range in World War II for use by RAF West Freugh and perhaps other nearby bases.
There is an un-named paved single-track road off the A77 at Innermessan that mostly cuts through a shallow depression in a northeasterly direction through the center of the range and up to the Penwhirn Reservoir. The reservoir was established post-war in the 1950’s to supply drinking water to Stranraer and the surrounding area. I’m sure most people pass the road without giving it a second thought.
Braid Fell rises from sea level to a height of 771 feet (235m), the summit (center of Blue Circle in map below) being just a third of a mile from the south side of the road near a concrete hut. Much of the fell is heavy grassland and is described in several sources as ‘moorland’. It appears more like a grassy plateau from the road with slight rises and dips, but you can see the bomb craters are all water-filled.
At first, I was under the impression that the fell was just a big round hill and that the crash occurred on the southern slope, which made sense with the aircraft hitting a momentary air pocket. But the crash occurred on the southeast side of the road, at a higher elevation than the road at approximately 660 feet (201m). It lies in a broad flat saddle (perhaps part of the Balker Moor) between Braid Fell’s peak and that of Cairnscarrow at 751 feet (229m). The plateau doesn’t start to drop off significantly until after Cairnscarrow.
Remarkably, in April of 2009 and June of 2021 a couple intrepid Google Street View cars ventured up the road and today you can take a virtual drive up the fell past the landmarks I mention below and get a 360° view. Many of the images I’ve include here were captured from these Google surveys.
There are just a few remnants of the former range that have survived to this day. The first mile and a half of the road meanders steeply up the fell past a hand-full farms and homes right about where the treeline, known as the ‘Craigcaffie Belt’ stops at an elevation of 492 feet (150m).
As soon as you round the last corner coming out of the tree-line you first notice a large building in the distance. It appears to be on the right side of the road, but as the road winds up the steady grade you discover the building, and a concrete wall behind it, is actually on the left side at an elevation of 610 feet (186m). The 2-story building (44 feet wide by 60 feet long) was reportedly built post-war to shelter the MoD bomb disposal unit and their equipment.
The steel reinforced wall (approximately 24 feet high, by 120 feet wide) is the main remnant from the war still standing. It was used for gunnery practice and is pock-marked with bullet impacts and holes from cannon and perhaps rocket fire. From the Google Street View images, most of the damage appears to be on the west side with the concrete eroded away by the impacts which has exposed the rebar reinforcing grid, now well oxidized. The east side appears to be more intact and lichen covered, however there are two significant exit wounds from cannon or rocket fire plus another partial along the top edge. There also appears to be a couple major fissures lower down.
From the satellite images there do not appear to be any bomb craters in the vicinity, so I believe it was used for gunnery practice rather than bombing practice as some sources suggest. Less obvious is a large concrete arrow on the left of the roadside about 250 feet (76m) from the wall noting the direction of attack for the approaching pilots. There were likely other concrete arrows on the range to direct the pilots, but none of the others are still visible via satellite and are probably overgrown.
Alex’s plane crashed over a mile east of the wall according to MoD coordinates. I’m withholding the exact coordinates as I don’t want scavengers disrupting the area. It would be interesting to have the site properly surveyed one day, and I’ve informed the local historical society.
Panoramic view from summit of Braid Fell looking in general direction of crash site.
It’s not clear what, if anything, may still remain at the wrecksite. The aircraft was described as completely burnt out and as it hit the grassy plain in a vertical dive, rather than in level flight, very little likely survived beyond the engines, outer wings and perhaps some of the twin tail boom. The Hampden was a fairly large aircraft, however, with a 69 foot, 2 inch (21.98m) wingspan and a length of 53 feet 7 inches (16.33m).
Based on the elevation and terrain, it’s unlikely the Wigtown RAF Mountain Rescue Team helped retrieve the human remains, but this warrants further investigation. Medical personnel from West Freugh likely carried the remains to a waiting ambulance on the road with a hand-litter or perhaps with the help of a jeep depending on how boggy the terrain was around the crash site.
I reached out to Alan Clark who runs the peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk website and has done a terrific job over the years documenting and cataloging these lost crash sites (see Stoneykirk page) to see if he was aware of Hampden P1216. He replied he is, but does not know when or if he will ever be able to inspect the site. As it lies within the Braid Fell range, it adds some extra complexity. I reached out to a couple of drone operators in the area as well to see if a more detailed aerial survey (which would be a bit safer) could be done, but unfortunately, I have not heard back as of the time of this publication.
About 3/4's of a mile beyond the concrete wall is a brick and concrete hut (25 x 17 Feet) on the left side of the road. It its assumed this was an observation post of sorts to observe the strikes on the dummy factory further up the road. The land slopes off and there are concrete pillars that support the north side. Nearby is another concrete arrow, which can be seen in the 2009 image, but not very well in the 2021 image, pointing in the direction of the dummy factory. You can also see the entrance has partially collapsed in the intervening years.
Across the road from the hut, about 325 feet away, on the top of a rise is what appears to be a small semi-circular concrete structure (4 x 8 Feet), similar to a Quonset hut, open on both ends. The fact that is concrete and lichen covered leads me to believe it was from this era as well. Based on its orientation, perhaps a bomb resistant one-person observation spot that worked with personnel on the hut and had a better vantage point from the rise as both are near the peak of Braid Fell and therefore a highpoint along the road before it begins to slope down towards the reservoir.
About half a mile beyond the concrete hut is the largest grouping of bomb craters visible on satellite on both sides of the road. The left side of the road is believed to have been the location of a large dummy factory they built to practice on. This is at an elevation of 656 feet (200m). Reportedly, it would periodically be re-built, but nothing remains except the bomb craters, not even a foundation or footings. This area has a low fence surrounding it, likely to keep any livestock out and perhaps as a deterrent to any inquisitive hikers or cyclists. There don’t appear to be any signs warning of the potential explosive danger, only warning of the soft ground and deep ‘pools’ (that bear a striking resemblance to bomb craters!).
According to secretscotland.org; “Assumed to be connected with the bombing range, two concentric circles made up of granite chips and with an overall diameter of 34 metres are now lost to sight and reported to lie buried beneath a layer of peat. The location given lies approximately 400 metres west of the dummy factory, and has been subject to peat cutting in later years, since the buried gravel circles were reported in 1986.”
Braid Fell Secondary Bombing Location. Google Maps.
Interestingly, about a mile southeast of the dummy factory there is another cluster of several bomb craters at an elevation of 715 feet (218m). It is the second largest cluster of craters visible on satellite images, and seems too far away and too concentrated to be factory bombing errors, and was probably a secondary target area of some sort on the range. Most sources, however, suggest all the bombing practice happened on the north side of the road where the dummy factory was located, although we can also see a significant number of craters on the south side in that immediate vicinity as well.
At some point after the war there was an effort by the MoD to clean up the area, which lasted many years. Besides unexploded ordnance from the range itself, the range was reportedly used for collecting old ammunition after the war.
There was only one known post-war fatality, that of 14-year-old William Francis Breslin in March of 1946. He and three of his friends had hiked up there and came across some unexploded incendiary devices and started throwing them. One exploded, mortally wounding Breslin and injuring his mates who tried valiantly, but unsuccessfully to save him.
At the end of March, 2011 the small 4-person Ministry of Defense (MoD) bomb disposal team was finally removed. According to the BBC the MoD said the risk had been assessed "as low as reasonably practicable", and the team would be redeployed to Afghanistan where the MoD said their skills were in "high demand to protect troops from explosive devices". The MoD spokesperson also noted "There are still two military bomb disposal teams in Scotland who work 24/7 to deal with any threats across the country."
The BBC noted that prior to the team’s removal “ordnance turns up on a regular basis - 800 pieces in 2009/2010, including 100 live items, according to MoD figures.”
Explosives Warning. Google Street View.
It was promised that “An annual survey will be carried out at Braid Fell and a military team will return to deal with any items found”, but it is not known if the MoD has had to return since then.
The departure was criticized by the local population and a Labor MP managed to postpone the departure, but only for about five months.
Later that decade the fell was used during Exercise Joint Warrior when a large contingent of British commandos parachuted onto the fell and several helicopters landed, apparently with no ill effects. You can see images here.
The Braid Fell bombing range has largely remained untouched ever since, and the area (or at least the road) seems to be used for public recreation for hiking, biking and fishing (at Penwhirn). It is mostly used for livestock grazing (mainly sheep, but some cattle as well based on the number of Cattle Grids along the road). No injured livestock, outdoor enthusiasts or peat harvesters have been noted in any of the news archives I’ve found to date.
I know my wife was quite relieved to find the road closed off when we visited. But after all, it is a former bombing range and not a former mine field, so as long as no one picks up or kicks any rusted metal objects they should be fine.
The surrounding fells to the north and east have been developed into large windfarms (Glenapp, Kilgallioch, Balmurrie, Artfield and Glenchamber). While we were there in September of 2023 the Braid Fell access road at Innermessan was closed off for local traffic only and for construction equipment to build new Arecleoch Windfarm extensions known as ‘Stranoch 1’ and ‘Stranoch 2’.
When I first learned of this, I feared they were going to extend onto the former range and may compromise the crash site. However, the closest, ‘Stranoch 1’ is still several miles east of the crash site past the Penwhirn Reservoir and the main Water of Luce River.
You can jump back to the RAF West Freugh section of Alex's biography here.