RAF killadeas

Most Interesting.
Thank-you for sharing with us.

 

Thought this snap may be of interest to some, its the No13 Conversion Course from 131OTU at Killadeas in 1943.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/slomofo_2006/131OTURAFKilladeas.jpg

My father is F/Sgt Hoare

 

DjHill
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My Uncle was Sgt. Stanley Hill, who was also killed when Catalina FP193 crashed near Boa Island, and is buried at Irvinestown. Our family doesnt have a single picture of Stanley, so seeing the one of the crew at the beginning of this thread, and this one of Sgt Bagley was quite an emotional moment. So young. I have done a small amount of research into the crash- my father, who died in '89, never knew the circumstances of his brothers death. I spoke by email to a gentleman who still lives near the area of the crash claims to have witnessed FP193 over the Lough, although didnt see the crash. I understand they were doing practice depth charge attacks. He described the conditions that day as 'flat calm' and the Lough as 'like glass', so the pilot probably misjudged his height and went straight in.


Some photos of your uncles headstone in Irvinestown Church of Ireland.
These are not great photos so when I am next down that way I will take some more for you.

 

In this weeks Impartial Repoter. Hope its not off topic.

A KILMACORMICK mother was left 'shell shocked' last week when she realised her 14-year-old son had brought a WW2 warhead home from an after school trip in the Killadeas area.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter on Tuesday this week, Giannella Callaghan described the panic that gripped her and her partner when they realised just what her inquisitive son had unwittingly brought home in his school bag.

Acknowledging "what could have happened" had things gone badly wrong, the relieved mum joked: "Some mums expect flowers or some sweets, but that is the last thing you expect your son to bring home with him from a school trip!"

The area of Cornagrade was sealed off for some time last Thursday evening while Army Technical Officers (ATO) inspected the rusty shell schoolboy Harry had discovered at Rossclare Jetty, Killadeas.
According to Giannella, Harry had gone out to Ticketymoo, St Angelo Airport and the Lady of the Lake area in Killadeas as part of an after school activity club.

"He found this thing, looked at it and brought it back on the bus with him," explained Gianella, "It just looked like an old piece of concrete and people were asking him 'Harry, what are you doing with that?'
"He was adamant he was bringing it home."

But when he showed it to his mother and her partner, Liam, the potential danger that the object held began to set in quite quickly.
"We were like 'uh-oh'!" said Giannella, "We put it straight on the ground, but then my partner thought it was too close to the house so he moved it to the bottom of Hillview and called the police."

Describing the device as a dark brown cylinder with a tapered top and a hole in the top and bottom, Liam said he and the rest of the family were able to see the ATO operation from a good vantage point in their back garden.

"When we came back from the town I could see Harry bouncing this thing off the ground. When I realised what it was I didn't want to be holding it for too long! It was rusted and dark brown and we could see something leaking from it -- we thought it might have been something corrosive, like battery acid.

"Two police officers came out, took some pictures of it and sent them to Belfast. The next thing, more police came and blocked off the road. We were able to see what was going on from our house. The bomb squad landed down in two big vans, looked at it, put what looked like a lead blanket round it to cover it, put it into one of the big armed vans and that was it, they just drove off and we didn't hear if it was a viable device or anything."

According to his mum, Harry's nickname for a long time has been 'H-Bomb'.
"He lived up to his name last week," she said, "Harry is just your typical teenage boy, he is into everything. He was watching the whole thing going on that night but once the excitement wore off he realised the seriousness of it the next day and he said he would never touch anything ever again. I think it hit us all -- what could have happened if we had taken no notice -- he could have just kept it in his rucksack.
"I just hope I don't have to go through that again."

According to a police spokesperson, the device has all the hallmarks of dating back to the Second World War.

The fact that the area was used as a military establishment at the time makes it all the more probable that this is why it was found there.
Said the PSNI spokesperson; "During the Second World War a barge used to be moored in the area.

"It is believed this device is an inert training round filled with concrete so it is nothing that would have gone off. It may well have been something which was used for training with at the time. However, the people who found it did exactly what they should have and telephoned the police. I would suggest if people do find something suspicious like this, don't handle it, leave it where it is and contact the police immediately."

 

Took a look over the thread after seeing the thread on the Stavne Cemetery in Norway. (A 422 RCAF member being buried there).

The "warhead" I have an exploded one at home picked it up 30 plus years ago on "The Gravel Ridge" the Island is littered with them and so I dare say are the waters around the Island.

Enjoyed looking over this threadnot thinking of my own input into it (but that of other members ) there is some great info here.

 

As a follow up to the story of F/O Grainger way back on page 1 of this thread, Grainger Peak (located ~50km north of Chilliwack, British Columbia) was named after him in 1965.

 

Took this today , Frank is buried in the centre his two colleagues from the aircraft on either side, unfortunately the nature of the stone makes it difficult to capture the details , but these are better seen in other photos I have posted.
Flowers placed on behalf of "Dave" and Grainger Family.

 

Thank you, James! It means a lot to us.

- A grateful Canadian

 

Dave happy o be able to do this for you and your family.
js

 

Hi James was reading your post about the police boat my grandfather told me the story of the police boat running a ground in Devenish bay Sam Livingstone got a replacement anchor off him to keep the boatmen out of trouble might be the same incident, you have some great photos of Archdale and Killadeas John

 

Most likely is the same incident, Sam Livingstone was the name my father gave to me, small world indeed !

 

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I am trying to find any pictures or more information about Pat Cooper's time at RAF Killadeas and the fatal accident on 16 October 1943. I found the entry by James S very useful - thank you. Does anybody have a photo of the memorial stone at the crash site, please? My mother-in-law was a friend of Pat and his family during the war.