(All images by Dave Harding)
On November 3, 1948, Boeing B-29 Superfortress 44-61999 ‘Overexposed’, while on a flight from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire to the USAF base at Burtonwood near Warrington, crashed into higher ground near the village of Glossop with the loss of all thirteen crew members. Low cloud and poor visibility were thought to be contributing factors to the cause of the accident.
Built just before the end of World War Two, ‘Overexposed’ was later converted for photo-reconnaissance use with its five turrets housing cameras in place of guns. It was also one of two B-29s that took part in the Atomic Bomb Tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.
Today it is one of the most substantial crash sites in the UK. At the time the tail section of the aircraft, which had survived intact, was purposely destroyed to prevent sightseers but many pieces were left in situ including all four engines, sections of both wings, both main undercarriages along with the nose-wheel assembly, two gun-turret cradles and numerous fragments of the fuselage.
Even though the wreckage has now been lying on the moors for over 65 years, yellow paint is still clearly visible on a wing fragment, one of the undercarriages retains a wheel rim with the remnants of a tyre and the nose-wheel oleo still shows some of its original chrome finish.
In 1988 a memorial plaque was laid at the crash site and a remembrance service for the crew is held there every November.
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