Fragments of burnt aluminium, timber, the steel undercarriage and inter-wing struts have been indentified amongst the scree. The Gipsy Major Mk 1 engine also remains at the scene.
The remains of this aircraft are designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The Act makes it an offence to interfere with the wreckage of any crashed, sunken or stranded military aircraft without a licence. For further information on this Act and its administration with regard to aircraft, please contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester, GL3 1RZ.
Event and Historical Information:
This Queen Bee was one of 50 delivered between December 1940 and March 1941. Its service life included assignments to PAU and 1 AACU. It took off from Bodorgan but failed to respond to its control systems and flew into Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdon, on 24 February 1942 and burst into flames. The crash occurred during the day and was witnessed from the valley below, which prompted a rescue party to visit the scene only to find that the crashed aircraft had been unpiloted. The site was rediscovered in the 1970s.
Sources include:
Doylerush, E, 2002, No Landing Place: A Guide to Aircraft Crashes in Snowdonia, pg92
Halley, J J, 1983, Royal Air Force Aircraft V1000-V9999, W1000 - W9999, pg17
