When we set out to discover the Peak District, one of the hikes on our bucket list was the crash site of the B29 Superfortress near Glossop.
The B29 aircraft was one of the largest to fly during WWII and still has the dubious distinction of being the only aircraft ever to have dropped nuclear weapons in combat (“Enola Gay” on Hiroshima and “Bockscar” on Nagasaki). Before it crashed in the Peak District, this particular B-29 Superfortress took part in “Operation Crossroads” – the Atomic Bomb tests at Bikini Atoll (1946). Its job and that of its 25 cameras was to photograph another B29 dropping an atomic bomb. Later the plane was used again to photograph the results of an underwater atomic bomb test. Hence the nickname “Over Exposed” of the B29.
B29 Superfortress Over Exposed
After this, the “Over Exposed” was re-assigned to the RAF base in Scampton – UK. On that fatal November 3, 1948, the Superfortress took off at around 10 AM from RAF Scampton. It was a routine flight with 2 other aircraft, the crew were due to return to the States a few days later. When “Over Exposed” failed to arrive at the Burtonwood Royal Air Force base, an air search was initiated and that afternoon the burning wreck was spotted high on the moors near Higher Shelf Stones. By chance members of the Harpur Hill RAF Mountain Rescue Unit were just finishing an exercise two and a half miles away, so they quickly made their way to the scene of the crash, but there was clearly nothing that could have been done for any of the crew.
All 13 men on board had been killed instantly when the aircraft flew into the moor.
The payroll on board was found in a sack and was not burnt. After the crash-investigation teams had finished, the tail fin, which still stood up-right was destroyed, as it could be seen for miles around, and was attracting too many sightseers. Since 1948 souvenir hunters and the elements have taken their toll on the wreckage. A gun turret was removed at the MOD’s permission and is now in the air museum at Newark.
Despite all this, the remaining wreckage is still very extensive. Incredibly, a man from nearby Hadfield found a wedding ring at the crash site in the 70’s, which turned out to be the pilot of the aircraft, Capt Tanner’s ring. The ring was duly returned to his daughter. Also, a proper memorial was erected at the site in 1988.
Even after more than 70 years, the exposed and bleak wreck site, high up in the largely peat-covered, gritstone moorland, and covering a wide area still is a powerfully moving and for us one of the most evocative locations of our visit to the Peak District.
