One Warwick and a Mosquito squadron!

[BlackPanther]

Since we added wreck hunting to our hobby list, there was one menace haunting us. A crash site we really wanted to find but failed miserably multiple times. This spot is said to be one of the spookiest places in Moray. Deep in the shadows of the Culbin Forest lay the sad remains of a lost WW2 bomber, a Vickers Warwick BV512. So secretive the location that no sources give away the grid reference for it. If you want to find it, you must do it the hard way.

Culbin Forest is full of secrets...

We first became aware of the lost Warwick last year, by a complete coincidence, when researching another local accident, the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley BD259 from Cawdor Moors. Later, we became badly obsessed with the dark secret of Culbin and spent hours analyzing maps and satellite views of the forest, trying to work out where could we possibly concentrate our search. There is very little information about this particular crash site and soon we understood why. Few people have ever been to see it and those who have, kept the exact location a secret. Basically, Forestry and Land Scotland want to protect this site from both souvenir hunters and idiots who would likely destroy the remains of the Warwick.
My research showed that there is not a single complete Vickers Warwick left in the UK (and probably none in the whole world as this type of plane was mostly used by RAF) and very little in the way of partial remains in museums. So it is a fact that this site is unique and should be protected from vandals. Understanding that, I will not reveal the exact location of this crash site nor will I give instructions how to find it. But I would still like to share our quest in search of the "holy grail" of Culbin Forest.

It could be there...

We know Culbin Woods quite well as we had been here many times, mostly mushroom picking

Orange birch bolete, great for mushroom soup or to fill pierogi

Of course not all mushrooms are fit for consumption. My mum always says, all fungi are edible but some of them just once

Fly agaric, definitely NOT good for soup (unless you want to poison your mother in law...)

During one of our spring searches, we even came across a false morel:

Gyromitra esculenta, contains GYROMITRIN, a toxin affecting liver, central nervous system and kidneys. Can be lethal. Don't eat (just photograph and leave it alone).

OK enough of that, apologies, here is the toxicologist in me speaking again!
Back to our search - having had a good look at the available photos of the crash site, we knew it was located in dense pine woodland, but with the presence of several birches. So we set off to check every suspiciously looking part of the forest consisting of pines and birches, which in the case of Culbin means it could be anywhere

Pines and birches

Mostly it was a very... scratchy experience (pushing through the dense vegetation) and after four unsuccessful attempts to locate the Warwick I was in serious doubt we'd ever succeed!

What the heck am I doing here???

On the other hand, the multiple visits to Culbin made us appreciate its fantastic wildlife...

Tiny froglets are cute!

the European peacocks might be one of the most common butterfiles but I simply love to photograph them!

Our search was temporarily suspended in winter (snow) and spring (lockdown) but we returned to Culbin in early summer. This was our 5th attempt to locate the Warwick. So far we had searched five square sections of the forest, the ones we felt looked the most probable, but having failed so far, we decided to return to the section we had already checked (on our second visit). We thought that we were not thorough enough the previous time.
Panther ready to go again!

We walked to the corner of the square in question and dived into the dense woodland. As soon as we left the path, we were suddenly attacked by several squadrons of mosquitos. No, not the De Havilland Mosquitos, though in the given circumstances this would be appropriate These were the marsh mosquitos, big, noisy and hungry for our blood! Luckily, the day was cloudy with a chance for showers, so we took long sleeve jackets. At some point I stopped to kill a few of these hungry beasts feasting on my legs (despite me wearing long leggins). Kevin was a few metres to the right of me, checking a potential spot and he said:
"Have a look what's over that bump to your left."
Still cursing the bloodsucking black army, I climbed a few steps over a small undulation in the ground and...

I think I nailed it!

I uttered a strange "yuppie!" noise which might not have been appropriate for the situation, but having spent so much time beating the bushes, i was delighted we found the crash site at last!
Kevin soon joined me and we spent the next 15-20 minutes photographing the wreckage, trying to defend ourselves from the constant attacks from the mosquitos. The site is not big; all artifacts are laying in a circle, in a small gap in the trees. The main features are the two 1850hp Pratt & Whitney "Double Wasp" radial engines.

One in the engines in the foreground, the second one can be seen in the distance behind a group of birches

One of the engines is laying on its side:

Propeller hub still attached, sadly not a single propeller remains on site:

The exhaust manifold from one of the engines:

Me with a section of the exhaust lying next to the overturned engine:

A section of the undercarriage assembly:

Spars from the main structure of the aircraft:

A steel plate sticking out of the ground:

One more look at the overturned engine, still containing most of the cylinders and part of the exhaust, to the right of the engine lay more parts of undercarriage and fragments of the gear box:

The tail wheel assembly:

This shaft was used to move ailerons in wings:

Me with the second engine, this one facing up, the section I'm pointing at is the propeller hub:

Later I sent one of the photos to my friend (who knows nothing about planes) and she messaged me back "What is this??? Robby the Robot???". I guess to a layman, the Warwick engine looks like part of a spaceship

Joking aside, the place is spooky indeed. I had seen many aircraft engines in my wreckage hunting trips, but I was very impressed by the size of these huge radials. Surprisingly, there is very little aluminum wreckage left, mostly heavy metal parts, but what's left from the external fuselage is badly melted, suggesting the plane caught fire when it crashed:

Kevin investigating some armature he said was from a motor or dynamo:

There is little information about what happened here. The crash occurred on the 5 December 1945 when Vickers Warwick BV512 crashed in the forest after taking off from Lossiemouth base, killing both crew, Flt Lt. R H Mitchell and Flg Off. A Bywood. I assume that this was a training flight hence there were only two occupants in a plane usually manned by six crew.

A few more little details of the remaining wreckage:

We left the crashsite in silence, with mosquitos chasing us out of the dense woodland. We hiked across the forest to the nearest path, where we bumped into a family with kids on a Sunday stroll. They looked startled when they saw us emerging out of the woods, waving our arms like crazy in a futile attempt to defend ourselves from the bloodsucking army. We must have looked like a pair of idiots, but we didn't care. We had found what we came here for. The secret of Culbin is no longer our menace.

I'm going to take a break from Walkhighlands in the next couple of weeks; we have some exciting walks planned and with weather looking good there's nothing to stop us! Thank you all for reading my stories and hopefully, I'll be back soon with more to share

Internet sources:
http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/culbin.html
https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/100601-some-aircraft-wrecks-around-moray-scotland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Warwick

[gld73]

Never realised there was a crash site there, but I'm not at all optimistic I'd be able to ever find it, don't think I'd have the patience to do 5 searching trips!

Do you or Kevin have some background in planes /aeronautical engineering? Your reports always seem to specify what parts are, whereas I could probably only identify a part if it was a wing, wheel or completely intact engine (I have an engineering degree, but not in a branch of engineering which helps identify anything I find in mountains!)

[BlackPanther]

Do you or Kevin have some background in planes /aeronautical engineering? Your reports always seem to specify what parts are, whereas I could probably only identify a part if it was a wing, wheel or completely intact engine (I have an engineering degree, but not in a branch of engineering which helps identify anything I find in mountains!)

As I mentioned in the report, I have a degree in toxicology (animal toxins to be precise but as a sidekick hobby I love finding and identifying mushrooms!) so no, nothing even close to aviation! I just "learned on the job", having seen, let's say, 10 carburetors in 10 different spots, I learned to recognize a carburetor if I find one again Kevin has background in engineering and car repairing, so he just compares everything to car/van engines. To be honest, we can never be sure if we are right when recognizing wreckage (apart from obvious things like wheels, propellers etc.) so our descriptions should be taken with a pinch of salt... There are several internet bloggers who also visit crash sites and post photos with description so we use them as sources. The books we use (mainly Aircraft Wrecks, the Walker's Guide) often give a list of parts to be found in a specific location, which is also very helpful.
Sometimes it's all so mangled that the only description I can give is "a piece of fuselage"