Date:	Wednesday 14 March 1951
Time:	night
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III GR
Owner/operator:	120 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TX264
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Beinn Eighe, Torridon Mountains, SSE of Sail Mhor, Ross & Cromarty -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Kinloss, Morayshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B. Mk. III (GR) TX264/"BS-D" of 120 Squadron RAF: Written off (destroyed) when crashed 14/3/1951. The aircraft had taken off from RAF Kinloss, and the crew were to conduct an night navigation training exercise. Some 6 1/2 hours after leaving Kinloss the crew reported that they were approximately 60 miles to the North of Cape Wrath. After this point there was no further radio contact with aircraft, as by the following morning the aircraft had failed to return to base or land at another airfield a search was initiated. This was carried out by numerous aircraft from airfields in Scotland but there were no sightings.

On the 17th March as report was received that a red flash had been seen in the Torridon area around the time the aircraft disappeared.

An aerial search of the Torridon mountains was carried out and the burnt out wreckage of an aircraft was spotted high on the northern side of Beinn Eighe at the top of the cliffs of the Triple Buttress. Ground units set out to attempt to reach the site to confirm that is was the missing Lancaster but could not reach the site due to deep lying snow and further poor weather, together with a lack of suitable equipment.

It was the end of March before members of the RAF Mountain Rescue Team from Kinloss were able to reach the wreck to begin the task of recovering the bodies of the crew. The recovery of the last missing airmen was not carried out until August 1951 when enough snow had melted to uncover his body.

This recovery operation by the RAF Mountain Rescue Service lead directly to changes in the way the teams were equipped and operated, at the end of World War 2 a number of the teams were run down as the number of call outs dwindled and they eventually found themselves in a similar position to the search teams of the early war years.

All eight crew were killed:

Pilot - Flight Lieutenant Harry Smith Reid DFC RAF (Service Number 159582), aged 29, of Aberdeen. Buried Groves Cemetery, Aberdeen.
Co-Pilot - Sergeant Ralph Clucas RAF (Service Number 3044661), aged 23, of Liverpool. Buried Kinloss Abbey, Moray.
Navigator - Flight Lieutenant Robert Strong RAF (Service Number 203610), aged 27, of Billesley, Warwickshire. Buried Bramwood End Cemetery, Birmingham.
Air Signaller - Flight Lieutenant Peter Tennison RAF (Service Number 176527), aged 26, of Goole, Yorkshire. Buried Kinloss Abbey, Moray.
Air Signaller - Flight Sergeant James Naismith RAF (Service Number 575007), aged 28, of Glasgow. Buried Kinloss Abbey, Moray.
Air Signaller - Sergeant Wilfred Davie Beck RAF (Service Number 3504773), aged 19, of Ealing, London. Buried Kinloss Abbey, Moray.
Air Signaller - Sergeant James Warren Bell RAF (Service Number 1822719), aged 25, of Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. Buried Kinloss Abbey, Moray.
Flight Engineer - Flight Sergeant George Farquhar RAF (Service Number 632957), aged 29, of Rathven, Banffshire. Buried Buckie Cemetery, Banff.

Large pieces of wreckage, including two engines and parts of the undercarriage are still where they were when the Lancaster crashed. Flight Lieutenant Peter Dawes was awarded to MBE (Member of the British Empire), and Senior Aircraftsman Malcolm Brown was awarded the BEM (British Empire Medal) "for their courage and devotion to duty in hazardous circumstance" in their part in the recovery of the crew.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.111 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.122
4. The Lancaster File (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
5. 120 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for March 1951: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2451/4 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8421236
6. http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/scotland/avro-lancaster-tx264-beinn-eighe/
7. http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/lancaster_eighe.htm
8. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/scotland/tx264.html
9. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/43934/Reid-Harry-Smith.htm
10. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/65962
11. https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2016/03/15/the-beinn-eighe-lancaster-crash-14th-march-1951-65-years-on/
12. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/Only%20rock%20climbers%20and%20nutters.html
13. Photo of Lancaster TX264: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62445171@N00/3044663241/
14. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-mt-beinn-eighe-8-killed
15. https://masterbombercraig.wordpress.com/post-war-raf-career/236-ocu-raf-kinloss-1948-50/
16. https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/277761/
17. http://www.edwardboyle.com/wreck1.html
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beinn_Eighe
19. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12749720
20. Aviation Archaeologist Magazine Volume No.4 Issue No.4: http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/aviation-archaeologist-magazine?srs=Volume%2520No.4&issue=4
21. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=90171
22. https://www.facebook.com/garyskiltedadventures/
23. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC12MV1_tx264?guid=bf3e6de0-ecf4-4741-bd70-e5f456a3e3d2

Lancaster wreckage, Coire Mhic Fhearchair. This Merlin engine is part of much scattered wreckage from the Lancaster bomber which crashed into the Triple Buttress headwall on a training flight in 1951, killing all 8 on board. Photographed 24 October 2005

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
21-May-2010 13:34	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Narrative]
10-Mar-2013 17:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
08-Apr-2013 19:00	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
03-Jun-2013 19:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code]
08-Sep-2020 17:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
15-Jan-2021 22:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]