May 2018 FLYPAST 85VICKERS WELLINGTON 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
Above left
The funeral
procession of the
crew of T2988 on
December 6, 1941.Below left
The foreboding Black
Peak (Svartihnjú kur)
that claimed T2988.Witnesses said something looked
wrong – flares of different colours
were being fired from the aircraft
- and the pilot appeared to be
searching for somewhere to land.
After some time, the aircraft turned
southwest and then south along
Kolgrafafjö rður Fjord. It flew
towards the mountain range in the
middle of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
A witness in Stykkishó lmur
telephoned the squadron to let
them know the Wellington was in
difficulty. The last signal received
from Harry was at 2230.
Local people heard explosions and
observed a fire that burned for the
entire night. The Wellington had hit
a mountain, just below the summit
of Svartihnjú kur, known as the
Black Peak.
The West Yorkshire Regiment
received information at 2315 that a
bomber was believed to have gone
down. At 0200 on the 29th, search
parties left Reykjaskó li, in northwest
Iceland, and Borgarnes, to the west
of the island.
British soldiers arrived at the
farmstead Hjarðarfell in the early
morning and asked for guidance
over the mountain range. Hjö rleifur
Sigurðsson offered to assist and
quickly recruited more Icelanders to
help in the search. Hjö rleifur and the
soldiersWitnesses said something looked
wrong – flares of different colours
were being fired from the aircraft
a mountain, just below the summit
of Svartihnjú kur, known as the
Black Peak.crossed the Snaefellsnes ridge, but the
following day called off the search.
On Sunday, November 30, a farmer
from Hjarðarbó l attended a church
service at Setberg. He told members
of the congregation he had seen the
explosions and could point out the
crash site.PARACHUTES
Armed with this information, the
search started again at 0630 on the
Monday. The wreck of H for Harry
was found about 2,630ft (800m)
below the Black Peak. It is believed
the Wellington was attempting to
turn away from