Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
RAF veteran’s tribute to tragic aircrew in fundraising sleep-out
AN Angus RAF veteran has made a poignant trek to the site of a crashed Second World War bomber to pay his respects in a fundraiser for modern-day comrades.
David Brown from Arbroath climbed the hills above Glen Clova to reach the remote landscape where the Vickers Wellington came down in August 1942.
L7845 was on a training flight from RAF Lossiemouth when it suffered engine failure between Ben Tirran and Muckle Cairn.
The bomber crashed with the loss of four crew.
But remarkably the tail gunner survived.
Its skeletal airframe remains a tragic monument in the picturesque glen.
And for Gulf War veteran Mr Brown it was a chance to honour personnel from the station where he spent much of his own 24-year RAF career.
The Great Tommy Sleep Out is organised by Royal British Legion Industries.
It challenges people to sleep out under the stars to raise money to support thousands of homeless veterans in the UK.
Mr Brown, 58, said: “I took part for the first time last year.
“I was truly privileged to sleep under the wing of the Red Lichtie Spitfire at Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre.
“I’m a keen hillwaker, but although I was aware of the story of L7845 I had never been to visit the wreck.
“It was a wonderful, but very poignant adventure.
“Having spent so much of my own RAF career between Lossiemouth and Leuchars it was a humbling experience to sleep in the shadow of the Wellington’s tail.
“I wanted to try to come up with an unusual location again this year.
“Hopefully, it might raise awareness of the Great Tommy Sleep Out and the thousands of veterans we have in the UK.
“The sight of the sun setting and then rising in the morning with the reminder of that bomber crew’s bravery all around me will certainly stay with me.”
You can donate to Davy’s Great Tommy Sleep Out fundraiser online.