The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Restless spirit of ‘Montrose Ghost’
Who was Desmond Arthur? The inscription on his gravestone tells us nothing other than that he was killed at Montrose.
He was an Irishman who came from a well- to- do family and who joined the British Army in 1908.
He became fascinated by the new technolog y of manned flight and became one of the first men in Britain to learn to fly and get his pilot’s licence.
In 1912 the British armed services belatedly recognised that manned aircraft might have military applications and the Army formed the first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps.
The first squadron to be equipped with aircraft were sent to Mo n t r o s e in February 1913 and Arthur, already an experienced aviator by the standards of the time, joined No 2 Squadron in April.
The commanding officer, Major Charles Burke, must h av e been pleased to welcome such an experienced pilot, especially since he was another Irishman.
Desmond Arthur is, perhaps, best known as the ‘Montrose Ghost’.
The inquir y into the accident, as so often, blamed the pilot.
Hi s unquiet spirit, protesting against the verdict of the inquiry and how it reflected badly on his skills as aviator, is said to have haunted the officers’ mess until a new inquiry in 1916 found that the crash was caused by a faulty repair to the wing of his BE2 aircraft.
The ghost, his honour vindicated, was seen to throw some papers on the fire and then departed to rest in peace.
He was missed, not least
by Winsome Ropner, a teenage girl whose correspondence with friends showed that she was in love with Desmond Arthur and that they intended to marry.
When his aircraft broke up over Lunan he fell 2,000 feet to his death.
Found on his broken body was a brooch with her portrait, cracked by the impact.