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| Biplane |
The airfield located at Mantrose in Scotland has two ghosts. * The first is a biplane pilot who was killed in a crash during WWl in 1913 and the second was an RAF officer who was killed in a crash at the field during WWll.
First World War
The ghost of an unnamed biplane pilot made his most dramatic appearance in 1916. At this point several pilots and the commanding officer of the base had already seen his ghost.
Late one night a marauding German plane was spotted in the area. A Hurricane was sent up to intercept the invader. After searching for 30 minutes without any luck the Hurricane returned to the base.
The commander decided not to light the entire airfield concerned the enemy plane might still be nearby. There was only a row of twin lights to show the Hurricane’s pilot where to land. This was not a concern because this man was an experienced airman who had landed under worse conditions.
Several dozen men on the ground watched as this pilot came in for a landing. But to the surprise of the onlookers just as the Hurricane touched down the pilot suddenly opened up the engine and took back off.
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| Hurricane |
The ground crew thought he must have not aligned correctly and would just circle back around. Sure enough the plane approached the field once more. This time the pilot had his navigation lights on.
But the same thing happened once more. As he went to land he pulled up at the last moment and roared away.
The ground crew had no idea what was going on but decided they best light the entire field. The Hurricane pilot then made a perfect landing.
As the pilot came to a stop he slid the hood open and shouted, “The fool! Who was the fool who cut me off?” Confused one ground crew member told him no one had cut him off.
The pilot now angry argued, “Of course someone did. Why do you think I went around again? A madman in a Tiger Moth balked at me just as I was touching down.”
The flight commander told the pilot that no one else was flying and that there wasn’t a biplane at the base.
This practical pilot had trouble believing he had seen a ghost–it seems the phantom biplane pilot was just trying to keep his hand in the action.
Pilots spotted the ghost of this biplane pilot once again in 1940. They were at Montrose resting after the Battle of Britain.
Second World War
In 1942 a flight commander was killed in a crash a short distance from the Montrose base.
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| Montrose during WWll |
This crash was chalked up to engine failure and promptly forgotten but as it turned out not for long. The pilot of this plane was a very unpopular commander. He often meted out punitive punishments to the men that served under him.
Just before the crash he had a heated argument with a Fitter who was working on the plane he was slated to fly. The flight commander told him that he going to report him. The Fitter felt he was being picked on and became extremely angry.
It was believed that this Fitter holding a grudge had doctored the commander’s plane causing it to crash. A routine inquiry was held but charges were never filed.
Shortly after the crash men at the base began seeing the ghost of the flight commander. He was seen wearing a flight suit and goggles. Some felt he had returned to haunt the Fitter.
His ghost was seen so often that all the new men that arrived at the base were warned to watch out for his ghost at night.
One new man, a seasoned soldier when duly warned scoffed at the story. One night while he was on guard duty he changed his mind.
He and another guard were charged with watching a plane that had landed on the airfield that day–it was parked near the base morgue. All was quiet so his companion went around a corner to take a quick smoke.
Now standing alone the newcomer saw the doors of the morgue, which were always kept locked securely, swing open violently. A pale faced man in a full flight suit and helmet stalked out.
The guard startled dropped his rife and watched as this figure walked across the airfield and vanish. The doors on the morgue then swung shut.
This guard did not mention what he had seen for several years. After the war he heard others stories about sightings of this ghost–he then shared what he had seen.
* This base was closed down in the 1950s.
