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Tragedy at the Hill of Wirren Traditional Cache

Hidden : 6/2/2013
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The Scottish hills are littered with the remains of crashed aircraft. The majority came down during the last war and most were just left to lie where they fell. For many years walkers have sought out these wreckages. In some cases fairly extensive debris can still be found.

Hill of Wirren is a flat topped hill lying between Glen Clova to the west and Glen Esk to the east. It has a complex topology, with ridges emanating in several directions from the summit area.

This walk is mostly on landy tracks but there is some peat hags and open moor land to negotiate over what is mostly featureless ground. On a clear day such as I had there are views across to the sea and Montrose basin as well as across to the Cairngorms.

I think the best route is taken from parking near the school at Bridge of Lethnot, the trail starts at the side of the school. Follow the landy tracks via Shank of Ledmanie, close to the top there is an older track that takes you to the top pas another crash site, then on to the summit trig point. Please see waypoints list. After that follow the pointer to the cache, once found you could take a short walk over the edge of the hill to the crash site, story below.

One tragic incident occurred on 17 October 1944 when seven airmen lost their lives as they returned from a mission in the North Sea. A Consolidated Liberator GRV1, number KG857, of 547 Squadron, Coastal Command, RAF Leuchars, was returning to its home base after an anti-submarine patrol over the North Sea piloted by Flt. Lt. Harold Ellis and his crew of nine However, the crew made landfall too far north, striking the Hill of Wirren in Glen Lethnot, disintegrating, and killing seven of the assembled crew. Two of the crew suffered only slight injuries and helped the severely injured pilot out of the wreck.  He was taken to Stracathro Hospital, where he made a good recovery.

Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk, go equipped for high hill walking and navigate using a map and compass. please keep dogs under control and take your litter home,

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Rqtr bs ebpxf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)