Airspeed Oxford II – Serial P1920
At 04:40 hrs on the 9th February 1942 an Airspeed Oxford II, serial number P1920, crashed on Rooley Moor. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. Please see the following article by Dave Stansfield with help from Russell Brown which was taken from the Aviation Archaeologist Magazine.
Our thanks go to the British Aviation Archaeological Council (BAAC) for giving permission to reproduce this article.
USAAF P51B Mustang – Serial 43-12419
At 21:17 hrs on the 4th June 1944 a United States Army Air Force P51B Mustang, serial number 43-12419, crashed on Rooley Moor. The Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team states that, “at 21:17 (the time the aircraft’s clock stopped) the aircraft struck the ground at about a 30 degree angle under full power, breaking up as it cartwheeled across the moor.”
This flight took place a couple of days before D-Day and the pilot, Second Lieutenant Charles D Nelson, was on a cross country navigation exercise from the American airbase at Goxhill in Lincolnshire, he was killed when his Mustang crashed on the moors.
There is no visible wreckage of either crash remaining on the moor.