As regular readers will have noticed, I love the Shropshire hills. Yet for all their beauty, there is something dark and cruel about them.
For instance, the last fair of the year at Church Stretton was known as 'Deadman's Fair' because of the risk to people making their way home afterwards.
The latest support for this view comes from the Shropshire Star, where an article reveals that there were 19 air crashes on the Clee Hills between 1937 and 1975 with the loss of 43 lives.
This article is occasioned by the publication of Bernard O'Connor's book Air Crashes on the Clee Hills.
O'Connor tells the Star:
"Many local people came out to help after the crashes. There were agricultural labourers, farmers, the Home Guard, anti-aircraft crews, searchlight crews, troops from the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, and the local police as well as staff from the RAF maintenance (rescue) unit and RAF accident investigators.
"Local hospital staff, clergy, gravediggers and crematorium staff played an important role. Local photographers made a record of many of the crashes and reporters from the local, and sometimes national, press ensured readers were provided with the details."
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