The Most Haunted Air Base in the United Kingdom
Now we all know that the United States has some military bases which are said to be haunted. But it might surprise you to know that the United Kingdom also has some facilities which are said to be just as bad. Most notably … RAF Montrose.
The Tragic Story of Lt. Desmond Arthur
Established in 1913, RAF Montrose is credited as being the first military air base operated by the newly-formed Royal Flying Corps. This was where some of the first British pilots were trained and became some of the pilots of the British Empire. One of these men was Lt. Desmond Arthur.
An Irish-born soldier who volunteered to join the RFC and become one of its first pilots, Lt. Arthur was involved in a tragic accident. At around 7:30 am on Tuesday, 27 May 1913, Arthur was flying his B.E.2 biplane No.205 on a routine flight to Lunan Bay. At an altitude of 2500 feet, the right wing of the aircraft snapped off and it plunged to the ground. Needless to say, he was killed instantly and earned the unfortunate title of being the first Irishman to be killed in an aircraft accident. But this is not the end of the story.
Hauntings Begin at RAF Montrose
You see, an investigation was launched, and although the accident was caused by a botched repair job, the “official” verdict was that Lt. Arthur was at fault. This effectively dishonored him. But it seemed that the Irishman didn’t like this. Can you blame him? A few weeks after the investigation ended, personnel who worked at the base began to have some strange incidents.
Major Cyril Foggin claimed that while on his way to the mess hall one evening, he saw a ghostly figure dressed in a pilot’s uniform walk into the mess hall. He might have kept silent at first, but then more men began to come forward with their encounters as well. A senior flight instructor got the scare of his life when the ghostly pilot paid him a visit in his quarters one night. He said he saw a man sitting at the end of his bed and in full flight gear, facing him. But when he tried to get the “visitor” to answer him, the spectral figure just got up and vanished.
Another night, two men on guard duty at the airfield reported seeing a figure approaching them from the darkness. They challenged him, but the figure just continued to walk towards them. The guards soon realized that this figure was not of the living and fled in fear. Now obviously abandoning a post is a big no-no and would normally get one thrown in the brig or worse. But the hauntings at the base were so well known that the guards were not charged or punished.
Vindicating Lt. Arthur and Continued Hauntings
Around this time, another investigation into Arthur’s crash began and it was finally proven that a botched repair was the cause of the Irishman’s crash. As a result, Lt. Arthur’s reputation was restored. Curiously, sightings of the ghostly pilot stopped … for a time.
When World War II came about, the sightings started again, and this time in dramatic fashion. In 1940, a Hurricane pilot was coming in to land one night when the ground crews saw him abort. When the pilot did land, he raged about some biplane that almost collided with him when he first tried to land. At this point, no one remembered the paranormal happenings from World War I, but it was not long before Montrose regained its reputation of being haunted. So much so that anyone who was posted at the base was given a printed document that told them about the alleged hauntings.
Spectacular Sightings and the Modern Montrose
One of the more spectacular sightings actually took place in the air near Lunan Bay in 1963, long after the base was decommissioned. Sir Peter Masefield was flying his DHC-1 Chipmunk near the now-closed base when he saw a small biplane just ahead of him. As he got closer, he could make out a B.E.2 trainer aircraft with a single pilot. This shocked him as there weren’t many of that type still flying, as far as he knew. As he continued to watch, he saw the right wing suddenly collapse and the aircraft plunge to the ground. Shocked, and thinking he had witnessed an accident, Masefield landed his plane at a nearby golf course to alert the authorities. But when the rescue party arrived at the crash site, they found nothing.
Today, Montrose has reopened as a museum where you can visit, but be warned: it’s still very much haunted. However, it seems that Lt. Arthur is no longer the only spirit that resides there.
~NC
