The Fairy Lochs is a recent English name for ''Na Lochan Sgeireach'', a small group of freshwater

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

ans approximately south-east of the village of

Badachro Badachro () is a former fishing village, in the northwest Highlands of Scotland. Geography Badachro sits about 3 km south of Gairloch on the shore of Gair Loch, and is a natural harbour popular with yachts. Approximately 2 miles to the SE ...

, near

Gairloch Gairloch ( ; , meaning "Short Loch") is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a golf course, a ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. The lochans have become known as the 'Fairy Lochs' due to their proximity to the hill Sìthean Mòr, which translates as "Big Fairy Mound". The lochans are close to Loch Bràigh Horrisdale, which flows into the Badachro River (). There are several large waterfalls in the area, and Sìthean Mor overlooks the Lochan Sgeireach and the bay of

Loch Gairloch The Gair Loch is a sea loch on the North West coast of Highland, Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic it is ''an Geàrr Loch'' meaning 'the short loch'. Around long by wide, it leads west to the Little Minch. The B8021 and B8056 run around its north ...

. The lochs are remote and are accessed over farmland and along paths through marshy ground.

USAAF Liberator crash memorial

Although small and remote, the Fairy Lochs are notable as the crash site of an American

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

bomber. On 13 June 1945, a

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber (serial 42-95095, based at the

Warton Aerodrome Warton Aerodrome is an airfield located in Warton village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is west of Preston, Lancashire. The western end of the site adjoins the village of Freckleton. The airfield is a major assembly and testing ...

) was returning to the US from Prestwick Airfield at the end of World War II. On board were a crew of nine from the 66th Bomber Squadron and six passengers from the

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

. The aircraft's planned route to

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

(Meeks Field) in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

should have taken it over

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

, however, for reasons unknown, the aircraft flew instead over the Scottish mainland. Over

the aircraft began to lose height and struck the summit of

Slioch Slioch () is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe. Slioch reaches an elevation of and towers above the southeastern end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known a ...

(), losing parts of its

bomb bay The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the ...

doors, before flying on towards Gairloch. An attempted crash-landing resulted in the aircraft colliding with rocks and crashing into the Fairy Lochs, scattering wreckage over a wide area. All 15 crew and passengers on board perished in the accident. Today much of the wreckage remains where the plane crashed. Pieces of fuselage lie in the

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s and a propeller and an engine can be seen protruding from the lochan. The area is classed as a

war grave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

and visitors are expected not to disturb the wreckage. A memorial plaque, listing those who died, was erected by the families and friends of those killed. The loss of the USAAF 42-95095 was not unique in this region, as other accidents involving military aircraft have taken place nearby. In 1951, an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

crashed on

Beinn Eighe is a mountain massif in the Torridon area of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Lying south of Loch Maree, it forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros: Ruadh-stac Mòr at ...

, a mountain near Slioch on the opposite shore of Loch Maree.

References

External links

{{Commons category
The B-24H Liberator 42-95095
on Air Crash Sites Scotland
The Fairy Lochs War Grave – Gairloch
– video footage of the war grave 1945 in military history 1945 in Scotland 1945 in the United States Aviation accidents and incidents in 1945 June 1945 in the United Kingdom Aviation accidents and incidents locations in Scotland Lochs of Highland (council area) World War II memorials in Scotland Military monuments and memorials in the United States Ross and Cromarty 20th-century history of the United States Air Force Freshwater lochs of Scotland Foreign relations of Scotland United States Army Air Forces