The weather over the period of the search was exceptionally severe even for the time of year. It was intensely cold. There were constant snow showers and high winds. At night it froze hard. The north of Scotland is considerably closer to the Arctic Circle than is North Wales. In winter conditions can be more than alpine; they may be arctic.

On March 19th the idea of reaching the wreckage from the north was abandoned and the team made an attempt up the much easier and far less rugged south flank. But now that they had easier terrain the weather deteriorated further. When they reached a saddle on the summit ridge, between Beinn Eighe and Sail Mhor, the wind came over the ridge with such force that it was impossible to move against it. Its velocity was estimated at 80 m.p.h. The depth of snow varied from one foot to four feet, and one rescuer said that the gully from the corrie (which they had attempted to climb the day before) was a solid sheet of ice.

Part of the fuselage was sighted this day but they were unable to reach it. They retreated in the face of worsening weather.

On the following day, the 20th, the search was temporarily abandoned owing to the inaccessibility of the wreck, and the fatigue of the men after three days' work in the exhausting conditions. It appeared certain that there was no one left alive in the wreckage which, in the opinion of the officer in charge of the team, was so situated that it couldn't be reached by members of the public first unless they were highly experienced climbers.

While the search was in progress the president of the Moray Mountaineering Club, Dr John Brewster, had telephoned the Commanding Officer at Kinloss to offer the assistance of his club, since he had at least six members with considerable experience of Scottish winter climbing. This offer was declined, as was a further suggestion - that the R.A.F. should ask for help from the Scottish Mountaineering Club who were holding an Easter meet at Achnashellach, near Beinn Eighe.

On the following day Brewster telephoned the C.O. again to inform him that his men were going to Beinn Eighe on their own initiative. He was told that the R.A.F had been ordered back to camp. On their return, the officer in charge of the team went to see Dr Brewster and gave him the exact position of the wreckage.

Five of the Moray club went to Torrindon and attempted to reach the aircraft, but this proved impossible, as indeed was any form of progress along the summit ridge in the face of gale-force winds and driving snow. They retreated.

The next men to make the attempt were a Royal Marine Commando, Captain Mike Banks and another man, Angus Erskine. They had listened with some amusement to the local gossip. One faction - in the bar at Kinlochewe - held that the R.A.F. were supermen; the other - in the youth hostel at Torridon - maintained that they were totally inexperienced except for the officer and N.C.O. in charge. The only thing that the Marines found out for certain was that no one had reached the wreckage.

Either by virtue of their experience or the weather being less severe, Banks and Eerskine did reach the crash, but they had a hard time getting there. On the ridge they encountered gusts of such strength that they had to keep to the leeward side of the crest and even then they were sometimes hurled on all-fours. On the more exposed sections they were forced to rope.

They found a body by the cairn. Apparently they didn't attempt to Continue to page 11