At the risk of boring you all this is the full story of Sergeant Lawrie... twenty years ago .... and yes it was a military accident.
...... in Scotland, police aviation was still struggling to gain headway against financial restraint..... there was .... extensive co-operation between the military and the police, especially in the field of mountain rescue.
The regular point of contact was between the crews of the helicopters assigned to Air/Sea Rescue and the volunteers attached to the civil mountain rescue teams [MRT]. The military maintained its own air and ground rescue teams to serve what was originally intended to be a military personnel rescue formation. It was the fortune of hundreds of civilian walkers, climbers and civilian sailors that their rescue was excellent training for the prime military role of rescuing downed pilots.
One of the numerous civil rescue teams operating the often dangerous ground task on a voluntary basis was the Killin MRT. Financed by local subscription, donation and local government subsidies, the unit was administered, trained and equipped by the Central Scotland Police. Membership comprised a mixture of local people and police, each of whom underwent training to augment an interest in mountaineering. Part of the training included helicopter familiarisation at RAF Leuchars.
Early in 1987 the leader of the Killin MRT was Sergeant Henry J G Lawrie. This 47 year old officer had 26 years service in the police, of which almost half of which had been as a sergeant in the Killin and Callander areas and closely connected to the MRT. He was awarded the British Empire Medal [BEM] in the Queen’s New Years Honours list in 1987.
At 1547hrs on Sunday February 1, 1987 a “999” emergency call was received at the police control room in Stirling. The caller, Werner Kittel, reported that his walking companion, a 27 year old Edinburgh film maker Sarah Noble, had been seriously injured on the north side of Ben More, Crianlarich, over an hour earlier. It was cold and snow lay on the ground.
A message was sent to Sergeant Rose, an officer then engaged with enquiries into an earlier fatal accident, who telephoned the various members of the MRT and arranged for them to meet him at Benmore Farm near the scene. Almost an hour later the 34 years old language instructor Kittel arrived at the farm in an understandably distressed state. Although he thought that the injured climber was still alive when he left her, he believed that she was quite likely to die of her injuries soon if not rescued. Shortly afterwards Sergeant Lawrie requested helicopter assistance, as members of the MRT met up with another climber who, whilst climbing down Ben More, had found a woman’s body and was on his way to alert the emergency services. She was undoubtedly dead but, with the pressure off, the team had a more precise location for her.
Appraised of the new situation, the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Pitreavie, Fife, allowed the helicopter to continue to Benmore Farm as it had already left its base and was due to arrive at 1735hrs. The helicopter despatched was an 22 Squadron RAF, “B” Flight detachment, Westland Wessex HC2, XT674, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Hugh Pierce with Flying Officer Christopher Palgrave as his navigator and Michael Anderson as Winchman. Wing Commander Rodgers, commanding officer of 22 Squadron, was an additional passenger.
It was dark by the time the helicopter arrived at the farm. The aircrew decided to take members of the Killin MRT to assist them both in locating the body and to enable them to be dropped in the vicinity of the location. As they were both suitably dressed for the flight, Sergeant Lawrie took Constable Joseph Ramsey with him in the Wessex. Leaving Wing Commander Rodgers at the farm, they took off at 1745hrs and commenced an air search of the north face of the hillside with the aid of powerful searchlights attached to the undercarriage. The remaining members of the ground team set off to start their own search of the lower slopes.
After checking their bearing with the observers remaining at the farm after ten minutes it was found that the Wessex, visible by virtue of its searchlights, was searching the wrong area. The helicopter moved westwards only to find that the wind and down-draught at the new location were unfavourable. On safety grounds it was decided to abandon the air search and drop off the Killin MRT pair wherever they chose. Sergeant Lawrie asked to be dropped off near to the ground team.
In seeking a suitable landing the pilot, Hugh Pierce, descended from a high hover with the fuselage of the Wessex parallel to the hillside with the starboard door, locked in the open position, facing onto Ben More. Flying virtually blind, he was acting primarily on the commentary given by the winchman, Michael Anderson.
One of the greatest dangers in such manoeuvres in close proximity to steeply sloping ground in the dark was that of the main rotor blades striking the ground. At about 1800hrs this is exactly what happened to the Wessex. The first the occupants inside the Wessex knew of the impact was the loud bang, immediately followed by being physically flung off their feet by an unseen force. For the two policemen it was worse. Most of the crew were still restrained, but the pair had unstrapped themselves from their seats in preparation for their deplaning. Ramsey was flung to the rear of the Wessex as the stricken aircraft bounced and slid down the slope on its starboard side, tail first. Fire broke out. The members of the approaching Killin MRT found themselves in the path of the big helicopter and were obliged to scatter in all directions as it careered towards them in a ball of flame.
Ramsey fell free of the fuselage via a hole created by the tail breaking away, only to find himself following the wreck down the slope, overtaking, then colliding with it and finally passing it when it stopped. He was found to have broken his right femur and some ribs. Pierce was still strapped into his pilots seat and able to operate the built in fire damping system as well as tackle the blaze with a hand extinguisher on his own. Chris Palgrave, the navigator, was sitting on the chill grass but framed by the open starboard doorway and enclosed by the fuselage. He made his way towards the gaping hole at the rear of the aircraft and found Anderson who lay in a heap near the rear of the damaged cabin with a serious knee injury. As one member of the Killin team fought the fire others extricated Anderson through the hole.
Sergeant Lawrie could not be found in close proximity to the burning Wessex, however a trail of blood was found in the snow as the injured were removed from the immediate vicinity of the blaze. The sergeant was found further down the hill, lying on his back and displaying severe injuries. He was obviously dead.
A “Mayday” had been immediately called up by the MRT on site, a call acted upon by the watchers at the farm. Once alerted to the new situation, and RAF MRT, in the area by chance, set off towards the glow they could see on the horizon. These teams were the first outside help to arrive and move the injured to a suitable helicopter landing location. The civilian aid mission had turned upon itself and was now a military personnel rescue.
A Sea King helicopter was despatched from RAF Lossiemouth, almost 140 miles away . It arrived at 2010hrs and took the injured to the Royal Infirmary, Stirling, 30 miles away. The body of Sergeant Lawrie was taken to the mortuary at the same hospital, his wife, Jane, had been among the horrified watchers at the farm and knew that he was inside the Wessex. Lawrie’s death occurred before the formal presentation of the BEM could be made. The object of the exercise, the search for Sarah Noble, was called off for the night, to be finally recovered at 1030hrs the next day. It was 200 yards above and 400 yards east of the crash site. PS Lawrie’s eldest son, Gary, served on as a PC with the Central Scotland Police and was later a rescue co-ordinator with the police and civilian Lomond MRT.
Sorry about the length, its from an unpublished manuscript.