Aviation Ghosts
Avoid imitations
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Red,
Probably, but I am not an expert....I find it pretty frightening stuff though.
Grown men (some of them ex-military men who had seen active service in WW2) became scared to close up the building, a furniture sales warehouse, alone after dark because something unseen kept prodding them hard in the back and they heard loud, inexplicable noises in one area of an upstairs floor including noises like footfalls on the stairs when no-one else was there.
The cleaning lady complained to the manager about having seen furniture and other stuff moving across the room by itself while she was upstairs. She would replace it then off it would go again. She was apparently convinced that other employees were playing tricks on her. One day a heavy armchair floated by her two feet up and a replica ornamental spinning wheel was seen operating by itself. She quit as soon as she realised that they had all been occupied elsewhere and knew nothing about it.
The incident I referred to in my earlier post happened when I was about 12 years old I was alone in the same upstairs area where all these strange things had previously occurred, but at that time I was unaware of them. I heard someone blow their nose very loudly like some old men do. On turning round, a large advertising sign on the wall was swinging wildly on its string as if someone had just held it up and let it go. I couldn't see anyone and there was nowhere for a person to hide. I went downstairs and asked my father who was up there. He laughed and said it was probably just "Tom" and not to worry about it. Actually, there was no-one else in the building except my father plus one other employee and they hadn't been upstairs.
Years later I learned that he was referring to an man called Tom H. He and his family had previously lived in the building. Tom, apparently an alcoholic, had been knocked down by a bus and killed whilst crossing the road fom the pub opposite. After his death, family moved away and their accommodation became part of the adjacent commercial property which became the furniture warehouse.
What really freaked me (and everyone else at the time) was to learn that the peak of activity occurred in the late 1960s when the now ancient Mrs. H had passed away and was temporarily laid to rest in the funeral parlour a few doors away up the adjacent road!
Activity also increased whenever any changes to the inside of the building took place. One day, my father was discussing re-arranging a display of furniture with two other employees. In front of them all, a large table lamp moved horizontally off a table, hovered for a second or two and was then dashed to the floor.
Most recently, just before my father retired, while building alteration was being carried out, damage kept occurring inside the building whilst it was locked and supposedly unoccupied. The builders kept complaining that work they had carried out on Saturday evening was undone by Sunday morning and debris was being scattered right across the floor. They had been required to block off a doorway with heavy plastic sheeting in a 2" by 2" wooden frame to prevent dust affecting the furniture on sale on that floor. Twice it was inexplicably wrecked, the wood smashed up and the plastic completely shredded. My father had the only set of keys at home; they were delivered back to him each time the builders finished work. Strangely, as part of the alterations the builders had to uncover the old main doorway entry and staircase that had been part of the previous occupants' house. It was probably where "Tom" was heading for when he was run over. The builders refused to work alone after my father explained that they were the only ones in the building all weekend on both occasions.
I fully appreciate this is weird stuff and difficult to accept. Apologies for it being off thread (although stuff was flying about!)but it is all true to the best of my knowledge. My father insists all he has told me is correct and he always gives exactly the same details.
[One further thing I had forgotten. A lady customer was once badly startled by "the old man" she saw looking down at her from the shop stairs. No-one was up there at the time].
(Names edited out, relatives may be embarrassed.
[ 10 November 2001: Message edited by: ShyTorque ]
Probably, but I am not an expert....I find it pretty frightening stuff though.
Grown men (some of them ex-military men who had seen active service in WW2) became scared to close up the building, a furniture sales warehouse, alone after dark because something unseen kept prodding them hard in the back and they heard loud, inexplicable noises in one area of an upstairs floor including noises like footfalls on the stairs when no-one else was there.
The cleaning lady complained to the manager about having seen furniture and other stuff moving across the room by itself while she was upstairs. She would replace it then off it would go again. She was apparently convinced that other employees were playing tricks on her. One day a heavy armchair floated by her two feet up and a replica ornamental spinning wheel was seen operating by itself. She quit as soon as she realised that they had all been occupied elsewhere and knew nothing about it.
The incident I referred to in my earlier post happened when I was about 12 years old I was alone in the same upstairs area where all these strange things had previously occurred, but at that time I was unaware of them. I heard someone blow their nose very loudly like some old men do. On turning round, a large advertising sign on the wall was swinging wildly on its string as if someone had just held it up and let it go. I couldn't see anyone and there was nowhere for a person to hide. I went downstairs and asked my father who was up there. He laughed and said it was probably just "Tom" and not to worry about it. Actually, there was no-one else in the building except my father plus one other employee and they hadn't been upstairs.
Years later I learned that he was referring to an man called Tom H. He and his family had previously lived in the building. Tom, apparently an alcoholic, had been knocked down by a bus and killed whilst crossing the road fom the pub opposite. After his death, family moved away and their accommodation became part of the adjacent commercial property which became the furniture warehouse.
What really freaked me (and everyone else at the time) was to learn that the peak of activity occurred in the late 1960s when the now ancient Mrs. H had passed away and was temporarily laid to rest in the funeral parlour a few doors away up the adjacent road!
Activity also increased whenever any changes to the inside of the building took place. One day, my father was discussing re-arranging a display of furniture with two other employees. In front of them all, a large table lamp moved horizontally off a table, hovered for a second or two and was then dashed to the floor.
Most recently, just before my father retired, while building alteration was being carried out, damage kept occurring inside the building whilst it was locked and supposedly unoccupied. The builders kept complaining that work they had carried out on Saturday evening was undone by Sunday morning and debris was being scattered right across the floor. They had been required to block off a doorway with heavy plastic sheeting in a 2" by 2" wooden frame to prevent dust affecting the furniture on sale on that floor. Twice it was inexplicably wrecked, the wood smashed up and the plastic completely shredded. My father had the only set of keys at home; they were delivered back to him each time the builders finished work. Strangely, as part of the alterations the builders had to uncover the old main doorway entry and staircase that had been part of the previous occupants' house. It was probably where "Tom" was heading for when he was run over. The builders refused to work alone after my father explained that they were the only ones in the building all weekend on both occasions.
I fully appreciate this is weird stuff and difficult to accept. Apologies for it being off thread (although stuff was flying about!)but it is all true to the best of my knowledge. My father insists all he has told me is correct and he always gives exactly the same details.
[One further thing I had forgotten. A lady customer was once badly startled by "the old man" she saw looking down at her from the shop stairs. No-one was up there at the time].
(Names edited out, relatives may be embarrassed.
[ 10 November 2001: Message edited by: ShyTorque ]
I'll mak siccar
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The Shepherd is a good story, little question about that. Little doubt too about the moody illustrations. The Mosquito and its pilot were ghosts, which may explain the different radio antennae on the frontispiece and pages 34 and 35. Same thing for the different exhaust stacks. The other pilot was not a ghost, but he was a very capable fellow all the same, for on the cover he is in a Vampire variant that has non-FB5 tail fins, on the frontispiece a single seat T.11 unknown to captivity, on pages 8 and 9 in fairly clearly an FB5, on page 16 back to the single seat T.11, on page 25 hard to say, on pages 34 and 35 back to pretty much an FB5 again although the fins are approaching T.11 configuration, and on page 55 it is not easy to be sure. All this in the one flight, with bad weather too, dead radio, and low on gravy. That guy was luckier even than he knew when he met up with that Mosquito.
Liverpool - Dragons not Ghosts !
The old terminal and control tower complex at Liverpool Airport is now a Marriott Hotel. As a grade two listed building, it had stood derelict for almost twenty years. The buildings have now been very sympathetically renovated, and a replica DH Dragon Rapide adorns the approach road. Very nice it looks too.
Haunted?...nah............. Oh, hello Captain Black
The old terminal and control tower complex at Liverpool Airport is now a Marriott Hotel. As a grade two listed building, it had stood derelict for almost twenty years. The buildings have now been very sympathetically renovated, and a replica DH Dragon Rapide adorns the approach road. Very nice it looks too.
Haunted?...nah............. Oh, hello Captain Black
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Anyone heard of a "shining" or "shimmering" airman apparition at RAF Newton? I was stationed there for a while some years ago, but only recently heard about this. I have no idea what it is supposed to be - so please don't ask me to elaborate!
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ShyT
I have not heard of the Shimmering Airman at RAF Newton, but the former Battle of Britain fighter station at Hawkinge Aerodrome in Kent is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of an Airman. He has been reported as dressed in full WW2 flying kit and glowing faintly. Phantom Spitfires have also been heard overflying the airfield, which is now the location of the Kent Battle of Britain museum.
Over the years, I have visited a number of former fighter and bomber stations and although I have never seen anything strange there often seems to be an almost uncanny silence and sometimes a feeling that you are being watched. This may be simply due to the fact that they are often deserted. However, as a scientist I like to keep an open mind.
I have not heard of the Shimmering Airman at RAF Newton, but the former Battle of Britain fighter station at Hawkinge Aerodrome in Kent is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of an Airman. He has been reported as dressed in full WW2 flying kit and glowing faintly. Phantom Spitfires have also been heard overflying the airfield, which is now the location of the Kent Battle of Britain museum.
Over the years, I have visited a number of former fighter and bomber stations and although I have never seen anything strange there often seems to be an almost uncanny silence and sometimes a feeling that you are being watched. This may be simply due to the fact that they are often deserted. However, as a scientist I like to keep an open mind.
A few years ago I was i/c a rather non-standard hangar at a certain airfield in Wiltshire. I and all of my staff at some point had, whilst alone in the building, heard footsteps, or doors opening and closing. Nobody ever felt uncomfortable and we cheerfully referred to the "hangar ghost". The clincher was a particular occasion where we had a multi-crew aircraft inside the hangar, and (for various reasons I'm not going to elaborate on): -
- A guarded door
- Infra-red motion detectors around the building
- An unbreathable atmosphere inside the hangar
- 2 crew (fully suited on oxygen) in the aircraft.
The crew, who were busy and had their backs to the a/c door clearly heard the aircraft door open and close behind them. I was in the control room on intercom at the time, and when they asked who had gone in with them, I told them it was just the hangar ghost. That seemed the natural thing to say at the time, and interestingly (they weren't my staff) they just accepted it.
On the whole a friendly ghost who just liked a stroll around the hangar when it was quiet I think. We all heard it, nobody ever felt uncomfortable in its presence - I suppose we were all on the same side!
At another, older, airfield, I once lived in a station quarter built by WW1 POWs (German I think), in which I never felt properly at-ease, there was just a constant air of unhappiness in the place. Many people commented upon it although I can't honestly say it was ever worse than a general feeling of unease.
G
- A guarded door
- Infra-red motion detectors around the building
- An unbreathable atmosphere inside the hangar
- 2 crew (fully suited on oxygen) in the aircraft.
The crew, who were busy and had their backs to the a/c door clearly heard the aircraft door open and close behind them. I was in the control room on intercom at the time, and when they asked who had gone in with them, I told them it was just the hangar ghost. That seemed the natural thing to say at the time, and interestingly (they weren't my staff) they just accepted it.
On the whole a friendly ghost who just liked a stroll around the hangar when it was quiet I think. We all heard it, nobody ever felt uncomfortable in its presence - I suppose we were all on the same side!
At another, older, airfield, I once lived in a station quarter built by WW1 POWs (German I think), in which I never felt properly at-ease, there was just a constant air of unhappiness in the place. Many people commented upon it although I can't honestly say it was ever worse than a general feeling of unease.
G
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I got to thinking about a ghost story (true one) that I heard as a young airman. It was told to me by one of the people in the story, who said he does not believe in ghosts, but he had no explanation for what happened.
Many moons ago a friend of his had to lock up the hangar at RAF Leeming (in Yorkshire) at the end of the day. Not many airman were happy with this duty as there was a long standing rumour about a ghost. So as it was winter time and dark (brave lot in the Air Force!) he asked the guy who told me the story to stand by the main entrance as he locked up all the offices and turned he lights out. If he could keep the door open so that as the last of the lights went out there would be a shaft of light from the outside street lights, lighting the way out of the hangar - that would make him much happier.
Anyway as the airman was locking up an officer came over to him and asked if he had seen his navigator? No he replied and the officer left by the main door, past the guy who told me the story. hangar all locked, so the two airman went to the NAAFI for a lemonade (or something).
As they walked the airman on locking up duty asked his friend what he thought about the officer looking for his navigator - he was dressed a bit odd.
"What officer?" was the reply.
"The one that walked right passed you!"
" Nobody passed me all the time you were locking up!!!!"
On reaching the NAAFI they asked around and then they found out the full story about the ghost.... During WW2, a navigator jumped out of his plane which was parked outside the hangar (to go to the loo or something) - the pilot kept the engines running and the navigator walked into the prop!! The pilot knowing something had happened jumped out (also engines running) and did exactly the same thing! Now the pilot walks the hangar looking for his navigator.
I don't think that airman locked up that hangar again! I think RAF Halton has some good ghost stories too!
Many moons ago a friend of his had to lock up the hangar at RAF Leeming (in Yorkshire) at the end of the day. Not many airman were happy with this duty as there was a long standing rumour about a ghost. So as it was winter time and dark (brave lot in the Air Force!) he asked the guy who told me the story to stand by the main entrance as he locked up all the offices and turned he lights out. If he could keep the door open so that as the last of the lights went out there would be a shaft of light from the outside street lights, lighting the way out of the hangar - that would make him much happier.
Anyway as the airman was locking up an officer came over to him and asked if he had seen his navigator? No he replied and the officer left by the main door, past the guy who told me the story. hangar all locked, so the two airman went to the NAAFI for a lemonade (or something).
As they walked the airman on locking up duty asked his friend what he thought about the officer looking for his navigator - he was dressed a bit odd.
"What officer?" was the reply.
"The one that walked right passed you!"
" Nobody passed me all the time you were locking up!!!!"
On reaching the NAAFI they asked around and then they found out the full story about the ghost.... During WW2, a navigator jumped out of his plane which was parked outside the hangar (to go to the loo or something) - the pilot kept the engines running and the navigator walked into the prop!! The pilot knowing something had happened jumped out (also engines running) and did exactly the same thing! Now the pilot walks the hangar looking for his navigator.
I don't think that airman locked up that hangar again! I think RAF Halton has some good ghost stories too!
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My grandfathers brother served with Jack Curry aboard their Lancaster as bomb aimer so am interested to hear of his writings further to 'Lancaster Target' although saddened to hear of his death. I will have to find a copy somewhere.
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Airag,
AFE in Manchester have reprinted it and also Mosquito Victory and had it in stock last time I visited. (When I got mine). It's also in their catalogue and can be ordered over the net.
On the ghost topic, a former Luftwaffe flak barracks and supposedly SS experimental hospital in Wolfenbuttel I was once stationed at had some very scary echoes from the past. A friend of mine, on gusrd duty one night heard the sound of marching troops approaching and when he got to the corner, there was nothing there. It never occurred to him to think that the good old DMS boot made hardly a sound before he looked and only a boot with nails could sound like that. Apochryphal maybe, but I witnessed one of the 'war dogs' go absolutely ballistic when his handler tried to take him across the path over the bricked up 'underground hospital'. I've never seen a dog so frightened. It's hair was standing up vertically on it's back and these were VERY hard canines indeed! One of our Air Squadron pilots also saw smoke rising from the site of Belsen when overflying it one evening and distinctly smelt the odour of burning meat. Anyone else familiar with the place will attest to its strange and foreboding atmosphere.
AFE in Manchester have reprinted it and also Mosquito Victory and had it in stock last time I visited. (When I got mine). It's also in their catalogue and can be ordered over the net.
On the ghost topic, a former Luftwaffe flak barracks and supposedly SS experimental hospital in Wolfenbuttel I was once stationed at had some very scary echoes from the past. A friend of mine, on gusrd duty one night heard the sound of marching troops approaching and when he got to the corner, there was nothing there. It never occurred to him to think that the good old DMS boot made hardly a sound before he looked and only a boot with nails could sound like that. Apochryphal maybe, but I witnessed one of the 'war dogs' go absolutely ballistic when his handler tried to take him across the path over the bricked up 'underground hospital'. I've never seen a dog so frightened. It's hair was standing up vertically on it's back and these were VERY hard canines indeed! One of our Air Squadron pilots also saw smoke rising from the site of Belsen when overflying it one evening and distinctly smelt the odour of burning meat. Anyone else familiar with the place will attest to its strange and foreboding atmosphere.
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Well, I must say I wasnt expecting so many replies to this! It appears many people have experienced events that just cant be explained rationally. Perhaps we feel like something is amiss or eerie because we know of tragic events there, much like the feeling you get at graveyards. Most of them seem to have one thing in common - theyre mostly as a result of people being killed or hurt in tragic circumstances before their time was due. Food for thought anyway, anyone still a sceptic?
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Rumour has it that the Lincoln in the Aerospace Museum at RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton is haunted although strangely enough apparently not by a member of the crew. I think that the ghost is of a Spitfire pilot. Im sure there are others here who know more than me about the story. In addition the tower is apparently haunted at Halfpenny Green (Wolverhampton International) although I dont know the details.
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Re the ghost at RAF Cosford, I heard a while ago that it was the Bombadier of a certain aircraft, although I know not of his fate, he is alleged to be heard pressing the bomb release switches......
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I read once that the ghost of the (male) co-pilot of one of the pioneer "aviatrixes" (Amelia Earhart, as I recall) appeared to a friend who was at the time in a ship on the high seas. Said ghost confessed that they had missed their landfall, were desperately short of fuel, and in dire straits. He then disappeared. This was all at the time later evidence suggests the aviator was indeed in dire straits, but of course long before it was common knowledge. Has anyone else come across this story?
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Davaar,
Yep, that is "The Airmen Who Would Not Die" by John G. Fuller if I am not mistaken. Lent my copy for it never to be returned unfortunately. A very good book to read if you get the chance.
Cheers,
NdekePilot.
Yep, that is "The Airmen Who Would Not Die" by John G. Fuller if I am not mistaken. Lent my copy for it never to be returned unfortunately. A very good book to read if you get the chance.
Cheers,
NdekePilot.
I remember reading (in Pilot I think) about a crew flying down the Persian Gulf in the 1980's and seeing a 4-engined propellor aircraft crossing quite close below them. The FO contacted whichever ground station he was working who insisted that they had nothing on radar. The crew initially assumed it was a C-130 but then realised that it had the characteristic twin eliptical fins of a B-24 Liberator. At the time the only B-24's in the area were in museums in India and the only flying B-24 was in the USA.
When I used Shipdham airfield, I was not alone in not liking locking up the hangar at night. It wasn't one of the original buildings from WW2 but the whole place was quite spooky in the evenings.
Edited for rcap spelling as usual
[ 02 December 2001: Message edited by: LowNSlow ]
When I used Shipdham airfield, I was not alone in not liking locking up the hangar at night. It wasn't one of the original buildings from WW2 but the whole place was quite spooky in the evenings.
Edited for rcap spelling as usual
[ 02 December 2001: Message edited by: LowNSlow ]
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A Fair few moons ago I head about the ghost of a ME109 Pilot that is allegedly on a rubbish tip nearby....however, not convinced a 109 could get that far??
Re woman pilot ghost....never heard of it...however I think 2 Wellingtons did crash on the field during the war...one of which went into the top part of the tower, as well as numerous other aircraft in the local area, although never heard anything about those...more details anyone????
Re woman pilot ghost....never heard of it...however I think 2 Wellingtons did crash on the field during the war...one of which went into the top part of the tower, as well as numerous other aircraft in the local area, although never heard anything about those...more details anyone????
Re the 'Woman pilot' at Sleap. And the Control tower accident. Actually there were two seperate collisions. First on 26th August 1943 when a Whitley swung on landing and hit the Control tower killing the pilot and bomb aimer and also injuring the rest of the crew and some of the ATC staff. Then, and this is the relevent one, two weeks later another Whitley swung on take-off and hit the tower killing three ATC staff of which at least one was a WAAF. Scary eh! This from Action Stations No3 by Dave Smith.
Spiney.
Spiney.
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My Grandmother used to tell my mum that she saw ghosts near a hill just out of Ayslebury in Bucks. Apparently a Messerschmitt Bf110 was shot down there in 1940 and crashed into a bog. The Bf110 was never recovered and both crewman were never found. The ghosts used to walk up the hill then disappear from view.
Maybe the mysterious Messerschmitt referred to in Sugar Junkie's post was in fact a 110? I read somewhere that a few Bf109's were fitted with long range tanks and operated into England on hit and run raids by specialist units.
Maybe the mysterious Messerschmitt referred to in Sugar Junkie's post was in fact a 110? I read somewhere that a few Bf109's were fitted with long range tanks and operated into England on hit and run raids by specialist units.