British grandfather reunited with wreck of Second World War plane

An 88-year-old grandfather has been reunited with part of a crashed Second World War plane which claimed the lives of three of his colleagues.

A scuba diving team from the Keighley branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club discovered the engine of the Royal Navy Grumman Avenger during a recent wreck diving excursion.

Frank Walton, a former Royal Navy airman, made an emotional visit to Great Gulley which sits above the Lake District's Wast Water.

The plane crashed in 1945 during a night exercise and all three of its crew members were killed. Walton was scheduled to be on the aircraft but a few days before the accident, the skipper requested that he had his original crew back; a request that saved Walton's life.

Onboard the flight was wireless operator Phillip Royston Mallorie, who had been Walton's friend in training, the pilot Canadian Lieutenant Barnard Kennedy, and navigator Gordon Fell.

Walton, who now lives in Preston, said: "After the accident they didn't tell us immediately because probably they thought it would be too upsetting. I was all right, but I felt for Phillip. He was a nice lad."

The 88-year-old said that he had visited Mallorie's grave, but he had never seen the crash site where he lost his friend.

"It's a bit upsetting thinking about what must have happened. It was a terrible thing." Explained Walton, during his visit to Great Gulley. The group of scuba diving enthusiasts had tried to search for the wreck before but they had no luck until recently.

"We dived the lake in April, but couldn't find the tail section. Just after we got back we met some other British Sub-Aqua Club members and they've tipped us off as to where the tail is. I think we'll go back in August to see if we can locate and photograph it," said Graham Clay, a diver from Keighley Sub-Aqua Club.

He added: "It would be nice to have a commemorative plaque to put on the aircraft's engine block, which is something we'll think about."

While the UK is not one of the world's warmest scuba diving destinations, its history and conflict over the centuries makes it a fantastic place to go wreck diving. The waters surrounding the island are teeming with ancient shipwrecks, aircraft and vessels from both world wars, and thriving reefs.

Divers can explore an array of scuba diving sites from Cornwall to Scotland and there are plenty of cave diving, wall diving, reef diving and wreck diving opportunities. Popular sites include Vobster Quay in Somerset, Blue Lagoon in Arlesey, Swanage, the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, Anglesey, Isle of Wight, North West Scotland, Stackpole Quay, Pembrokeshire, St. Kilda, and Lundy in Devon.