Derbyshire War Memorials
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Memorial Title

Sgt R Rouse, FO Lane and PO Brown
(Crew of Vickers Armstrong Wellington R1011)
Summary
Derbyshire War Memorials: a description of a WW2 war memorial tablet to Sgt R Rouse, FO Lane and PO Brown, (the crew of Vickers Armstrong Wellington R1011), at Birchen Bank Moss, Bleaklow, Derbyshire.
Images
Setting Location Memorial Tablet Inscription Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image.
Further images may be available on request.
Locations
Last known location:
Birchen Bank Moss
Bleaklow
Woodhead Pass (A628)
Woodhead
Longdendale
Derbyshire 		Nearest postcode:
SK13 1JE

NGR:
SK 10545 98578 ±5m
(Map opens in new window.) 		Location details:
Birchen Bank Moss is an area of bleak, remote heather moorland towards the northern flank of Bleaklow. Access is by arduous footpaths through steep woodland and rugged moorland about 2.5km south of the 'Car Park Leading To The Three Black Cloughs' near the western portals of the Woodhead Tunnels.
If you visit this site please respect it and those commemorated, and especially do not remove items from the débris pool.
Type
Overall type: Composite Overall condition: Fair. The inscription is legible.
Description:

A composite memorial comprising a cairn; several crosses and posts; and a tablet. The irregular cairn has been assembled by walkers over a period of years using large stones and pieces of débris from the crashed aircraft, supplemented by a marker post. A smaller wooden post has the remains of a wooden backboard attached to it, but the tablet previously adhering to the board has now fallen away, though it remains intact and has been placed in a prominent position. The tablet is a white ceramic tile bearing a printed image of the Wellington Bomber together with an inscription in black sentence case block lettering. A metal cross, with a red poppy at its centre, has been placed into a split in the marker post and the remains of several small wooden crosses lie around the cairn..

Glossary 		Components:

ComponentMaterialHeightWidthDepthCondition
Cairn Stone, metalc500c1000 diaFair
PostWoodc1000c50c50Fair
CrossMetalc500c250c10Good
PostWoodc500c50c50Fair
BackboardPlywoodc150c150 c3Poor
Tablet Ceramic150150c5Good
Dimensions in millimetres ±5mm unless stated otherwise.
Inscription
In memory Of Sergeant Raymond Rouse,
Flying Officer Lane, And Pilot Officer Brown,
Who Tragically Lost Their Lives, When Their
Aircraft A Vickers Armstrong Wellington
No R1011 Crashed Into The Ground At
This Site On 30th January 1943.
Conflicts and people named:
ConflictSecond World War (1939-1945)Totals
Action or event **
Number died33
Number served and returned00
Total names33
** Although the event is not stated on the memorial it is now known to have been a training sortie.
Administration
Custodian: Not known

Local authorities:
From WW2: Charlesworth Parish Council; Chapel en le Frith Rural District Council; Derbyshire County Council.
From 1974: Charlesworth Parish Council; High Peak Borough Council; Derbyshire County Council.
History and Conservation
17th April, 1951: The memorial lies within the Peak District National Park designated on that date.

30th September, 2018: The memorial was surveyed by Roy Branson, Jo Sellors and Baz Sellors. It was in fair condition.
References
Peakland Air Crashes The North; Pat Cunningham; Landmark Collectors Library; 2006; ISBN 1 84306 330 1; pp147-148: a comprehensive account of the site.
Comments
The aircraft was a Vickers Armstrongs Wellington Mk1C R1011 of 28 Operational Training Unit (OTU), RAF Wymeswold, 93 Group, Bomber Command. The three crew members killed were: Flight Lietenant Anthony Winter Lane, OTU staff pilot; Pilot Officer Charles Douglas Brown, bomb aimer; Sergeant Raymond Gerard Rouse, OTU staff wireless operator and air gunner. Two further crew members were injured: Pilot Officer Grisdale, navigator; and Sergeant Miller, wireless operator and air gunner, but these are not named on the memorial

The crew were one of seven from 28 OTU taking part in a training exercise from RAF Wymeswold and RAF Castle Donington. They had taken off at 19:19 on 29th January, 1943 but at 01:45 on 30th January, while flying in low cloud and wintry weather the aircraft flew into Birchen Bank Moss. The two injured crew were eventually rescued and transferred to hospital. The main components of the wrecked aircraft would have been removed by the RAF but small artefacts would have been overlooked and have since been placed into the cairn by walkers as a mark of respect.

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Page © Roy Branson