Page 240 - Demo
P. 240
236Keswick I handed them over to the police who had advised us they had the rest of the body. I had at some point realised that I was standing in a car park talking to various people while holding the bag. Luckily it was not obvious what was in it. That was a very long day and we had trekked all over the very wide area of debris before we were relieved. The boys all wanted a night out and even though at that time we could have gone home I phoned the Station Commander and pointed out we would be a help to the board of inquiry team who would arrive the next day as we had plotted all the wreckage. He told me to do what I thought was best and so we stayed the night. We had established ourselves in the Keswick Rugby Club but they said we would have to clear the club house as it was pre-booked for a party that night. It was lovely weather and so we just put our sleeping bags on the seating in the stands and went for a few beers. When we got back later we found that the party was a Hen Party to which we were all immediately invited. I found that it is actually quite hard to dance in walking boots but not impossible and it was later rumoured that one of the troops had; well you can guess! The next morning we were out on the hill again and a Puma helicopter came and landed. I was talking to the pilot when I noticed a walker picking up bits of wreckage further up the hill. I shouted at him and ran up to him. When I arrived I told him that he was guilty of theft if he took anything away and he was probably committing an offence against the Official Secrets Act. I have no idea whether any of that was true but then told him to empty his pockets which he did. He just had a bit of cockpit Perspex which I told him to drop and clear out of the area. Again, which he did. The helicopter Pilot I later found out to be Kev March. He said he was amazed seeing me running up the hill and was quite impressed. He eventually became a QFI and we bumped into each other several times over the years. He was my last Squadron Commander at Linton when I retired.
