This project’s inception stems from an incident that occurred over 80 years ago when Andy Brown, a fifteen-year-old Braemar boy, was one of a search party who found the wreckage of a Wellington bomber which crashed in the Cairngorms on the 19^th January, 1942.

The aircraft had been on a training flight from RAF Lossiemouth when it disappeared and was presumed at the time to have been lost in the North Sea. Some seven weeks later, the wreckage was spotted on a remote mountain slope. Next day, Andy and a small search party struggled through deep snow to the scene and found the remains of a bomber. They reported the find to the RAF who subsequently sent out investigators and a recovery team. Only four bodies were recovered from the site; two are interred in the military reservation at the Old Dyce Churchyard, Aberdeen, and two in their hometown counties in England. The crash site is now listed as a War Grave. Whilst most of the wreckage, weapons and ammunition were removed from the site, the engines were left where they had fallen.

Andy was greatly touched that the sacrifice of so many young men from the UK, the Commonwealth and the Allies who died in training accidents, had gone almost unremarked and having gained permission from the War Department in 2000 the engines were recovered with the assistance of the 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and RAF Lossiemouth; one of them forms the centrepiece of the Memorial.

The memorial was unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal in the presence of a large, invited guest list including Air Representatives of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, clergy of all denominations, the A&S Highlanders, RAF Lossiemouth and a large contingent of ex-servicemen and local dignitaries. Seven family relatives of the aircrew were able to attend the unveiling ceremony.

The unveiling and dedication ceremony was a wonderful and touching tribute to those who gave their lives and culminated in a slow low-level fly-past by a Tornado from RAF Lossiemouth in salute to all who had gone before.

The memorial stands as a permanent reminder of the sacrifice of those who died in air accidents over the Cairngorms during the Second World War.

The last phase of Andy’s lifelong ambition resulted in the erection of the collection chamber near the memorial opposite the Fife Arms Hotel. RAF Lossiemouth donated a de-commissioned practice bomb which they had adapted for the purpose, and this was erected and handed over to the RAF Benevolent Fund. It is hoped that all who read Andy’s story will contribute generously to the Fund. Men and women continue to serve our country in conflicts throughout various parts of the world and the support of the RAF Benevolent Fund is not only greatly appreciated but needed.

The final chapter was the erection of a public information board next to the collection chamber.