Crashing planes and Sigiriya

In his letter published in a recent edition of The Sunday Times (May 27), Roger Thiedeman refers to an example of a non-combat aircraft crash during World War Two concerning Sergeant-Pilot Shelton Flamer Caldera. While there is a general awareness of the aerial battles fought above Colombo in April 1942 and that aircraft were shot down in the vicinity - see Michael Tomlinson's The Most Dangerous Moment: The Japanese Assault on Ceylon 1942 - few realize the number of non-combat crashes there were during the war.

While engaged in the research for a National Geographic documentary on the bees of Sigiriya, I came upon several interesting pieces of information about flying things – not necessarily bees - and the rock. The British-built airstrip at Sigiriya that served the Royal Air Force so well was the scene of at least two non-combat crashes concerning American-built but British-flown four-engined B-24 Liberator bombers of the RAF's No. 160 Squadron. According to official records, the first, on December 7, 1943, “dove into ground after takeoff”, while the second, on April 19, 1944, “crashed on takeoff”.

By Richard Boyle, Via e mail