Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the engineer on the Green at Campbeltown, from where they were picked up and de-
posited, and come out for the solo keeper on his own. Almost all of the pilots were ex-
ArmyAirCorps,towhom'napoftheearth'flyingwassecondnature.Transportingthe
keepersaroundwasusuallyafarmoresedateaffair,carriedoutat(forthem)arelatively
high altitude.
Prior to the use of helicopters for leave reliefs, helicopters had been used to deliver
supplies and newspapers to some of the rock lighthouses on a very irregular basis. On
15 December 1955 there was, however, a tragedy involving one of the RAF Leuchars
Search and Rescue helicopters. The helicopter was a Bristol Sycamore, serial no.
XG501 of 275 Squadron, based at RAF Leuchars, and was attempting to carry out
a winching exercise on the Bell Rock Lighthouse. However, on this particular day,
something went tragically wrong. The blades hit the anemometer of the lighthouse and
the helicopter plunged into the sea right alongside the tower. The lightkeepers were
quick to react with Bob Wood, one of the ALKs and a strong swimmer, diving in off
the entrance flat with a rope around his waist, supported by the other two lightkeep-
ers. Sadly, his considerable bravery was to no avail, as the crew of two were dead.
Bob Wood won the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for his actions that day,
which many felt was well deserved. The light itself had sustained considerable damage
and remained extinguished for five days until the necessary materials were sent out for
its repair. Bob Wood stayed in the job and rose to PLK before he eventually retired, a
good and brave man. Even as late as the spring of 1974, there were still quite visible
dents in the dome of the Bell Rock Tower, which served as a sobering reminder of a
rescue exercise gone badly wrong. Despite an extensive sea and air search, the body of
the pilot, Flight Sergeant P.A. Beart, was never found.
On a lighter note, there was another connection between RAF Leuchars and the Bell
Rock. A lightkeeper who had served there found that one of the questions he was (sur-
prisingly) most often asked was: 'Is there a toilet on the Bell Rock?'.
There was, of course, in the entrance flat - a seawater toilet which had to be refilled
after usage. Another method was almost standard operating procedure for some and
this was to take a suitable newspaper and head for the balcony. Upon the conclusion
of one's business, the then rolled-up newspaper would be jettisoned into the North Sea.
For many years, there hung in the SAR helicopter crew room at Leuchars, a framed
photographofacertainPLK(nowdeceased)tryingtokeephisnewspaperinplacewith
one hand, whilst shaking his fist at a hovering Leuchars helicopter with the other. The
whereabouts of this picture are unknown since the helicopters moved to Lossiemouth.
Any difficulties with relationships between a PLK and ALKs tended to lie below the
surface, although more overt displays of friction can be found in the NLB records of
dismissals for assault, including one in the late 1800s for assault on a keeper's wife. In
