THE mystery of the two missing Westland Whirwind aircraft which went down over Dartmoor in the Second World War could be unravelled thanks to a Lydford man, who may be able to shed some light on the matter.

An appeal in the Times by aviation archaeologists to discover the exact position of the two RAF fighters, which are believed to have crashed while near Princetown, has sparked a lot of interest.

The two Whirlwinds, which took off from RAF Exeter on a routine patrol, were possibly in collision with each other during foggy conditions on the afternoon of December 29, 1940.

Gareth Jones from the Marches Aviation Society say they have had more than 15 telephone calls from Times readers regarding wartime aircraft going down over Dartmoor.

He said: 'We have had reports from across the moor of different aircraft going down during the war but not of the Whirlwinds themselves.

'Ideally we would like to locate the aircraft themselves although the problem is they might have sunk without trace into a bog.'

However, information on the tragic incident, in which the pilots lost their lives, has been reported by Cyril Friend, who lives in Lydford.

At the time he lived at his father's Prescombe Farm near Peter Tavy and was working as a farm labourer in the Bridestowe area on that fateful afternoon in 1940.

He contacted the Times and said the two Whirlwinds went down on moorland, behind the Fox and Hounds pub near Bridestowe.

Mr Friend, 87, was a young man in his 20s at the time and working for his uncle as a farm labourer when the planes went down.

He said: 'I was working in the area at the time.

'They came down in Tiger's Marsh which is like a bottomless pit.

'We went and had a look at them. The area was quickly cordoned off — one was sunk in the bog immediately and the other went down shortly afterwards.

'In those days you were not allowed to discuss such things or you would get in trouble.'

Mr Friend said that other aircraft crashed in the area, including an American Flying Fortress bomber, while a Liberator went down into the River Ockment, north of Okehampton.

The Times has passed Mr Friend's details on to Mr Jones. If the aircraft can be found, the society is hoping to rescue debris and preserve it in the Imperial War Museum.

They also hope to make a film about the search.

If you have any more information on the incident Mr Jones can be contacted on 07855 363547 or email [email protected]">[email protected]