Echoes of Creach Bheinn: A Mountain’s Tragic and Heroic Past
27 November 2024
In May 1964, the rugged landscape of Creach Bheinn on the Morvern Peninsula became the site of a tragic yet historic event when an American Air Force F-101 Voodoo jet fighter crashed into the mountain, tragically killing its pilot, Captain Morris Reed of Omaha, Nebraska. Revisited recently by Kingairloch team members, this long-forgotten crash site has brought new interest to the mountain’s past. Local historian Iain Thornber recounts the story and its significance, detailing the peninsula’s connection to both natural and military history.
The Morvern Peninsula, though not widely known for towering peaks, has its share of impressive mountains. Beinn Iadain, reaching 1,854 feet, is likely the most distinguished among them, attracting even celebrated British gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd, who visited to view its unique alpine flora following their discovery by ornithologist Bruce Campbell. Not far behind Beinn Iadain stands Creach Bheinn, another striking peak that lies between Glen Tarbert and Loch Linnhe. Its two summits— the primary peak rising 2,800 feet above Glen Galmadale and a lower peak, Maol Odhar, at 2,578 feet—mark this distinctive location in local lore.
Maol Odhar would later become the infamous site of the Voodoo jet crash. On May 7, 1964, Captain Reed’s fighter plane mysteriously vanished during a routine training exercise, leading to one of the most intensive peacetime searches in the UK’s history. An extensive effort, involving twenty-three aircraft from the USAF and RAF as well as numerous mountain rescue teams, combed the area for days. Yet it wasn’t until ten days later that the wreckage was finally discovered. Historian Iain Thornber, who visited the site shortly after its discovery, recalls the overpowering smell of aviation fuel that lingered in the air. Among the twisted remains, he spotted unexploded 20mm shells and a damaged Buffalo nickel from 1925—a poignant relic from the pilot’s pocket.
Crash site photographed above, summer 2024.
The F-101 Voodoo, capable of reaching speeds of 1,000 mph and designed to carry nuclear-tipped missiles or a thermo-nuclear bomb, fortunately carried no such armament on this fateful flight. However, based on the extensive wreckage scattered over Maol Odhar and the surrounding slopes, Thornber believes the plane may still have been loaded with high explosives.
The crash, however, was not the first military activity on Creach Bheinn. In the early 19th century, a detachment of the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, under Captain Frederick Colby, set up camp near the summit as part of the Ordnance Survey’s first triangulation of Great Britain and Ireland. Each summer, for several years, Colby and his men ascended the mountain to take critical measurements. Their camp, remarkably well-preserved, sits fifty yards below the summit cairn, containing remnants of a guard room, cookhouse, and three tent bases nestled between two stone windbreaks. A carefully constructed footpath from the camp leads up to the signalling station. Known for his care for his men, Captain Colby, who later achieved the rank of Major-General, believed that “an army marches best on its stomach,” and he regularly rewarded his men with large plum puddings as a morale boost.
Today, Creach Bheinn stands as a quiet witness to these historic moments, from Colby’s surveying achievements to the tragic loss of Captain Reed and his jet fighter. As the Kingairloch team renews interest in this remarkable mountain’s past, the legacy of both its natural beauty and military significance continues to resonate through the Morvern Peninsula.
Historical photo above of a Voodoo Jet Fighter—of the type that crashed on Creach Bheinn in 1964 courtesy of local historian Iain Thornber.
