WW2 pilot's Canadian lake grave

The body of Flt Lieut Peter Campbell, pictured, was never recovered after the North-rop Nomad he was flying crashed into Lake Muskoka, 100 miles north of Toronto.

But now a team of dedicated volunteers are convinced they have located the plane in 120ft of water, and hope to bring it to the surface later this year, so that the remains of Mr Campbell and fellow crew member Leading Aircraftsman, Canadian Ted Bates, can be returned to their families.

The Lost Airmen of Muskoka Project (LAMP) is appealing through the Gazette for any relatives of Mr Campbell to make contact, as efforts to trace them through the authorities have been unsuccessful.

LAMP team members picked up a faint image of what they believe to be Mr Campbell's plane during a sweep of the lake bed using sonar equipment last year, but had to abandon the search as weather conditions worsened. They hope to return next month, when conditions for a sonar scan should be ideal.

One of the team, Matt Fairbrass, whose home overlooks the lake, said: "From my window, I can see exactly where the plane lies beneath the surface. Knowing the plane, and the two airmen, are still down there, you can't not make the effort to recover it.

"We are not treasure hunters. It's a matter of remembrance of the sacrifice these men made.

"If we are able to achieve this, I would like to accompany Peter Campbell's remains home to England and see him laid to rest at last. That would be the completion of my quest."

Mr Campbell went out to Canada in 1940 as part of the highly successful Empire Air Training Scheme, which had been newly set up to train pilots from the Commonwealth and other allies to join the aerial conflict in the Second World War.

He had been there only a matter of weeks when he and Ted Bates took off from the Royal Canadian Air Force base, Borden, on December 13, 1940, to search for another plane which had gone missing in a snowstorm the previous day.

Tragically, another plane taking part in the search collided with the Nomad, and both aircraft plunged into the icy waters of Lake Muskoka.

The second search plane was eventually recovered, along with the bodies of its crew, but it was considered too dangerous to continue looking for the Nomad, as one diver almost lost his life in the bid to find the aircraft.

Mr Fairbrass and other LAMP members, with the support of their British Legion branch, began investigating the Lake Muskoka crash after discovering that a total of 161 aircraft went missing in Canada during the war and had never been found.

They learned that a family of trappers living beside the lake had actually seen the crash and the planes plunging into the water. These eyewitness accounts, and military maps of the crash site, corresponded with the location on the lake bed highlighted by last year's sonar scan.

If next month's scan proves successful, LAMP hopes to raise the plane in 2007.

"I want to see Peter Campbell returned to his family. He must have a family somewhere. It's not as if he is buried in a graveyard. We just felt the time has come, 65 years on, to make that possible," added Matt.

* Anyone who believes they can help trace members of the Campbell family should contact the Gazette, telephone 01903 714135.

THE DAY TWO YOUNG PILOTS PLUNGED INTO ICY WATERS

IT MUST have been with mixed emotions that Flt Lieut Peter Campbell and Leading Aircraftsman Ted Bates climbed into the cockpit of their Northrop Nomad plane one December day in 1940.

Just the day before, Bates, 27, had been told he had been awarded his wings, after successfully completing his initial training at the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Borden.

But his joy must have been tempered by the news, on the same day, that a friend on the base had not returned to Borden after his plane had been caught in a snowstorm.

And so, on December 13, Bates sat behind Campbell in the cockpit of the Nomad as they took off, with another Borden Nomad, to search for the missing aircraft.

Campbell, from East Preston, had been in Canada only a few weeks, seconded by the RAF at the start of the Empire Air Training Scheme, a remarkable initiative which would, over the course of the Second World War, provide large numbers of air crew for the Allies.

But the scheme was very much in its infancy that December day in Canada. Given the treacherous weather, the frozen countryside and lakes, both the Nomad crews would have been aware of the hazardous nature of their mission.

For Campbell, the 24-year-old Englishman, it must have seemed almost like another planet, compared with the mild climate of his seaside home in West Sussex, although at least here, he would be guaranteed a white Christmas, even if it was thousands of miles away from his parents Alexander Farringdon Campbell and Dorothy Fanny Campbell.

Both crews scanned the white wilderness for a glimpse of the missing plane, but then disaster struck, and over the frozen expanse of Lake Muskoka, the Nomads collided and tumbled into the icy waters.

In the days and weeks that followed, efforts were made to find the aircraft, and later, most of the wreckage of one of the Nomads, and the bodies of its crew, were recovered.

But Campbell and Bates' plane was never found '“ until the Lost Airmen of Muskoka Project (LAMP) was set up to investigate missing aircraft in the area.

Last autumn, LAMP members found what they believed was the wreckage of the Nomad, 120ft beneath the surface. They will return next month for a further sweep in the hope of obtaining a clearer image.

The project has the backing of a local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, and in November held a wreath-laying ceremony on the lake, above the spot where the Nomad is thought to be lying.

Three months ago, the future of the project, including an attempt next year to bring the plane to the surface, was outlined at a meeting of its supporters. Among them was Tom Bates, the 80-year-old brother of Ted, who lives just 100 miles from the lake, at Guelph, Ontario.

In an emotional speech, he described how he idolised his clever, talented "big brother", and how their Christmas had been shattered by Ted's death, the day after they had been celebrating the happy news he had been awarded his wings.

Tom thanked the LAMP members and the Legion for their efforts to ensure that the airmen who had been forgotten for so long would now be recovered from the lake.

"To the committee responsible for looking for lost aircraft, I would like to say how much I appreciate the work that you are doing and especially for locating the Northrop Nomad aircraft that my brother was in.

"Very seldom do you find people with such interest and skill who are willing to take the time and patience to do a project of this size and nature. I also realise that you would not do it unless you were completely dedicated to the task and fully enjoyed the reward of being successful.

"As each aircraft is found and airman recovered, it will give closure to these brave men."

He added: "It has been 65 years since my brother was lost. But it is gratifying to know that the story that was nearly forgotten and almost lost forever is about to be told."

The LAMP team has been unable to trace Peter Campbell's family and is appealing to any relatives to contact the Gazette. We will, in turn, forward details to Canada.

Using high-tech sonar equipment developed during the Cold War, the project is expensive to run, but costs have been met so far by donations and the volunteers' own commitment of time, effort and money.

LAMP member Matt Fairbrass said the lake waters were the colour of tea, without milk, darkened by the tannin of rotting wood.

But as the ice melts on the lake this Canadian spring, and conditions for sonar scanning are at their best next month, the team is gearing up for one more sweep of the lake, for final confirmation that the Nomad is where they believe it to be, resting on the bed of Muskoka.