Although The Presence of the Past
is a work of fiction, the events that start the story are based on a crash that actually happened. Very little information about the actual crash is publicly available; this page is a summary of everything I found out in the course of doing research for the book.
My fictional account of the crash is given in Chapters 1-4. Some of the details are taken directly from what actually happened, although, as I emphasized in the Author's Note, none of the Ischians are based on real people.
The crash
My maternal grandfather, Lt Col WGH (Bill) Miles, was a passenger on a Dakota of RAF 216 Squadron (Flight KK 122) on March 8, 1947. According to news reports at the time, it was flying from Cairo to Rome. Rome is not far beyond Naples, where the plane was trying to land, perhaps for a refuelling stop. Because one of the passengers lived on Cyprus, it’s likely that the flight also made a stop there. Bill Miles was a radar expert working for what is now called IATA, and had hitched a ride on the Dakota to get home.
Late in the afternoon, the Dakota crashed near the summit of Mount Epomeo, on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples. The whole island (and, presumably, all of Naples and the Bay of Naples) was covered in thick fog. It was late in the day in March, so it was dark. And because of the primitive conditions on the island and especially on the mountain, there were no lights to guide the navigator or tell the pilot how low they were. There was looting of both the bodies and luggage. The impact of the crash was considerable; wreckage and bodies were scattered over a large area, and many if not all of the bodies were torn apart. When Truman Capote stayed on the island in 1949, he was told that “there were three survivors, but no-one ever saw them alive, for they were stoned to death by goatherds intent on looting the wreckage”. The first news reports on March 10 said that 10 bodies had been recovered – there were 13 people on board. RAF investigators were on site on March 11. The bodies were recovered, taken to the cemetery at Fontana, and placed in coffins. They were then taken to Naples on March 12, and buried in the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Naples.
The Operations Record Book for 216 Squadron contains this entry for March, 1947:
"On the 9th, came some terrible news. At 1635 B hours a signal was received by the Adjutant giving news of a Fatal Crash of one of our Aircraft, KK 122, on the Island of Ishia (sic) (near Naples) on the 8th. It was a terrible shock to us all, and immediately a Committee of Adjustment was formed, to take care of the kit of the missing Crew. The acting CO, S/LDR FA DRURY, DFC, and the Adjutant with the Orderly Room Staff, proceeded to get as much information as possible on the way to Ciampino and Hassini, to help them in their quest to render a full report to Air Ministry. The Crew consisting of F/LT BRUCE (Captain), F/SGT PATON (Co-pilot) F/SGT LEWIS (Navigator), F/SGT RAWLER (Wireless Operator) and SGT ROWE (Fitter and AQM), was one of the best of the Squadron, with all the members very popular here. It was indeed a very sad blow to the Squadron, very deeply felt by all personnel. The Crash apprebtly (sic) took place in bad weather conditions, and as yet no full report with the findings of the Court of Inquiry has been made known. The Aircraft hit the second highest peak on the Island, killing the Crew and 8 Passengers, with the Aircraft smashed to pieces and unfortunately lotted (sic) by the inhabitants of the Island. The Crew were buried at the British Military Cemetery, Naples, whilst on the Camp here a Memorial Drum Service took place, (on the general request of many of the personnel).
Letters have since been received from the Next Of Kin of the Killed Squadron Members in answer to the Condolence letters sent off by the CO, W/CDR GR HOWIE, DSO, giving a brave picture of the news they had received."
The Flight Safety Foundation classified the accident as “Controlled Flight Into Terrain”. If there was an official Court of Inquiry, its findings have been lost.
A year after the crash, a cross was erected by the community at the crash site, anchored by two bolts in the rock. Unfortunately, it blew down in a storm, and was re-erected about four feet away, this time with four bolts. It has remained there ever since.
In 2007, the then mayor of Serrara Fontana (Mr Cesare Mattera) organized a 60th anniversary commemoration ceremony. (Serrara Fontana is the name of the “commune”, the Italian equivalent of a municipality, containing the crash site. There are two towns in the commune, Serrara and Fontana.) No members of any of the victims’ families were there. A plaque listing the names of the passengers and crew of the flight was placed immediately below the cross as part of the commemoration (see the bottom of this page).
Another commemoration service was held in March, 2012, the 65th anniversary. 2,000 members of the community (this is probably most of the town) were there, as were members of some of the families. Godfrey Scotchbrook, the son of one of the victims, played a major role in organizing the event and in tracking down members of the victim's families. The British Naval Attache to Italy attended with a member of Lt Cmdr Scotchbrook’s unit (HMS President), together with a bugler from the RAF. One of the British people attending was wearing a kilt, apparently, something of considerable interest to the female Italians – it was quite windy. They wanted to have a fly past (RAF or Italian Air Force). That didn’t happen, of course, but the Ischia Model Airplane Club did their best to fill in. The service was led by a priest who had visited the site as a boy (obviously not one of the looters). A cannon was fired as a wreath was laid for each victim. A Mass was held. Finally, a visit was made to the cemetery in Naples. At that time, Godfrey Scotchbrook created a scholarship for use by a youth from Serrara Fontana who was studying engineering.
Two shepherds, Francesco Mattera and his younger brother Luigi were among the first up the mountain. Mario Mattera, a local policeman, also went up, and quickly came down to raise the alarm. It was dark and, because of the fog, the air was very damp, slightly drizzling. (Ironically, the next day was beautiful – the fog had lifted, the sun was out, and there was a clear blue sky.)
(Mattera is a very common name on Ischia, so having so many people with this name is not surprising, although it can get confusing.)
A number of young men went up to the crash that night, carrying oil lanterns to see their way. The light from the lanterns was poor, and all they could see were their own shadows. At some point, the lanterns went out because of the drizzle, and it was pitch black. One person slipped on the steep ground and started sliding down the slope, but managed to stop himself by grabbing onto something. When he opened his eyes, he could see just enough to realize that he was holding onto a body.
According to Francesco and other reports, some people were still alive when they arrived. He and Luigi tried to look after the ones still alive, and “pay our respects”. A priest came up and administered last rites.
The next morning, several women went up. They found a female passenger who was pregnant but had lost her baby (in fact, it was ripped from her body). They wrapped the infant in several handkerchiefs and placed it with the mother. They also found her young son, 2 years old. His face was very peaceful, but the back of his head was crushed, and he was holding a pencil – clearly, he had been drawing something when the crash happened.
When they all went up in the morning, the local police were guarding the site. There’s no question that looting went on – the luggage and bodies were looted of clothing, money, jewellery. The looting was brutal – fingers were cut off to get the rings, and teeth were removed to get the gold fillings. When Godfrey visited the island in the 1980s he talked to the priest who administered last rites. The priest was most apologetic that the passengers were robbed of their personal possessions, luggage was taken and the plane was stripped bare. He explained that the islanders had suffered a lot during the war, were starving and very poor. Some people kept pieces of the plane as souvenirs.
(To put the looting into context... the crash happened less than two years after the end of WWII, when Ischia was very, very poor and entirely undeveloped. People living on the mountain were subsistence shepherds and farmers, living in extreme poverty. To illustrate the point: when William Walton (the English composer) and his wife first lived on the island in 1949, they brought a car with them which they could drive along local tracks into town. But there were no paved roads on the island, no other cars, no petrol stations, and they had to import their own petrol. A restaurant owner told us that conditions on the island in 1947 were close to medieval – real development didn’t start until the mid-1950s. None of this is to excuse behaviour which is deeply offensive to any civilized person, but it does help provide some context.)
The victims were left on the mountain for at least one night before being taken down to Fontana. There are wild animals on the mountain, and it seems that there was some scavenging - the bodies were not in good shape when eventually they were collected and taken down the mountain to the Fontana cemetery, where they were put in coffins and kept until the British came over from Naples. The women were mostly responsible for this.
When the British arrived and saw the condition of the bodies and the results of the looting, they were understandably very upset with the locals. Once they had the names of the victims, they made no effort to coordinate anything or share any information with anyone at Fontana. One result of this was that the locals were unable to reach families when they organized the 2007 commemoration.
According to news reports, the coffins were taken to Naples on March 12, four days after the crash. At that time, the only industrial port on Ischia was what is now called Ischia Porto, so it’s probable that that’s where they were shipped from. The road around the island had not yet been paved, so getting the coffins from Fontana to Ischia Porto would not have been straightforward. Presumably they came ashore at the main port in Naples.
All the victims of the crash were buried in the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Naples in a full military funeral.
Flight-Lieutenant Frederick Thompson Bruce, 23, PilotPilot 1 David Paton, 23, Co-pilotNavigator II Frank George Lewis, 22Signaller II Reginald Charles Arthur Bawler, 22Sergeant Eric William Rowe, 28Mrs Cicely UR Pay, 32Master Simon Pay, 2Private Edmund James Dilley, 19, 1st Battalion, The Royal East Kent RegimentPrivate William Malone, 27, Army Catering CorpsLieutenant-Commander Leonard Ernest Scotchbrook, 31, RNVRLieutenant-Colonel WGH (Bill) Miles, 62, Royal Marines (Retired)Mr Thomas Simon Coates GillMr Aghanur Harouthunian (aka HH Charmalhalli)
Sources:
[1] Portraits and Observations: The essays of Truman Capote.