The Montrose Ghost, Part ll

Desmond Arthur
in plane.

In 1913, a pilot Lieutenant Desmond L. Arthur crashed his BE-2 biplane over Montrose airfield in Scotland. Three years later when it was determined it was pilot error that caused the crash—the ghost of the Lieutenant returned feeling his name had been smeared.

Some state his ghost stopped making appearances at Montrose when his name was cleared in 1917 but many more believe he continued to haunt this base used by the Royal Flying Corp.

In 1940, people believe that Lieutenant Arthur’s ghost made another appearance. There is a full account of this sighting here.

One night a Hurricane pilot at Montrose went up to search for a reported Heinkel bomber but instead he encountered a mysterious biplane that “cut him off on final landing several times.”

Then in 1942 a flight officer crashed during take off over Montrose. It is said he was not popular among the ground crews and that someone tampered with his plane.

A new soldier assigned to the base saw a ghostly figure walk out of the bases morgue while on guard duty.

Many feel this pilot's ghost then started appearing--others feel it was Arthur's ghost that was continuing to be seen.

In 1949 new pilots assigned to Montrose were greeted with a printed document that welcomed them and then mentioned a former member of the Royal Flying Corp—Lieutenant Desmond L. Arthur haunted the camp.

Lieutenant Desmond Arthur

Dozens of witnesses came forward to state they had seen his ghost. A Scottish clerk awoke early one morning to find an officer wearing flight gear and an officer’s hat staring at him.

“He was standing by a desk, he was immersed in rifling through papers.”

He stated this phantom figure didn’t have feet—it appeared as if his knees were floating on air.

In May of 1963, after Montrose had been closed for several years Sir Peter Masefield was flying a personal aircraft over the now abandoned Montrose when he spotted a most unusual aircraft.

BE-2 biplane

This other plane appeared to be a BE-2 biplane—a trainer that the Royal Flying Corp used during World War l.

Masefield was surprised for he didn’t know there were any of these types of planes that would still fly.

He spotted the pilot who wore an old-fashioned leather helmet, goggles and flying scarf.

He then watched in horror as the right wing of this craft broke off. He saw this airplane spin out of control—twisting and spinning straight down.

Masefield landed quickly on the old Montrose airstrip and went in search of the crashed plane. But he found no plane or wreckage.

Montrose airfield remains closed today.

In Part l of The Montrose Ghost initial sightings of Arthur’s ghost are shared.