Scotland: Haunted Airfield

Biplane

This airfield located at Montrose in Scotland has two ghosts. * The first is a biplane pilot who was killed in a crash during WWl in 1913 and the second was an RAF officer who was killed in a crash at the field during WWll.

First World War

The ghost of an unnamed biplane pilot made his most dramatic appearance in 1916. At this point, several pilots and the commanding officer of the base had already seen his ghost.

Late one night a marauding German plane was spotted in the area. A Hurricane was sent up to intercept the invader. After searching for thirty minutes without any luck, the Hurricane returned to the base.

The commander decided not to light the entire airfield concerned the enemy plane might still be nearby. There was only a row of twin lights to show the Hurricane’s pilot where to land. This was not a concern because this man was an experienced airman who had landed under worse conditions.

Several dozen men on the ground watched as this pilot came in for a landing. But to the surprise of the onlookers just as the Hurricane touched down, the pilot suddenly opened up the engine and took back off.

Hurricane

The ground crew thought he must have not aligned correctly and would just circle back around. Sure enough, the plane approached the field once more. This time the pilot had his navigation lights on.

But the same thing happened once more. As this went to land, the pilot pulled up at the last moment and roared away.

The ground crew had no idea what was going on but decided they best light the entire field. The Hurricane pilot then made a perfect landing.

As the pilot came to a stop, he slid the hood open and shouted, “The fool! Who was the fool who cut me off?” Confused one ground crew member told him no one had cut him off.

The pilot now angry argued, “Of course someone did. Why do you think I went around again? A madman in a Tiger Moth balked at me just as I was touching down.”

The flight commander told the pilot that no one else was flying and that there wasn’t a biplane at the base.

This practical pilot had trouble believing he had seen a ghost--it seems the phantom biplane pilot was just trying to keep his hand in the action.

Pilots spotted the ghost of this biplane pilot once again in 1940. They were at Montrose resting after the Battle of Britain.

Second World War

In 1942, a flight commander was killed in a crash a short distance from the Montrose base.

Montrose during WWll

This crash was chalked up to engine failure and promptly forgotten but as it turned out not for long. The pilot of this plane was a very unpopular commander. He often meted out punitive punishments to the men that served under him.

Just before the crash, he had a heated argument with a Fitter who was working on the plane he was slated to fly. The flight commander told him that he going to report him. The Fitter felt he was being picked on and became extremely angry.

It was believed that this Fitter holding a grudge had doctored the commander’s plane causing it to crash. A routine inquiry was held, but charges were never filed.

Shortly after the crash, men at the base began seeing the ghost of the flight commander. He was seen wearing a flight suit and goggles. Some felt he had returned to haunt the Fitter.

His ghost was seen so often that all the new men that arrived at the base were warned to watch out for his ghost at night.

One new man, a seasoned soldier when duly warned scoffed at the story. One night while he was on guard duty, he changed his mind.

He and another guard were charged with watching a plane that had landed on the airfield that day--it was parked near the base morgue. All was quiet, so his companion went around a corner to take a quick smoke.

Now standing alone the newcomer saw the doors of the morgue, which were always kept locked securely, swing open violently. A pale-faced man in a full flight suit and helmet stalked out.

The guard startled dropped his rife and watched as this figure walked across the airfield and vanish. The doors on the morgue then swung shut.

This guard did not mention what he had seen for several years. After the war he heard others stories about sightings of this ghost--he then shared what he had seen.

* This base was closed down in the 1950s.

Japanese Ghosts in the Arizona Desert

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that deported tens of thousands of Japanese-American citizens into internment camps located in the western U.S.

Poston

One of these camps called Poston was located on the Colorado River Indian Reservation that extents across the Arizona-California border. This reservation is the home for 4 Native American nations--the Mohave, Hopi, Nu Wu, and Navajo.

Between May and August of 1942, 17,876 Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes and were put on trains that relocated them to this reservation.

For the next 4 years these internees--mostly from the temperate California coast-- had to adjust to life in the desert. They endured sweltering hot summers, freezing winters and a constant barrage of dust and wind.

Many lived in barracks but some lived in homes they built themselves--with wood supplied by the government. Most reflected traditional Asian architecture-- pagoda style.

The Japanese endeavored to keep their lives as normal as possible. They grew community vegetable gardens and built a movie theatre. Bands and orchestras were formed and babies were born.

Japanese family in barracks at Poston.
Originally published 1943, LA Times

Others died. A Japanese cemetery was established at Parker--the largest town on the reservation.

In 1946, when these Japanese-Americans were finally released some families had their deceased loved ones disinterred and returned to the their homes. Others remain in this cemetery.

Most of the homes constructed by the internees were torn down and the lumber was given to the Native Americans. A few of these homes were left standing and they were offered to families on the reservation that wanted them. *

The families that moved in immediately knew these homes were haunted.

Doors would open and close without cause. Lights turned on and off at all hours of the day and night. One family saw a kitchen chair push away from the table and then move back as if someone had sat down with them.

Several residents mentioned they saw “shimmering human outlines” drifting through various rooms only to disappear through walls.

Many families were awakened by crashing silverware and rattling plates in the middle of the night. Others heard phantom footsteps and stomping throughout the day and night.

Yet others heard the sounds of voices, whispers and babies crying. One family constantly heard a woman shouting in one corner of their home.

These strange disturbances did not frighten the families that lived in these homes. They were more concerned because they understood the suffering that had been endured in the internment camp.

Native Americans are taught to respect spirits so when they encountered these Japanese spirits they knew they meant no harm. **

Excerpts taken from:

* Dan Asfar, Ghost Stories of Arizona and New Mexico.

** Antonio Garcez, American Indian Ghost Stories of the Southwest

The Haunted Village of Oradour-sur-Glane

Today in the Limousin region in west-central France, there sits what remains of the Oradour-sur-Glane village. 

This small communities destruction has been preserved, so the atrocities that happened here will never be forgotten.

It was during World War ll on the morning of June 10, 1944, that the Germans made a mistake.

Their goal was to hit the center of the now-famous French Resistance located in Oradour-Sur-Vayres. They wanted revenge. But they mistakenly mistook the nearby village of Oradour-sur-Glane as being their target.

The citizens of Oradour-sur-Glane had managed to keep their lives distant from the war that raged around them. They had no idea that the nearby Oradour-sur-Vayres village was the hub for France’s militia and resistance troops who had managed to regularly disrupt the Nazi occupation of France.

Commander Adolf Diekmann

The commander of the Waffen-SS, Adolf Diekmann, was in a hurry to taste revenge. This was probably why the Germans confused the villages. 

On the morning of the 10^th, he and his regiment entered Oradour-sur-Glane.

They ordered all the residents gather at Camp de Foire--the village fairgrounds-- stating they needed to examine their identity papers. They then separated the men into one group and the women and children into another.

The Nazis encouraged the children to sing as they escorted them and the woman into the village church. They then separated the men into smaller groups and escorted them into three barns, two garages, a warehouse, and a hanger.

The village women and children heard the distant fire of machine guns. 

The Nazis shot most of the men in the legs at the various locations simultaneously. They waited until these men could no longer move, then they piled straw and boards on their bodies, lighting them on fire. So most of the men were alive as they burned to death. 

One soldier stated they wanted to prolong the villager's suffering.

Five men managed to escape. They pretended to be dead as they lay under other men’s corpses. When it got too hot, they fled into some nearby bushes where they hid until the next day.

Village Girl's School Picture
A year before the massacre.

At the same time, around 4:00 p.m., the Nazi’s then placed a gas bomb in the church to asphyxiate the woman and children. 

This bomb malfunctioned, and many women and children tried to escape, but the soldiers used their machine guns to shoot them. They also threw grenades into the church.

The Nazi's also piled straw and boards on the women and children that fell wounded and set them on fire.

A woman, Marguerite Rouffanche, fled with another woman and child. Her two companions were shot and killed. 

The 47-year-old Marguerite managed to climb a ladder to a window where she dropped to the ground ten feet below. She was shot five times but was able to make her way to the back of the church, where she hid in a vegetable plot until the next day.

What remained...
Warning: images are graphic

Within hours the Germans had killed 642 villagers-- 247 women and 205 children perished. 109 men died. 

The Nazis then looted and burned most of the homes in the village. They left Oradour-sur-Glane the next morning.

Around twenty members of the village managed to escape as the German’s first entered the town. A couple of days after this slaughter, they were given permission to bury the dead.

After the war in 1953, the French court at Bordeaux tried 21 men for this massacre. Fourteen of them were Alsatians, *who were born in the French province of Alsace. 

When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the men of this province were conscripted into the German army, so these fourteen men claimed they were forced, but many still considered them traitors.

Madame Rouffanche
at the trial.

Only two men were sentenced to death. The others were sentenced to between eight to twelve years in prison, but there were bitter protests and demonstrations. The Alsatians felt the sentences were too harsh, the people of Oradour thought they were too lenient as a result, all twenty-one men were just released.

General Charles de Gaulle stated Oradour-sur-Glane should not be rebuilt. He felt it should be preserved as a memorial to the cruelty of the Nazi occupation.

In 1958, a new village named Ordour-sur-Glane was built near the original town. These residents call the first town, Village of the Martyred.

Many say they will not enter the old village at night. It is a ghost town, but ghosts also haunt it.

Witnesses state as they stand at their windows at night, they see the dark spirits of the slaughtered walking through the ruined village’s deserted streets.

Others state they often smell the aroma of burning wood and flesh as it floats over this old village. Until recently, the new residents would leave gifts along the border of the Village of the Martyred as a peace offering for the spirits that still linger.

Today, the old village is open to the public as a heritage and war memorial. Notices are posted reminding visitors to show respect for the dead.

Here is an excellent site for more information.

Update: A German court on Dec. 9, 2014, dismissed a case against a former SS man accused of involvement in this massacre. There was not enough evidence to prove this 89-year old from Cologne was involved. He admits he was at the village but did not fire his weapon.

*  Alsatians are French nationals of German ethnicity.

Bicycle among the ruins.

The Phantom Soldier

“Even legends often originate with the belief by the storyteller that they are actually true.”

                                        --R.A. Musick

This is a classic West Virginia ghost tale.

Ruth Ann Musick originally wrote it down. It was one of hundreds of ghost tales her students shared with her at Fairmont State College over the years.

During WWl a young soldier was called to serve sooner than expected. He was newly engaged to a sweet, beautiful girl he had known since childhood. She was the only child of the town’s wealthy merchant.

He bid a fond farewell to his family and fiancé and left for Europe where he was sent to Germany.

The older brother of this soldier jealous of his brother’s good fortune set out to win his fiancé for himself. After a year had passed he convinced her his younger brother didn’t really love her.

He then married her.

On Christmas Eve, the soldier returned unexpectedly. Amidst the cold dark mountain pines he knocked on his older brother’s door. His brother let him in but he was not pleased to see him. His wife was upstairs.

The two brothers talked for a short time and the older brother admitted he had married his wife for her money and position and that if he interfered--he would not hesitate to kill him.

The soldier left but a short while later he returned with a revolver and shot his older brother. He then left the house as quietly as he had come.

The young wife rushed downstairs as she heard the shot ring out. She found her husband bleeding on the floor. Before he died he told what had happened.

She informed the police what he had told her and they searched for several days but the soldier had vanished without a trace.

One Christmas day a telegram arrived addressed to her husband. It announced that his younger brother had been killed in action on December 21^st.

The Telltale Lilac Brush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales, West Virginia University Library, 1960 Ruth Ann Musick

The SS Ourang Medan Fact or Fiction?

This is the strange and chilling tale of a Dutch freighter ship, the Ourang Medan, which sent out a SOS distress signal in June of 1947 while crossing the Straits of Malacca between Sumatra and Malaysia. 

Some state this tale is just an old sailor’s yarn told to amuse. But this explanation is too simplistic if the following is taken into consideration. Many ships heard this distress call and reported it. The incident was written about in 1952 in a U.S. Coast Guard publication. The result -- more than one person has tried to investigate it but it remains a mystery to this day.

Several Dutch, English and American ships heard this eerie distress call:

“An officer including captain are dead, lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew is dead.” A burst of indecipherable Morse code was heard and then these final words: “I die.” After this last grim message all was silent.

The two American as well as the English and Dutch ships that heard this disturbing message where able to “triangulate” or determine the location from where this message was sent. An American merchant ship, the Silver Star was the closest to this location so they quickly changed course. 

Within hours they spotted the Ourang Medan across the straits’ choppy waters. At first they tried to hail her by whistle and hand signals but when they received no response the Silver Star’s captain arranged for a group to board her.

What these Silver Star crewmembers discovered aboard the Ourang Medan is described as “a living nightmare.” The deck, wheelhouse and bridge where covered with dead bodies. 

Horrified this crew saw that each decaying face was frozen into an expression of terror. Each dead seaman was staring their eyes wide-open and their mouths agape. Each corpse was positioned with arms outstretched as if they were still locked in battle with some unseen assailant.

When the crew explored further they found more bodies below deck in the ship’s charthouse and boiler room. Each of these dead men also had a look of grim terror on their face. 

The ship’s communication officer was found dead sitting with his fingertips still on the telegraph. The crew quickly returned to the deck finding the chartroom and boiler room below were both extremely cold--this despite the temperature outside that day was a sizzling 110 degrees.

Their captain determined that they should attach a line to the Ourang Medan and tow her ashore but as his crew was doing this they saw the Ourang was on fire, smoke was billowing from below her decks. These men barely had time to cut the towline and make their way back to the Silver Star before the Ourang Medan exploded. It is said the Ourang rose with a tremendous force out of the water and then sank swiftly.

One statement from the Coast Guard’s testimony report entitled,  “Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Court” described the condition and alarming state these Dutch crewmen were found in:

“Their frozen faces were upturned to the sun…staring, as if in fear…the mouths were gaping open and the eyes staring.”

In the years before and since the Coast Guard account was written rumors swirled about this strange incident. Besides the positions and expressions on these corpses, which pointed to the fact these sailors must have “suffered profoundly at their deaths” was the fact that no injuries or wounds were found on any of them. 

Plus the ship was not damaged in any way until it exploded. So the reason for their demise resulted in much speculation.

Researchers that have tried to determine what actually happened to the crew on the Ourang Medan have all hit brick walls. 

One reason this tale is considered a legend is that fact that there are no official records that this ship ever existed. But as I mentioned above, this does not mesh with the fact many ships heard the Ourang’s distress call, and it is believed by many that the Silver Star did change course and it did discover this ship. 

In contrast, an article published in the Fortean Times entitled A Cargo of Death states the Silver Star didn’t exist. It did.

Of course many have speculated what exactly caused these men’s deaths--which I find fascinating since in the same breath it is mentioned that this incident didn’t actually happen. Many theories have been suggested, some more far-fetched than others. 

One mentioned often is since this ship sank right after the Second World War it’s relative obscurity was used to transport chemicals used to make poisonous gas--it is stated if salt water hit these chemicals it would have killed the crew and then eventually caused the explosion. 

An interesting note about this theory is some believe that the real name of this ship was changed to disguise the fact that it was transporting these chemicals. Regardless, if this theory is believed one still has to wonder why this mixture of gases plus the salt water didn’t cause the ship to explode immediately.

Another theory states that the ship’s boiler must have malfunctioned causing a carbon monoxide leak. The crew then inhaled these fumes and died. But why did the seaman on deck not survive. Wouldn’t the fresh sea air have saved them? 

A third theory presented involves “methane bubbles” surfacing in clouds from a hole or fissure in the sea floor which then asphyxiated the crew. This theory is at fault because these bubbles could not have caused the ship to explode. One has to wonder if these bubbles could kill the entire ship’s crew?

Others speculated that pirates boarded the ship and attacked the crew but this was immediately ruled out because there were no marks found on any of the bodies. 

An article in Fate magazine in 1953 stated that since none of the mainstream reasons purposed were solid it could have been something paranormal that caused these deaths.

One rumor stated after this in 1965 involved a UFO. It was put forth that aliens must have attacked the ship. 

Another reason given is based upon the fact that the Silver Star crew experienced a feeling of immense cold in the Ourang Medan’s lower decks. This caused speculation that “ghosts” had something to do with the crew’s demise.

What really happened remains a mystery--that’s if this incident really occurred. This story is a good example of how tales regardless of whether they are based in fact of fiction take on a life of their own and become legendary.

Update: Here is a link to the Skittish Library with an interesting take on this story.