On the trail of Ronn’s mystery wartime pilot
Ronn Ballantyne, photographer. originally from Selkirk.
IN the late 1980s, a tall, distinguished elderly gentleman walked into the photography shop run by Ronn Ballantyne at the foot of Tower Street, writes Mark Entwistle.
The story he recounted to Ronn has haunted the photographer for almost a quarter of a century.
But with help this week from The Wee Paper, Ronn is getting closer to unravelling an intriguing wartime mystery.
Ronn left the royal burgh for the sunnier climes of the Canary Islands more than 20 years ago. But this week he was back in touch with his old local newspaper to see if we could help shed some light on this strangest of tales.
Ronn’s foreign visitor had asked him to accompany him to a site at Dryden the following day to take photographs of what he said was the spot where he crash-landed during the Second World War.
“He related to me a strange tale about how he was flying a Spitfire in the Second World War, overshot Biggin Hill and crash-landed out of fuel in that location. After making his way to the roadside he said he was given a lift to Selkirk where he had a beer in the County Hotel, after which he made his way to the railway station. He boarded a train to Edinburgh where he eventually reported at RAF Turnhouse.”
So intrigued was Ronn by the man’s tale, he offered to do the photographic assignment for free. But the man then failed to show the following day.
He told us: “I called the place where he’d been staying and they said after returning from dinner the previous evening he had advised them he’d be checking out the following morning, several days ahead of plan. I can only assume that he had got wind of the fact that his presence and story was creating a buzz in the town and felt a bit uncomfortable.”
Although it’s more than 300 miles from Biggin Hill to Selkirk – quite a distance by which to overshoot your destination – the photographer says he has no reason to doubt his visitor’s version of events.
Local historian Walter Elliot, who spent much of his working life as a fencer in the hills and glens around Selkirk, was contacted by Ronn about the story last year. But he said: “I fenced all round that area over many years and never noticed anything that would indicate a crash site and no-one living round there ever mentioned the crash.”
However, The Wee Paper struck gold when it got in touch with Netta Mackenzie and her husband, Ian, who have run the Ivy Bank guesthouse in Selkirk since 1971. It was at their B&B that Ronn’s mysterious visitor stayed during his time in the town.
Mrs Mackenzie, who can recall the visitor clearly, says his name was Harold Raasch and that he gave a home address in California.
She said: “He came every year for many years. He first came in 1984 until he passed away, which must have been in the 1990s. I received a letter from his daughter informing us of his passing.
“I certainly believed him about the crash – although I thought it had been in the Teviothead area.”
Mr Raasch told the Mackenzies that his crash happened after he got lost in fog.
The airman had followed the coastline and when the fog finally lifted he had spotted hills, which turned out to be the Eildons, and headed for them to get his bearings before having to crash-land after the Spitfire’s fuel tank ran dry.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Selkirk
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 36 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 26 mph
Wind direction: South west
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.