Media coverage |
The Irish Adventure of Richard Kukura and Tommy Hulme and the fate of their Beaufighter JL710 |
'Flying in Ireland' - Magazine Article - August 2006 issue
On that fateful night, the crew of Beaufighter JL710 took off from Port Ellen in Scotland. Assigned to 304 Ferry training unit, the aircraft, piloted by Richard Kukura with navigator Tommy Hulme was on a fuel consumption test during which the crew were preparing for a ferry flight to the Mediterranean. However, all did not go well and with a combination of bad weather, a damaged radio and diminishing fuel the crew found itself lost over Ireland. They took to their parachutes and, landing separately in the Corlough and Swanlinbar areas, they were assisted by the local people to make their way across the border. The aircraft carried on unmanned in several ever smaller diameter circles until it finally met its demise in a crash into Templeport Lake the at the edge of St. Mogue's Island. Minutes after the crash local residents Michael McGovern and Rector Armstrong rowed out to the crash site and established that no one was alive. There was a strong smell of petrol and they didn't delay. Next day brought Templeport Lake to the centre of local attention. With the remains of the aircraft's tail evident in the lake, people turned up in numbers to view the wreckage and indeed to bring some away with them! Initially LDF forces, then Army personnel took charge of the scene and over the following days and weeks the aircraft's remains were salvaged as much as possible and appears to have been transferred across the border on RAF vehicles. On 16th July this year, Tommy's daughter Jan Keen with his grandsons Barney Tom and Nathanial, and their father Jake along with Richard's nephew, Bryan Kukura and his wife Stephanie were able to meet up together on St Mogue's Island to join in an ecumenical service to remember their relatives and those who had assisted them back to Northern Ireland. Both men had luckily survived the war, but Tommy unfortunately passed away in 1995 but Richard is alive and well in Australia, and through the efforts of the JL710 Committee he was able to speak to a local radio station. The ceremony was held by both local clergymen and was attended by a large group of locals and visitors from further afield. All were boated back to dry land and events moved to Templeport Resource Centre where, at a reception for the two families, they were presented each with a painting commissioned from local artist Patrick Duffy. Each painting depicts the aircraft in its last minutes over Templeport Lake, its crew by then floating down to safety. Both families were overwhelmed by the reception given them by the local community, the kindness and care reminding them of that shown to their relatives all those years ago. The events were finished off with a bus trip to visit the two localities where the crew men landed and the families were shown the various places which make up this great story. On the day itself, Frank Reilly after 63 years admitted that he was the young man that helped Richard Kukura from the house where he was sheltered and fed, to a border crossing and into the hands of the authorities in Northern Ireland. Thus at the door of the same house, Bryan Kukura was therefore able to pass on his uncles gratitude to Frank for the help he gave him that night.
The JL710 Committee have printed a booklet telling the story of this crash from the point of view of the crew and from the point of view of the local people of Bawnboy. More details of the crash, the people involved and the events described above, can be found on the web site: www.bawnboy.utvinternet.com/Beaufighter-JL710/index.htm (which is to be updated with recently acquired details and photographs of the weekend's events as well as the diving operations as soon as possible.) Proceeds from sales of the booklet are to go to St. Luke’s Hospital, Dublin. Great credit is due to the members of the JL710 Committee and the people of Bawnboy for their excellent efforts in bringing back to life a forgotten part of Ireland's rich wartime aviation heritage.
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