My Father Joe Hamilton wrote: French Aircraft on Djouce. Plane carrying 21 Girls Guides to Dublin. Plane type Junkers 88 (sic)

No fatal injuries

My Mother, Hilary Hamilton (nee archer) reminisced that in the late afternoon, she had heard the plane fly up the Lough Dan lake valley and towards Lough Tay lake (& Djouce), and then come back, then go back up the valley. She was staying at 'The Haven' which is about half way up the valley at (about 1000 feet above sea level) and off the floor of the valley by about 200 feet. The weather was very bad with heavy cloud down in the valley and rain. "You could hardly see the road about 20 feet away". They could not see the plane. They heard the plane revving up. It was only later, about a day or so that they heard that it had crashed on Djouce Mountain, from the workmen who came over the mountain each day to work. (They had not appeared the following day as they were out with the search parties)

A week or so later, Hilary and her friends, Sam and Florrie French, hiked up to the crash site and the surrounding pictures were taken with a Kodak Brownie camera, at that time.

A number of 'mementoes' were acquired by my Grandfather, RW Archer, including one of the tiny seats, and two petrol tanks, (About 3-4 metres long and 1 metre in diameter). The petrol tanks were used for various experiments by my Grandfather, including 'metal boats'.

One of these involved a long board off the back, with part of the top cut away, and an outboard engine attached. The only problem was the boat kept in a straight line across the lake!!

The other was used to bring wood up the lake, by one of my cousins, and being overloaded, began to sink and had to be cut loose from the towing boat, and it went to the bottom of Lough Dan.

R.W. Archer experimenting with two fuel tanks as a speed boat. Also in picture Margaret Ricahrd & Cows.

Two of the Fuel tanks on Lough Dan beach in 1955.