This memorial can be found alongside the Braemar War Memorial on Cluniebank Road in the Aberdeenshire village. It commemorates the eight airmen who perished when their Wellington Bomber crashed in the nearby mountains during a routine training flight in poor weather conditions on January 19th 1942. The eight airmen, three English, two Canadian, two Australian and one New Zealander were based during WWII at RAF Lossiemouth.
The memorial came to fruition when Andy Brown, then from Braemar, who was involved in the initial search in the Cairngorms, applied to the Ministry of Defence in 1999 for permission to remove the Pegasus engines from the crash site. In his workshop in Aboyne, he refurbished the less damaged of the two engines, whilst Aboyne architect Gerry Robb mounted the engine on a simple plinth of local granite.
The memorial was eventually unveiled by The Princess Royal on August 21st 2003 on an area to the right of the 1921 Celtic cross WWI memorial. The inscription reads as follows:
'IN MEMORIAM
VICKERS WELLINGTON R 1646
ON 19 JANUARY 1942, DURING A ROUTINE TRAINING FLIGHT, THIS AIRCRAFT CRASHED ON HIGH GROUND NEAR BRAEMAR DUE TO POOR WEATHER CONDITIONS. ALL EIGHT CREWMEN BASED AT 20 OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT, RAF LOSSIEMOUTH, LOST THEIR LIVES. SIX CREW MEMBERS LIE AT REST WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH GRAVES COMMISSION RESERVATION, DYCE OLD CHURCHYARD, ABERDEEN AND TWO IN THEIR HOME CEMETERIES IN ENGLAND. THE TWO BRISTOL PEGASUS XVIII ENGINES WERE REMOVED FROM THE CRASH SITE IN 1999 AND ONE IS PRESERVED HERE AS A PERMANENT MEMORIAL TO THOSE NAMED BELOW AND ALL AIRCREW WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE CAIRNGORN MOUNTAINS.
DICKSON Sgt BC, RAAF (W Op Air Gunner) Aged 22
of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
GREENBANK Sgt WM, RAFUR (Air Gunner) Aged 19
of Windermere, Westmoreland, England
JACKSON Sgt RJ, RCAF (Pilot) Aged 21
of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
KELLEY Flt Sgt HJ, RCAF (Air Obs) Aged 23
of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
KILBURN Sgt MHJ, RAFUB (Pilot) Aged 19
of Farnham, Surrey, England
MILLIKEN Sgt RA, RAAF (W Op Air Gunner) Aged 22
of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
RILEY Sgt JB, RAF (W Op Air Gunner) Aged 23
of Askern, Yorkshire, England
THOMSON Flt Offr JW, DFC RNZAF (Pilot) Aged 25
of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN UNDYING MEMORY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, COMMONWEALTH AND ALLIED AIR CREW WHO IN PEACE AND WAR HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES OVER THE CAIRNGORM MOUNTAINS'