Haunted Battlefields

Haunted Battlefields

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28 Responses

  1. Mauro says:

    The Civil War battlefields
    The Civil War battlefields were renown to be quite haunted. Edgehill was the subject a quite a number of "renactments": funny thing Prince Rupert was othen seen among the "ghostly" soldiers while he was still alive and well. I don’t think that the traditional "ghost=spirit of the deceased" is an acceptable hypothesis here.
    Another celebrated haunted battlefield is Marathon, Greece. As I’ve already said seeing the ghostly warriors was considered a death portent or, at the very best, a very bad omen.
    Ghostly battles are rumoured to have been seen both at Waterloo and Azincourt.
    Not strctly a battle but how about the "Lost Legion" mentioned by Archie McKerracher? These Roman soldiers (supposedly either defeated in battle and slaughtered by the Picts or killed off by starvation and illness while attempting to subdue a rebellious tribe) are apparently frequently heard (though never seen) in the Dunblane area.

    • Daniel Parkinson says:

      Mauro wrote: Not strctly a
      [quote=Mauro]Not strctly a battle but how about the "Lost Legion" mentioned by Archie McKerracher? These Roman soldiers (supposedly either defeated in battle and slaughtered by the Picts or killed off by starvation and illness while attempting to subdue a rebellious tribe) are apparently frequently heard (though never seen) in the Dunblane area.
      [/quote]

      The lost legion sounds interesting, when I wrote the bit about the Roman Patrol, I had heard it as a local legend while in Oldham. I used to do a lot of walking around The Pennine way and the local moors as a teenager and the story had always intrigued me, Bleaklow can be a wild disorienting place with the mist down and the story always added an extra dimension to the area. I am now wondering if it is related to the above account and has become supplanted through word of mouth, I will however have to track down my account of the sighting of Roman Soldiers. Was the Lost Legion mentioned in a book?

      • Mauro says:

        Daniel Parkinson wrote: Was
        [quote=Daniel Parkinson]Was the Lost Legion mentioned in a book?
        [/quote]

        Archie McKerracher
        Perthshire in History and Legend
        John Donald, Edinburgh

        The book is currently out of print but not hard to find.

  2. Lee Waterhouse says:

    Marston moor is supposed to
    Marston moor is supposed to be haunted, men in civil war attire are supposed to be seen on the aniversary of the battle. My take on this type of haunting are more of the recorded ghost than anything else. Does Culloden have any ghostly legends attached to it, i know from personal experience that the place "feels" odd.

    • Ian Topham says:

      Lee Waterhouse
      [quote=Lee Waterhouse]Marston moor is supposed to be haunted[/quote]

      Doing my family tree I found one of my ancestors apparently died at Marston Moor, fighting off Roundheads. Maybe he haunts?

  3. Mauro says:

    There have also been a
    There have also been a number of sighting of ghost warplanes: a lone Supermarine Spitfire has often been seen in skies near Biggin Hill. Experienced airmen have identified it as either a MkI or a MkIIa, almost identical in appearance. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BoBMF) actually owns a MkIIa and operated from Biggin Hill for a time before moving to RAF Coningsby.
    There have also been a number of sightings involving bombers which are much more difficult to explain: the only airworthy WWII bomber in Britain is the BoBMF Avro Lancaster, whose air activities have long been restricted to a few selected events to save precious airframe hours. Moreover it fails to explains all those sightings involving twin engined WWII bombers (mainly Vickers Wellingtons). The last airworthy Wellington was scraped in 1953 and only two complete airframes survive to this day.

  4. Ian Topham says:

    A phantom army was witnessed
    A phantom army was witnessed on Souther Fell by a farm hand on Mid-Summers-Eve in the year 1735. The army took the form of mounted troops with infantry marching in a column. One year later on the same date the army was seen again by William Lancaster who was a local farmer. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite uprising the army was witnessed again by over 26 people on the 23rd June. This time the army was sighted with carriages, and covered an area of about half a mile. It would not have been possible to bring carriages on Souther Fell and the story is a complete mystery. An account of the haunting appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1747.

    This would be just after the uprising, the last conflict in which surface battles were fought on British soil. Many of the readers of The Gentleman’s Magazine had probably served in the war. A ghostly army in Cumbria, the Scottish border. Carlisle Castle was the site of the last UK castle siege during this conflict and region would have suffered. Maybe rumours of a ghostly army were spread to help keep the Scots in line.

    This account was put together for the website by Dan:
    According to a local story (from the Saddleworth area) a patrol of Roman soldiers disappeared while crossing the desolate moors in the area around Bleaklow. They either became lost and died of exposure, or as my informant would have it, were ambushed by the local tribes and buried deep in some moorland bog, waiting to be found armour and all. The story may have some relation to reports of a ghostly legion seen by walkers on the Pennine way.

    The area was certainly well used by the Roman legions. A Roman fort stands at Castleshaw and Roman road and routes can be seen such as Doctors Gate which ran from Navio Fort in Hope Valley to Melandria near Glossop.

  5. Urisk says:

    There is the account of one
    There is the account of one woman in Letham (Angus) witnessing the ghostly re-enactment of the battle of Nechtansmere. Only problem is that I don’t think it was quite in the correct location. I’d have to look into this more though.

  6. Ian Topham says:

    Just a quick thought on
    Just a quick thought on ghostly aircraft. As inanimate objects I think we can rule them out as being spirits and as for the stone tape recording theory, well, what substance would have recorded them and do they have a set range from said substance?

  7. Mauro says:

    Thomas Charles Lethbridge
    Thomas Charles Lethbridge put forward a theory according to which the "recording media" is supposed to be in some way related to water. He came up with the idea after two personal experiences (one involving a proper "ghost" sighting") made him look for "explanations he couldn’t find".
    I don’t know about the warplanes, but the Edgehill ghost battle definetely shows that the ghosts of the deceased are not involved: Prince Rupert was clearly recognized among his troops by more than one Cavalier while he was known to be alive and well.
    Could it be a case of "psychic recording"? And if water (or stone) is the recording media what are the writer and reader?

  8. Daniel Parkinson says:

    Thanks for the book pointer
    Thanks for the book pointer Mauro, here are a few more Haunted battlefields: Killiecrankie is reputed to be haunted http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/perthshire/killiecrankie.html I have heard of the Nectansmere sighting but I can’t at the moment trace my source.
    Other sites include Glencoe; a witness is reputed to have seen a replay of the aftermath of the slaughter.
    A phantom army is said to appear on the shores of Loch Ashie near Inverness, on the site of a battle with an invading Norwegian army around the 1st May.
    A WWII Spitfire is said to be heard near Biggin Hill Airfield on Jan 19th.
    A ghostly army in the Cuillins on the Isle of Sky (Jacobite). Otterburn in Northumberland phantom army sighted in 1960, there was a battle on the site in 1388.
    Newsteads, sounds of marching soldiers have been heard, the area was a Roman encampment.
    Stockton on the Forest, a spectral army was seen in the sky in 1812.
    Marston Moor has several witness sightings of Civil War ghosts. However Marston Moor is often a site for re-enactments and I have talked to quite a few re-enactors over the years, and some have a wicked sense of humour. One Civil War re-enactor swore he used to get pissed while on weekend camps, creep to the roadside in the night in full costume and ‘pop up’ when he heard a car going past. Quite possibly an explanation for some (if not all) ghostly cavaliers.

  9. Lee Waterhouse says:

    Dan, ive come across a
    Dan, ive come across a website that mentions a sighting by 2 motorists in 1932. You can read it here http://www.lilylane.co.uk/mm.htm

    Not very detailed of course but their source of info was Haunted Yorkshire but that link ends in a 404 error. The Andrew Green link just mentions a sighting in 1968 and then one more 5 years later.

  10. Ian Topham says:

    Dan, your re-enactor has
    Dan, your re-enactor has reminded me of two mistaken idenities. One white lady sighting in a castle grounds I am investigating turned out to coinside with a bridal shoot that was taking place. Another sighting at another cumbrian castle was a figure in medieval garb exiting a room. The room where the re-enactors for the castles event were changing.

    It does illustrate the need to pinpoint the date any ghostly sighting took place and find out who else was there and doing what exactly.

  11. forester says:

    On the anniversary of the
    On the anniversary of the Battle of Cheriton (29 March 1644) you are supposed to be able to hear the battle again and the ghost of a Cavalier has been seen in the lane which runs along one side of the battle site.

  12. BaronIveagh says:

    I seem to recall an account
    I seem to recall an account of ghosts appearing on radar in the area around a certain Pacific battlefield from WWII, though which one escapes me. There are also accounts from Okinawa of phantom battles between American and Japanese troops that can be heard over the radio.

  13. Mauro says:

    Recently there have been
    Recently there have been talks of the Tiger I tank at Bovington museum being haunted by the ghost of a German officer. Funny story, considering the tank story is very well known (it was shipped brand new to the Afrika Korps in 1943 and captured after being abandoned by the crew) and the tank commander was wounded aboard but survived to tell the tale. Not only that but there has never been any previous talk of "activity". Guess we are looking at a story similar to Balmoral’s Grey Lady.
    I’ve also heard rumors about a "phantom reenactment" the Dieppe raid in 1942 but I’ve unable to find out more about it.

  14. Agricola says:

    Loch Ashie, just south of
    Loch Ashie, just south of Inverness is reputedly been haunted. Apparently a traveller saw a battle taking place. From memory I think the traveller existed in the mid-late 18th century. I must track down the story and do some scribblings for the site, but having visited the area (it’s a small loch and I’m not sure where the ghost battle was seen – interesting to note there are no records of a battle in the area) it is really quite creepy at night up on the moors when the mist descends. I need to make a visit during the day and have a wonder and check the records.

  15. Ian Topham says:

    We were contacted by someone
    We were contacted by someone who claimed to have a photograph of th eghost from Bovington, by the Tiger Tank (which is now the last remaining Tiger in working order). We never got to see the picture though.

  16. BaronIveagh says:

    You want something creepy to
    You want something creepy to consider: According to Archeology Magazine in the US, a large amount of WWII German equipment throughout Eastern Europe has been rising out of the ground/sea on it’s own over the last few years.

    Given the events in Eastern Europe over the last few decades…

    "It’s heard it’s masters Call…" – Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring (film)

  17. Agricola says:

    That’s not unusual.
    That’s not unusual. Artefacts often ‘travel up’ through soil because of action below the surface, such as animal activity, ploughing, etc. Hence why people find old coins, etc when out and about.

  18. BaronIveagh says:

    There’s a bit of difference
    There’s a bit of difference between lightweight coins and a Panzer IV. However, your point is well made.

    I was just observing that it was unusually widespread and abrupt enough that archeologists had commented on it.

    Here’s one that’s interesting: at RAF Hemswell there’s supposedly a ghost of a pilot walking around with his clothes on fire.

  19. Agricola says:

    Without knowing the details
    Without knowing the details of the find location of the tank, it’s hard to really comment on it. If it’s been found on a beach/tidal area then it’s rediscovery is hardly exceptional, whereas if it’s been found in the middle of an arable field then it certainly may be remarkable. Of course as with all such stories, until the background is reliably explained by a reputable source (i.e. a journal and not a newspaper) you can only take it at face value.

  20. Ian Topham says:

    I’ve added a Haunted
    I’ve added a Haunted Battlefield catagory under the hauntings menu now.

  21. Mauro says:

    I would take any news
    I would take any news regarding heavy weaponry from the former Soviet Bloc cum grano salis. For example a few years ago a farmer in Slovakia "discovered" an 88mm Flak in his backyard which was promptly auctioned off to eager collectors for a ridicolous sum of money. Needless to say nobody knew where it had been for sixty years, maybe it just appeared there one morning out of the blue, an incredible feat of telekynesis or materialization since that gun weighs several tons. Or maybe the fact that the farmer could sell its prize without fear of being squeezed by local authorities and the fact that he now owned a powerful tractor are the correct answers…
    I would also add that in Continental Europe "discovering war relics" is a pretty common way of getting rid of old weapons that were hidden at the end of the war by, say, your grandfather, a fighter in the Resistance, "just in case": authorities used to be quite strict on the matter but the attitude has much changed and now they just play along when a cache is discovered.

    • BaronIveagh says:

      Mauro wrote:
      I would take

      [quote=Mauro]I would take any news regarding heavy weaponry from the former Soviet Bloc cum grano salis. For example a few years ago a farmer in Slovakia "discovered" an 88mm Flak in his backyard which was promptly auctioned off to eager collectors for a ridicolous sum of money. Needless to say nobody knew where it had been for sixty years, maybe it just appeared there one morning out of the blue, an incredible feat of telekynesis or materialization since that gun weighs several tons. Or maybe the fact that the farmer could sell its prize without fear of being squeezed by local authorities and the fact that he now owned a powerful tractor are the correct answers…
      I would also add that in Continental Europe "discovering war relics" is a pretty common way of getting rid of old weapons that were hidden at the end of the war by, say, your grandfather, a fighter in the Resistance, "just in case": authorities used to be quite strict on the matter but the attitude has much changed and now they just play along when a cache is discovered.
      [/quote]

      Oh, I agree.  There have been quite  few WWII aircraft that have suddenly come on the market from former eastern block countries for those same reasons. 

      The story I was refering to was from Archeology Magazine, though in all honesty I forget what month, it was a year or so ago, I think.  The largest peice I’ve heard about was from France, the turret of a sunken King Tiger had caused damage to a road that had been built over it, and then some consternation among the road crew that found it.  As I recall they reburied it and raised the road slightly.

      Remember, tanks and such weigh many tons and can sink fast in soft soil.  When that same soil dries up in a drought, the objects in it rise due to the contraction of the soil. 

      What was unusual is that it happened in some many places over such a broad area in a short space of time.

      Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima

  22. forester says:

    Battle of Lansdown 1643
    Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Lansdown – 5th July 1643 – and I’ve just got back from a visit to the battlefield.  I experienced something very strange and wonder if anyone else has ever experienced the same.  I was standing reading one of the information boards behind the wall which sheltered the Parliamentary lines when I heard a drum in the distance.  The battle apparently began at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and the first time I heard the drum was at about 2.40pm.  It was (this is the easiest way I can explain!) rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.  I turned round expecting to see a troop of the Sealed Knot doing their thing  . .but nothing (and you can see for a a very long way!  I had also emailed the Sealed Knot a few weeks ago to see if they were doing any sort of memorial.re-enactment etc but they weren’t.   I carried on with the battlefield walk and heard the same drum beat several more times.  I went looking for a re-enactment group or whatever, got in the car and drove around  . . . but nothing.  It was most definitely a drum, a very tight, high sort of sound.  It’s very difficult to descibe sound but I’m sure you can understand.  I know I wasn’t "hearing things"  . . . .  I definitely heard a drum  . . . .

    • Daniel Parkinson says:

      forester wrote:  It was
      [quote=forester]  It was most definitely a drum, a very tight, high sort of sound.  It’s very difficult to descibe sound but I’m sure you can understand.  I know I wasn’t "hearing things"  . . . .  I definitely heard a drum  . . . .
      [/quote]

      Probably a snare drum by the description, not sure if they used these in the time frame/re-enactment, but from playing in a band that’s what a snare sounds like.

      • forester says:

        Yes, I would describe it as
        Yes, I would describe it as like a snare drum,  I wasn’t a deep sound such as you get from big kettle or bass drums.  . . .  but there was no-one around!