WW2 aircraft propellor recovered offshore Skegness

By Angela Gooch on July 6th, 2007

Source: Skegness Standard 9th October 1992

Skegness lifeboat crew donned their drysuits and waded out to sea off the town’s Seaview Road for a rather unusual recsue last week - to recover a huge propellor sticking out of the sand.
The crew were heading back to base after an excercise when they saw one of the propellor blades breaking through the water like a shark’s fin.
After delving into the lifeboat logs from the Second World War, written by his father, Mr Wilfred Grunnill. the RNLI’s hon sec Mr Joel Grunnill believes the propellor belonged to a Handey Page Hampden aircraft which ditched in the sea off Skegness almost 52 years ago.
“It must have come to the surface because of years of sand erosion and we had to bring it in because it was a great danger to our crafts and other boats.”
The three pronged propellor now takes pride of place in the lifeboat house in Tower Esplanade.

Picture below: Lifeboat coxswain, Paul Martin and RNLI hon sec Joel Grunnill view the Hampden propellor, recently recovered from the depths off Seaview Road Skegness.

WW2 plane propellor recoved offshore Skegness