Creag na h-Iolaire

A modest hill in the Scottish Highlands rising to 568 metres, best known for its tragic association with a wartime air disaster. The Gaelic name translates as 'Eagle's Rock', reflecting the rugged character of this remote headland near Dunbeath in Caithness. The summit overlooks the North Sea and the sweeping coastline of the far north.

• •The Gaelic name 'Creag na h-Iolaire' translates as 'Eagle's Rock' or 'Rock of the Eagle', likely referring either to the presence of golden eagles in the area or to the craggy, elevated nature of the headland itself.
• •On 25 August 1942, a Short Sunderland flying boat crashed into the hill, killing 14 of the 15 people on board including Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was travelling to Iceland on RAF duty as an Air Commodore.
• •A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry concluded that the crash resulted from a navigational error by the crew, leading to controlled flight into terrain in poor weather conditions.
• •Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed a message of condolence in Parliament following the disaster, which remains one of the most significant royal tragedies of the Second World War.
• •The crash site lies on remote moorland, and wreckage remained visible for many years afterwards, though most has now been removed or naturally dispersed.