USAAF 41-34961 Martin B-26C-15-MO Marauder

USAAF serial number S/N: 41-34961 Martin B-26C-15-MO Marauder

1941034961, 41-34961 Martin B-26C-15-MO Marauder, Fate: Crashed Unit: 386BG552BS Remarks: 386BG552BS The Crusaders Code:RG-M named: Miss CARRAIGE crashlanded at Manston Apr 8, 1944, Disposal: 08-Apr-44

Crashed at Manston on April 8,1944 after returning from mission to bomb the marshalling yards at Hasselt, Belgium.
Lt. John B. Petrey - Pilot (injured in crash)
Lt. Willard Adams - Co-pilot (injured in crash, died two days later)
Lt. Jack Brandenberg - Bombardier (died in crash)
S/Sgt. William J. Hunt - Engineer/Gunner (uninjured)
T/Sgt. Robert S. Fitzsimmons - Radio Operator (injured in crash)
S/Sgt. Alfred F. Dumas - Tail Gunner (injured in crash)
Capt. Marion Skubala - RAF Observer (injured by flak over target)
After a perilous single engine return across the North Sea, Lieutenant Petrey and his co-pilot were aware this could be a risky landing. The plane settled in on the emergency landing field at Manston, it was a two mile long sod strip near the southeast coast of England. The following explains a sequence of events believed to have happened at touch down. Due to battle damage, the left main landing gear collapsed at well over 100 m.p.h. The left wing struck the ground ripping off the left engine as the ship took up a wide circuitous path away from the landing area. Then it struck a medium size tree that snapped off at its roots, causing the plane to flip over on its back. That resulted in the disintegration of the vertical fin and rudder.