USAAF 42-95814 Martin B-26B-45-MA Marauder

USAAF serial number S/N: 42-95814 Martin B-26B-45-MA Marauder

1942095814, 42-95814 Martin B-26B-45-MA Marauder Fate: AAIR Unit: 344BG494BS Remarks: 344BG494BS Silver Streaks Code:K9-? Base: 169 crash-landing exploded on ground DAM-CAT:5 crashed near Stansted/Sta 169 England Pilot: John T Pikula Date: Jun 04, 1944. Disposal:

Chad M Lyons

The B-26 Marauder (serial number 42-95814) that crashed on Sunday June 4th 1944 at approx. 2:45 PM killing 2 of the 6 crew . No engine fire seen before crash by the other pilots . They were forced to land with gear up in farmers field south of Stansted (near Bishop Stortford ). After landing and sliding 200 yards the right engine caught fire first. (This was on Dad’s side of the plane.) John Pikula goes out his hatch first. Pikula’s heavy armor seat( for pilot only)is shifted and traps Dad in his seat. Dad finally gets out and gets hands burned from his hatch. Runs to a ditch maybe 50 yds. away ( report says 50 ft! ) Big explosion as 2-2000 lb. bombs exploded. Huge olympic swimming pool size hole in the ground. Aircraft in many pieces. Wind at takeoff was strong at 26-30 mph from SW. No report of cloud ceiling. 37 planes were headed to France to bomb a bridge. ( 34 actually bombed ). For all his 22 missions Dad was always co piloting, John Pikula was his pilot on 21 missions. In the accident report Pikula as pilot is charged with this accident. The cause of simultaneous twin engine failure shortly after takeoff is listed as unknown. Dad said that on the B-26 the right landing gear came up first then the left gear and that was the same sequence as the engines lost power. But he may have been misremembering the sequence to fit his German sabotage theory. He and Pikula flew that plane designated K9-T only twice before on May 2 1944 and on May 27th. K9-T was previously last flown on Friday June 2nd by another crew without any report of mechanical problems. The pilots always run up the RPM on the engines to test them before take off. There were many single engine failures on the 300 B-26s listed as flying on the day of June 4th and probably it happened pretty frequently so it was just a matter of probability that at least one B-26 would have both engines fail. It is curious though that the engines quit just after wheels and wing flaps were raised. Maybe a mechanic familiar with B-26 hydraulics, electrics and fuel deliver, could hypothesize a cause other than sabotage. Anyway how close we 7 came to not being here at all. Dad often said he was saying his prayers on the way down.

Dad had traveled back to the UK to the site of his crash back in 1978. See the local newspaper account attached. Any further reports on what may have caused both of his engines to fail just after takeoff would be great.

Chad M Lyons Branford, CT