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  1. #1
    Lori.o
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    Default Gillingham and Battle B-26 crashes

    The Gillingham and Battle B-26 crashes of June 6, 1944

    On June 6, 1944 two B-26 Marauder Bombers which were stationed out of Station No.161 located in Boreham, Essex while on route to a mission the 42-96263 was involved in a mid air collision with the 42-96050 of the 587th Bomber Squadron, 394th Bomber Group Medium, IX BC Ninth AF over Gillingham, Kent, England at 5:05 am. The planes were part of a larger group also flying that D-Day on a mission. Poor weather was said to have been the cause of the accident. Weather at the time of the accident was reported as: Vis 7 mi, wind 8 mph, 7/10, light rain. The pilot of the 263 was not flying on instruments at the time of the crash. Heresay testimony of civilians in the vicinity on Gillingham, Kent - as noted on the accident report - indicates that one aircraft was flying around beneath the overcast. The other aircraft came down out of a large black cloud and the two collided. No actual eyewitnesses were found.

    The 42-96050 jettisoned some of its bombs then crashed into homes on Corporation Road in Gillingham, killing the entire crew and four civilians. Six homes were demolished. The 42-96263 crashed into an orchard at the East Court Farm in Gillingham, Kent also killing all the crew.

    Less then half an hour later another two B-26 from the same squadron suffered the same fate over Battle, Sussex. The 42-107592 of the 584th Squadron collided with the 42-96249 587th Squardon and crashed into Battle. The pilot of the 592 B26 Marauder was the only man to survive -Lt Tommie J Potts. He managed to bail out and his parachute was seen coming down from the direction of Whatlington. Pilots of both the 592 & the 249 were flying on instruments at the time of the accident. Weather at the time was noted to be: Vis 7mi, wind 8 mi, 7/10 Strata Cumulus. Tommie Potts, who survived the crash after bailing out states he lost control of his aircraft while in the overcast. He had felt no distinct jar, as would be in a collision, but that his aircraft kept veering to the left and at one point was on its back. He instructed the Bombardier to jettison bonbs and then gave the signal to abandon the aircraft. The crew had gone to the bomb bay and Tommy, assuming that the Bombardier had left the doors open, waited for a minute, lowered the nose wheel and bailed out. The crew had worked feverishly to dump the high altitude bombs so that they would fall unexploded as the plane neared its crash landing. The 592 crashed at Whatlingon Level and the 249 crashed at Ashburnham Place. They crew had saved many lives by their quick actions to jettison their bomb load.

    Below was a young teenage, Ian Cheveralls, a messenger for the Civil Defense Air Warden. He was watching the planes flying through the clouds above when the crash occurred. Upon the crash he ran towards the planes and could hear Tommy calling out for his crew. Tommie was the lone surviver, the bodies of the rest of the crew were found in the bomb bay.

    Tommie retired following the crash, sent home with a Distinguished Flying Cross. He would marry and begin to raise a family. Tommie passed away in 1971. This crash has been memorilized by a plaque put up in Battle at the Royal Legion hall, the dedication reading "THESE AMERICAN AIRMEN GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR OUR FREEDOM"


    The crew of the 42-96050 was:

    -Witcher Terrell Berger
    -Ltd Warren D Rodgers
    -Sgt Edward H Monaghan
    -Sgt George S Knight
    -Sgt Alffred M Zussa
    -Cpl Forrest W Pafenberg

    The 42-96263 Crew was:

    -Lt Claude Wallace Kline
    -Lt Emil F Ostowsky
    -Sgt George S Rogers
    -Sgt Raymond F Sablatura
    -Sgt Joseph Amato
    -Sgt James F Bechtler

    The civilians killed in Gillingham were:

    Fanny F Whittingham
    Joan Beatrice Ada Taylor Neice of Fanny
    Percy Montague Williams
    George Thomas William Gandon

    Members of the 42-107592 crew killed this day were:

    -Sgt George J Kyle
    -Lt Christian Burger
    -Lt Leroy A Dyer
    -Sgt James M Long
    -Sgt George W Williams

    The crew of the 42-96249 killed was:

    -Lt Thomas Jenkins
    -Walter Winter
    -Sgt William C Hoeb
    -Sgt Ralph D Parker
    -Sgt Boris R. Selinsky
    -Sgt Edward F Bailey



    More details including some personal stories from the families can be found at

    The Gillingham & Battle B-26 Crashes of 1944 - Home

    Also on Facebook:
    The Gillingham & Battle B-26 Crashes of 1944 | Facebook

    We are building a memorial web site and are looking for anyone who might have information regarding these crashes or the families involved.

  2. #2
    Degan
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    Sorry I don't have any information that will help, but it certainly sounds a very worthy thing to do. I wish you the best of luck on this and the carnival tragedy memorial.
    Best wishes Degan

  3. #3
    Starting to feel at home N@alie's Avatar
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    Aug 2009
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    Rochester, Kent
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    Hi Lori.o

    I mentioned this to my other half as his first house (in the early 1980s) was about halfway up Corporation Road and had sustained structural damage from the accident. His neighbour told him at the time that the damage was caused by bombs that were jettisoned before the actual crash, but that might not be quite right as it seems from the reports from the time on your website https://gillinghamb26crash.weebly.com/index.html that the bombs fell into the roadway after the accident but did not explode.

    Incidentally, we were interested to see that one of the witness accounts was attributed to Mrs Avila Cheal and his mother's maiden name is Cheal. I'm now trying to find out if there's a connection...

  4. #4
    Lori.o
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    Hi N@alie,

    It is my understanding that the home at 24 Corporation Road was damaged by falling debris. Living in that home at the time was George Thomas William Gandon and his wife Edith. George died that day, Edith badly injured died in 1945. There were some bombs that were jettisoned just before the actual crash and it is also my understanding that these nor the ones on board the plane actually exploded. Now I don't know for certain if this debris that damaged 24 Corporation Road was the unexploded bombs that were initially jettisoned before the crash or not, but to me it would make sense that it was. The home was heavily damaged - enough 2 lives were lost because of their injuries. The other homes damaged were down the street from here. There were more unexploded bombs that spilled out when the plane crashed. I am working on this web site with a fella who's father lived in that area and was a direct witness to the intimidate aftermath of this accident. I will contact him to look further into what actually caused the damage to these homes.

    https://gillinghamb26crash.weebly.com...as-gandon.html

    Keep us posted of any details you might find out, we would be most interested. Thank you for your very interesting posting.

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