Many thanks to all the heroes who stormed the beach that day. I said a prayer at dawn for all the brave men who gave their lives that day. Sherry
Hi Listers This is an appropriate day to post some information that I have collected over the past year or so. It concerns the collision and crashing of two USAAF Bombers in the county of Kent, England. The two aircraft in question were:- Martin B26 Marauder Serial No 4296263 Code 5W-S 394 BG 587 B Sqdn based at Boreham Pilot Lt W. KLINE Jr Time 05.10 hrs Date 06 Jun 1944 Crashed at Corporation Road, Gillingham, Kent, England (I can provide Grid Reference if required) Martin B26 Marauder Serial No 4296050 Code 5W-L 394 BG 587 B Sqdn based at Boreham, Essex, England Pilot 1st Lt W. BURGER Time 05.00 - 05.10 hrs Date 06 JUN 1944 Crashed at East Court Farm, Gillingham, Kent, England (I can provide Grid Reference if required) I have no information on which plane collided with which, but I suspect that it is academic in any case. Nor do I have any information on where the collision occured, but I am told that the plane that crashed at East Court Farm passed over a particular house just seconds before the crash; this is to the northeast of the crash site, so the plane was likely to have been on a generally southwesterly heading at the end. Both aircraft were returning from an attack on gun positions at St Martin de Varreville. The crews involved were:- 1st Lt Warren D. RODGERS ( Riverside, Calif.) 2nd Lt Emil F. OSTROWSKI ( Belleville, N. York) T/Sgt Edward H. MONAGHAN (Rochester, N. York S/Sgt George S. KNIGHT ( Jacksonville, Illinois) S/Sgt Raymond SABLATURA S/Sgt James BECHTLER S/Sgt Joseph AMATO Sgt Alfred M. ZUSSA ( Chicago, Illinois) Sgt Boris R. SELIMSKI ( New York) CFL Forrest W. PAFENBERG ( Norman, Indiana) It is not presently known which of the above were in which aircraft, however; if there is anyone out there who does know, I would be grateful if they would post it. All these details have been given to me by the Kent Aviation Historical Research Society (KAHRS) and it is essential that this Society is given due credit, particularly if the information is published in any form. KAHRS would love to have photos of these aircraft and/or crews. Incidentally, the explosion of the aircraft that crashed at East Court Farm blew in the windows of our house and showered me with glass; all us kids enjoyed collecting debris from the crash, including live ammunition upon which we expended a great deal of time trying to detonate - I write this today because we failed! Remember these brave people and their peers; we owe them all a great deal. John in Chard, Somerset, England -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.1/355 - Release Date: 02/06/2006