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Friday 25 June 2010

B-26 44-68072 Y Garn

B-26 44-68072 hit the ridge of Y Garn on the 1/2/45 on a delivery flight to RAF Burtonwood with the loss of all on board !.
This control pulley was the highest part I found and was just at the foot of the cliffs 200ft below the ridge line the bomber broke up scattering parts over a wide area of the scree much has been removed over the years !
This area just in front was where the main part of the bomber burned out there is many small parts but the scree is very loose and much has been buried !.
Crew=
1st LT Kenneth W. Carty
2nd LT William H. Cardwell
Cpl Jack D. Arnold
Cpl Rudolph M. Aguirre
1st LT
Nolen B. Sowell

Friday 18 June 2010

Lucky find !!

Out on the beach at Porth Trwyn walking the pup when I found this electrical cell wedged in the rocks ,at first was a bit dubious but took it home and have now compared it to pictures I took of the same type of component at the crash sites of Hawker Henley L3334 and Mosquito TV982, its def aircraft but no numbers or stamps !! rats!! !.
I now have the identity's of 6 aircraft that ditched by Holyhead during the war and 2 later !

P-47 41-6195 334 update!

This plate is of 6195 as she was when being flown by Lt.Col. James A Jr. "Jim" Clark from the 1/16/43-4/4/43 .
One other pilot for 6195 was Major Duane W. Beeson when 6195 was coded QP-B who gained a personal tally of 24.25 kills none on 6195 sadly he survived internment as a P.O.W and the war ,but passed away in 1947 .
Try this site for more info www.beesonfamily.net

41-6195 with 334 Sq. 4th FG pilot Capt.Alexander Rafalovich he flew 6195 from 4/4/43 to 2/25/44 downing one Me-109 on the 11/3/1943 north east of the Zuider Zee, Netherlands and a 0.5 of a FW-190 kill on the 1/14/1944.
During this time 6195 was ground looped on the 18/09/43 at Debden, pilot Lt. Robert B Fraser but repaired!
6195 was recoded VM-C and retired to a new life at ATCHAM in SHROPSHIRE with the 495th FTG until her loss on the 8th of july 1944 .

In the small museum at fort perch rock on the Wirral is the engine from P-47 41-6195 in a very battered state but when it was recovered and by who I have no idea !.

Hunter XL266 Cwm Penmachno

Hunter XL266 left R.A.F.Valley on the 17th of may 1971 for a training flight over north Wales, the plane was flying at low altitude over Cwm Penmachno at 220 knots in a narrowing valley that ends at the cliffs of Blaen-Y-Cwm unknown to the crew a 40 knot tailwind which would have not shown on the airspeed indicator meant the plane was too fast for the turn and could not get enough power on to avoid the ridge
sadly both crew were lost !.
On the ridge there is a scar very visible from the foot of the valley that must be the crash site but i could find no aircraft remains !.
Crew =
F/Lt John Loftus
F/Lt John Duckworth

P-47 41-6628 at Thorncliffe


This small memorial on the site of the crash of P-47 41-6628 at Thorncliffe the aircraft fell here on the 3rd October 1944 with the loss of
2nd Lt Quentin J. Sella the ground around the memorial is very boggy and churned by cattle some recent digging for pipe laying on the edge of the site has brought up some remains including one .50 cal case with part of the link still attached , but how long they will survive on the site is debatable

Roaches Lancaster NF908

These small bits and many more still litter the crash site of Lancaster NF908 on the Roaches the plane crashed in bad weather on the 3rd January 1945 with the loss of the crew of 7 crew .
2 blown .303 and one bullet were some of the better bits but the small stuff littering the site has much of interest for the diligent searcher!.
Part of an instrument face.
The largest part still on the site was this bit of tube .

Aran P-51 44-72340


This view of the area near the crash site of P-51 44-72340 which crashed in this valley by Aran Fawddwy on the 17th May 1945 with the loss of Cpt Richard.L.Tannehill after 2 visits one with Sean and Mick [peak wreck hunters ] covering 3 ref points including both stream beds nothing was found! but access to the valley is easy by vehicle now and it seems much has been saved for posterity in some magpies private collection[ or shed :} ] so if nothing else turns up then its another lost site !.