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Sunday 26 August 2018

B-17G 44-8639 from the 511th bomb squadron , 351st bomb group , Craig Cwm Llwyd , Barmouth North Wales, 8th of June 1945

 A very wet and windy trip to Barmouth to meet some new friends with Tricia  so dropped in a walk up to the crash site of B-17G 44-8639 from the 511th bomb squadron , 351st bomb group which struck the slopes of Craig Cwm Llwyd near Barmouth North Wales on the 8th of June 1945 .
The plane flying to RAF Valley from Polebrook with a full crew and 10 passengers returning home after the cessation of hostilities arrived in the area just below a 900 ft cloud base the pilot 1st Lt H.R.Hibbard asked for a QDM to Valley but unfortunately turned on a reciprocal bearing finding himself heading into the estuary at Barmouth the pilot turned right to avoid the mountains but sadly the bomber hit Craig Cwm Llwyd at 1100 ft with the tragic loss of all 20 souls on board .










At the site today there is a sizable burn area littered with small remains and below is a very nice memorial placed on the mountain by local aviation historian Matthew Rimmer .
Crew lost =
1st Lt H.R.Hibbard
Cpt J.C.Robinson
Technical.Sgt M. Marksheid
Cpt J.A.Glover
Master Sgt J.Q.Montgomery
Staff Sgt S.A.Caruso
Technical .Sgt L.A.F.Rhein
Technical.Sgt K.W.Craumer
Staff Sgt R.E.Smith
Staff Sgt T.O.Smith
Sgt D.I.Rapoport
1st Lt R.E.Higley
Technical Sgt P.Lucyk [ DFC ]
Technical Sgt M.Lemewski
Corp C.G.Pool
Sgt S.R.Coons
Sgt B.P.Dobbs
Sgt J.D.Leasure
Sgt E.R.Birtwell
Sgt C.F.Devaney

Sunday 5 August 2018

Mustang Mk1 AP208 , trough of Bowland ,Lancashire

 Just back from a trip into the trough of Bowland , Lancashire to visit the crash site of Mustang Mk1 AP208 which crashed high on Holdren Moss Near Dunsop Bridge with the sad loss of the Canadian Pilot, Flying Officer S.P.Marlatt ,the fighter on a photographic flight had left its base at RAF Clifton near York only 20 minutes before the crash on the cloud shrouded hills .




 The site looks as it did on the http://laituk.org website and in David Earls 'Hell on high ground 'book [Both well worth reading] the flap and tank remains are still littering the site as well as many other parts but the best was part of the fire wall Armour and part of the lower rear fuselage


 An addition to my visit to AP208 was in the car park by Langden Brooke a stone placed as a memorial to those who lost their lives in crashes on the local hills