Lost bomber

Don’t forget the B17 in Newfoundland some
yanks wanted to retrive from a river,same
deal and they where asking permission.

It is funny how authorities are not bothered about them until someone takes the time and trouble to raise them, the wrecks in Lake Michigan are the same

B26

Hi folks; Wow ask and thou will recieve! I am always amazed
what is sitting around this big ol’ Canada.Shades of the
million dollar valley,the lanc is under water? I thought the
linc was already known or is this another one?

The Marauder isn’t even the only wreck in Watson Lake. Cameron said an old Lancaster bomber is visible from the surface.

Sounds like an interesting place! Anyone got further details, photos? Nothing much on Flash Earth
<< I take it that the ‘Lancaster’ is probably the fairly well-known Lincoln wreck – SX924?>>

.

I understand the whole aircraft may have been present and relatively intact, with minor nose glass damage and prop strike damage, however it is understood the recovery process was undertaken by de-rivetting?/cutting the cockpit from the main fuselage?

regards

Mark Pilkington

It has been pointed out to me off-line that the Maraulder does have a bolted break point in the fuselage behind the cockpit at this location, and therefore my information above would seem in-correct that it has been derivetted or cut!

MAPS B-26 Cockpit prior to restoration

Yukon B-26 cockpit on recovery trailer

I do however understand the cockpit was freshly removed from the rest of the aircraft which remains largely intact in the lake.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

Not wishing to mis quote mr Hunston, but; ” the government of Yukon owns that plane, we’re well aware of the antique warbird market out there, there’s a lot of money to be made, and even parts can be hot commodities”

The Govt of Yukon clearly had no plans to recover this or any other wreck, to display in Yukon; lets face it, they’ve been there 65+ years, they have had a bit of time to set up a commitee etc etc are, they now not just thinking kerching?

Hi folks; Just read on the tv channel CP24 news
ticker [Treasure hunters find ww2 bomber in beaufort]
and that was it.Anyone else heard anything.:confused:

This relates to the very recent “discovery” and attempted unauthorised recovery of a B-26 Maraulder in Canada by two private individuals camping on site, diving on the submerged wreck and air bagging the cockpit onto a trailer.

I understand the whole aircraft may have been present and relatively intact, with minor nose glass damage and prop strike damage, however it is understood the recovery process was undertaken by de-rivetting?/cutting the cockpit from the main fuselage?

The Yukon Provence has stepped in and halted the unauthorised recovery, and charges have been laid by the mounties.

Official news story here following arrest and charges.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=30304

Two charged after raising WWII bomber from lake

‘The Flying Prostitute’ crashed en route to aid Russia in 1942
Jun 05, 2009 04:41 PM

Bob Weber
THE CANADIAN PRESS

The fate of a derelict Second World War bomber once nicknamed “The Flying Prostitute” is up in the air since two Calgary brothers fished part of it out of a remote Yukon lake.

The brothers want to complete the salvage and see the B-26 Marauder restored and placed in a museum. But the territorial government, suspecting a profit motive, has grounded their plans and is charging the pair with violating the territory’s heritage legislation.

“Our past is not to be peddled,” Jeff Hunston of the Heritage Resources Department said Friday. “We want our heritage in the Yukon.”

The B-26 was a high-speed, medium-weight bomber developed by the United States and saw action in several theatres of the war. Some were used during the D-Day invasion, the 65th anniversary of which is being marked this weekend.

The plane’s nickname was derived from its short wingspan, which appeared to give it no visible means of support.

Many Marauders were part of a lend-lease program that helped arm Russia against the Nazi invasion. In a massive airlift called the Northwest Staging Route, about 7,000 warplanes were flown from Great Falls, Mont., to Fairbanks, Alaska, en route to Siberia. There were stops in Canada to refuel.

On Jan. 16, 1942, six of them left Great Falls. Three got lost in Yukon airspace and crashed after running out of fuel, said Bob Cameron, a Yukon aviation buff in Whitehorse. The fourth crash-landed on the ice of Watson Lake and another crashed on takeoff as it set out again. Only one made it to Fairbanks.

“That was an unlucky group of airplanes,” he said.

Enter history buffs Brian and John Jasman, who found one of the planes last year with a sonar device. They had been combing through declassified military records and accident reports for 20 years. This spring, the brothers floated the nose cone of the derelict up to the surface and hauled it to shore.

“It was kind of amazing,” said Brian Jasman from his campsite beside Watson Lake, just north of the British Columbia-Yukon boundary.

“It should be in a museum where everybody could see it. Sitting in 70 feet of water, it’s just going to rot to nothing.”

The Jasmans were starting their search for the rest of the plane when the territorial government stepped in.

“The government of the Yukon owns that plane,” said Hunston.

The Northwest Staging Route helped establish some of the territory’s modern-day airports, he said. The many warplane wrecks it left behind are important artifacts of Yukon history – and potential tourist attractions.

Hunston suspects the Jasmans’ motives.

“We’re well aware of the antique warbird market out there. There’s a lot of money to be made and even parts can be hot commodities.”

Although thousands of Marauders were built, there are only a handful in museums and even fewer in flying condition.

Hunston fears the Watson Lake Marauder could wind up in an American private collection, much like a P-39 Cobra fighter that was allowed to leave the Yukon and ended up in a private museum in Oregon.

“We, too, want our warbird heritage preserved and exhibited in museums so that everybody benefits.”

Hunston said the brothers have been served notice to appear in court on charges under the territory’s heritage legislation. They could face a fine of up to $50,000.

But the Jasmans claim finders, keepers. Brian says the U.S. air force has relinquished any claim on the wreck. He also points out that the plane’s location underwater places it under federal, not territorial, legislation.

“We’re going to stick it out and let the lawyer deal with it and see what happens. Legally, they can’t take it.”

So, for now, the Marauder sits atop a trailer alongside the Watson Lake airport where it attempted to land 67 years ago.

There are dozens of relics like it along the old flight route. Just this week, a pair of unexploded 227-kilogram bombs were found near the airport.

The Marauder isn’t even the only wreck in Watson Lake. Cameron said an old Lancaster bomber is visible from the surface.

The town’s airport was a maintenance depot during the war and used for testing in the years afterward.

“There have been quite a few accidents in Watson Lake,” Cameron said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/646307

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:34 am Post subject: B-26 bombers were not part of Lend Least to USSR

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Those B-26 airplanes were definitely not part of Lend Lease to USSR. If I remember correctly, B-26 airplanes were not part of that program. Whoever told them that these planes were part of lend lease to USSR does not know what they are talking about.

According to the USAAF Form No. 14 Aircraft Accident Reports:

The airplanes were part of the 77th Bomb Squadron and were part of the USAAF Alaskan Air Force. The three B-26 bombers that crashed at Watson Lake were part of a flight of 13 B-26s that had originated at Gowen Field, Idaho, en route to Elmendorf Field, Alaska, via Fort Nelson and White Horse. There were also 11 P-40s and a couple of transport airplanes making the trip. Several airplanes made the flight successfully to White Horse and on to Elmendorf. The 3 B-26s that crashed in the vicinity of Watson Lake took off from Fort Nelson and soon encountered poor weather on the flight to White Horse. Three of them got lost and ran out of fuel, resulting in forced landings near Watson Lake. The three airplanes that crash landed that day:

B-26 # 40-1459, piloted by 2Lt. E.S. Avery
B-26 # 40-1464, piloted by 2Lt. W.J. Dancer
B-26 # 40-1502, piloted by 1Lt. G.A. Doolittle

Further, two airplanes were involved in accidents upon landing at White Horse. They were:

B-26 # 40-1461, piloted by 1Lt. J.G. Pickard
B-26 # 40-1453, piloted by 2Lt. G.S. Stevens

Also, a detailed accounting of the events surrounding this series of accidents can be found on page 41-42 of the excellent book by Blake W. Smith, “WARPLANES TO ALASKA.” These airplanes were part of a plan to reinforce Alaska after the Pearl Harbor attack. The airplanes had absolutely nothing to do with the Lend Lease to USSR.

Tony Mireles

Photos of cockpit on trailer.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=30284

Regards

Mark Pilkington