DescriptionContemporary accounts suggest that wreckage from the aircraft was strewn over an area of 2000 square yards. It disintegrated as it skidded a distance of 1000yards over the top of the mountain . The bulk of the aircraft went over a cliff and plunged 500ft into a ravine where it came to rest and burnt beyond recognition. A few fragments can be found near the summit. Much is strewn across the northern slope and includes undercarriage legs, sections of armour plating and fragments of aluminium. Larger pieces of wreckage are found over the escarpment from SH631600 and along the stream to approximately SH632603. The two Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp engines have recently been taken away for museum display.
The remains of this aircraft are designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The Act makes it an offence to interfere with the wreckage of any crashed, sunken or stranded military aircraft without a licence. For further information on this Act and its administration with regard to aircraft, please contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester, GL3 1RZ.
Event and Historical Information:
The offcial investigation into the accident noted that this B-26 was assigned to the 9th Army Air Force (9 AAF). The incident occurred on 1 February 1945, at Llanberis at 13:00 local time. The crew comprised pilot 2nd Lt Kenneth W Carty (killed); co-pilot 2nd Lt William H Cardwell Jr (killed); navigator 1st Lt Nalen B Sewell (killed); radio operator Cpl Jack D Arnold (killed); and engineer Cpl Rudolph M Aquirre (killed). The plane was being ferried from St Mawgan to Burtonwood and was a combat replacement aircraft with an ATC navigator. At 09:00 zulu, the crew were briefed with 15 others on their final destination flight to Burtonwood. The crews were told that Valley would be open all day and was an alternative landing field. However, no communications regarding the weather at Valley were available by teletype or telecommunications. The briefing from St Mawgam was to climb immediately to 5000ft and if necessary to rely on instruments. A pilot who had just come in described the heights of the mountains and likely cloud conditions along the Welsh coast. The plane was airbourne by 12:32 zulu time. Twelve of the aircraft in flight arrived at Burtonwood, 2 at RAF aerodromes in the vicinity and 1 at Valley. After its fuel supply would have been exhausted, the plane was reported missing. On 2 February, an unidentified aircraft was located near the summit of Y Garn, near Llanberis by a British Radio Unit. The following day the search party identified the B-26 by fragments of personal effects from the crew. The investigators recommended that inexperienced crews be led to their destination by pilots who have experience of flying in the UK.
Sources include:
Doylerush, E, 2002, No Landing Place: A Guide to Aircraft Crashes in Snowdonia, pg93
Doylerush, E, 1999, No Landing Place Volume 2: More Tales of Aircraft Crashes in Snowdonia, pg28
US Air Accident Record 44-12-29-503, RCAHMW Digital Collections
Snowdonia Aviation Historical Group, 1985, The Air War Over Gwynedd
Wotherspoon, N, Sheldon, M and Clark, A, 2009, Aircraft Wrecks: The Walkers Guide - Historic Crash Sites on the Moors and Mountains of the British Isles
WWW resources:
http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.com/2009/09/martin-marauder-b-26g-44-68072.html
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, December 2013.
