"Bombers in the Marsh" Warton

11.01.2005

The A-26 Invader

In July this year The Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team, together with members of RAF Millom Museum took part in a major project in association with the Channel 4 Television's Time Team. The aim was to excavate the crash sites of two A-26 Invader aircraft which collided shortly after take-off over the marshes close to the then USAAF BAD 2 airbase at Warton. This project was the culmination of months of planning and preparation as the site was probably one of the most demanding that we, or the Time Team have attempted to work on.

This page is intended to provide a basic overview of the project - a full account will, I'm afraid, have to wait until after the programmes is aired - on 16th January 2005 at 5.00pm. I can promise you it will be worth well worth watching and even from this brief taster you will realise that this was a site quite unlike anything most enthusiasts, certainly in this country at least, are ever likely to come across and it was quite an experience and privilege being involved.

 

Kerry gets stuck into a Pratt & Whitney	Discussing the finer points of the A-26?

The two aircraft involved: 43-22298 and 43-22336 had taken-off from Base Air Depot 2 (BAD2) on 29.11.1944 to ferry the aircraft to Bretigny in France to re-equip the 641st Squadron of the 409th Bombardment Group of the Ninth Airforce based there. The crews were 641st personnel who had been sent to BAD2 to be trained on the new type and familiarise themselves with the aircraft before flying them back, in order that they would be able to go straight into operational use. On that day some 20 A-26s were in the air forming up for the flight when two collided and fell on to the tidal mud-flats that have now consolidated to form part of Warton marsh.

Name	Position	Status
2nd Lt. Kenneth E. Hubbard	Pilot	K.
2nd Lt. Norman E. Zuber	Pilot	K.
Sgt. John F. Guy	Engineer	K.

Although LAIT members had established the location of the now buried aircraft, the terrain was still pretty inhospitable, over a mile from firm ground, with numerous tidal "gutters" to negotiate, meaning some seriously heavy duty and high-tech equipment was called for - on no-less than a SSSI site! So even though those involved in our hobby are used to red-tape - this project was in a league of its own! Hagglund BV206s proved the transport of choice to and from the site, with two large marsh-tracked 20 ton excavators to do the actual recovery work and a 12 ton tracked dumper-truck providing logistical support. Not to mention several other specialist vehicles and equipment - Certainly plenty of toys to play with!

Hagglund BV206s proved the transport of choice!	Phil getting stuck in - Literally! He never stopped!

Working with a television crew is certainly an experience! And we soon got to accept the routine - it was not quite "Okay once again from the top - Take 32"! but it did lead to frustration at times. Overall considering the extent of the remains and the nature of the site we got an amazing amount done and uncovered far more of the aircraft than we though possible. One of the key criteria for selecting the site was that there should be remains that looked like they had once been or belonged to an aircraft - even to the layman! and we certainly delivered on our promise in this respect!

Well he did work hard!

Email: lait@ukonline.co.uk

This page Copyright © Nick Wotherspoon 2004