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| Date: | Saturday 3 October 1942 |
| Time: | 19:04 |
| Type: |  Martin B-26B-4-MA Marauder |
| Owner/operator: | 319th Bomb Group 437 BS, 8th Airforce, USAAF |
| Registration: | 41-17790 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Location: | beach at Noord-Beveland, Zeeland -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Gander, Canada |
| Station 123 (RAF) Horsham St Faith, Norfolk |
Got lost on route to Horsham St Faith and eventually ran out of fuel.
Assigned to the 319th Bomb Group, 437th Bomb Squadron.
The unlucky B-26 was lured into a trap by a false homing signal transmitted by the German Signal Korps. The German trap had sprung and the B-26 crew spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp without seeing any combat. They had earned the dubious honor of presenting the Luftwaffe with a nearly intact Marauder before the B-26 was committed to combat over Europe.
41-17790 was captured by the Germans at Noord-Beveland, Netherlands on 3 October 1942, after crash landing on a beach (belly landed) while the pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Clarence Wall, was trying to land somewhere safely on its remaining engine during its delivery flight from Iceland to Scotland.
41-17790 was the first example of the B-26 captured by the Germans.
The B-26 was carefully dismantled and and shipped to the Luftwaffe airbase at Gilze-Rijen where the minor damage to the fuselage was repaired during November 1942. However, there were no suitable replacements available for the damaged propellers.
After its capture, the Marauder was evaluated by the Luftwaffe Test and Experimental Center by Hans Werner Lerche, Luftwaffe Test pilot during June 1943 at Rechlin (a grass strip, which resulted in an "exciting" first takeoff and Larz Air bases (hard runway) and then displayed at an air show in Germany.
This B-26B was recaptured in 1945. It's subsequent fate is unknown.
Operation: Ferry flight
Crew:
Pilot 2nd Lt. C.C. Wall USAAF Survived pow
Navigator 2nd Lt. W.J. Billig USAAF Survived pow
- Private J.D. Williams USAAF Survived pow
- S/Sgt. E.J. Shanahan USAAF Survived pow
Sources:
http://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php?SGLO=T1865
https://captured-wings.fandom.com/wiki/41-17790 [Last Accessed 04/06/2024]
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archive/index.php?t-39347.html [Last Accessed 04/06/2024)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 02-Oct-2017 20:18 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2017 20:18 | TigerTimon | Updated [Damage] |
| 24-Feb-2020 18:40 | Xindel XL | Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
| 21-Jun-2022 09:45 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 04-Jun-2024 17:19 | PaulL | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 04-Jun-2024 19:40 | PaulL | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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