In memory of the crew of US Army Air Forces Martin B-26C Marauder, Aircraft No. 41-34765

1st Lt Robert Eugene Lawrence, Pilot, USAAC 8th Air Force, 22 years of age.

2nd Lt Hulbert H Robertson, Navigator, USAAC 8th Air Force 23 years of age.

Flight Officer James Grady Jackson, Co-pilot, USAAC 8th Air Force, 20 years of age.

S/Sgt William A Brown, Engineer, USAAC 8th Air Force, 21 years of age.

 

Killed in a crash, 4th June 1943, near St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK Aircraft struck rocky crag in poor visibility. Recorded as 8th Air Force 335 Bomb Group.

 

For years we have gone to the coast near St David's, Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It's a great place for family holidays, it's unspoilt within a national park. Over the years we had heard that a wartime aircraft had crashed on the high crag above the coastline. As rumours were so varied, and even a local writer had published completely inaccurate information about the tragic aircraft, I set out to research what had really happened. As I have always been interested in flying, it became quite a quest! My boys, and some friends also were keen to find out what the truth really was. Over the years walking and climbing over that beautiful spot, in summer weather, a few fragments of the aircraft would be found, and that would lead to more questions from my boys and a greater resolve to learn more. After nine years or so, with the help of another researcher, the exact aircraft has now been identified. It was a USAAF Martin Marauder B-26C that crashed whilst on the final stage of a ferry flight to the UK from the States via S America and Africa. The crew had taken off from Port Lyauty (now Kenitra), Morocco bound for St Eval in Cornwall (South West England). The flight would have been approx 1070 to 1090 nautical miles, I guess mostly over water. If you look at a map, it looks like they missed St Eval. I now have a copy of the actual accident investigation report from the USAF Safety Agency. On that day, the 4th June 1943, the crag in Pembrokeshire was obscured in cloud, the B-26 struck at high speed; nobody stood a chance. It's strange, but when I saw the names of the crew on the report for the first time, it was as if they were friends that I had never met. Largely due to the work of researcher Steve Jones, the full names and details of the crew are now known. Lt Robertson was buried at the American Military Cemetery at Cambridge, and I have visited his grave. The other three were returned to the US, after the war, for burial.

 

A Memorial Ceremony for the crew is to be held on the 4th of June 2005 at Whitesands Bay near St David's Pembokeshire.

 

The timing will coincide with the time that the aircraft crashed, 1615 hours. A propeller from the aircraft, found a few years ago on the hillside, has been protectively treated and will form part of the lasting memorial to the fallen crew.

 

Respectfully,

 

Paul Cartwright

Stourbridge, England