The Gillingham & Battle B-26 Crashes of 1944
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    • 42-96050 Crew Sheet
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      • 1 LT Witcher T. Berger
      • 1 LT Warren D. Rodgers
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      • CPL Forrest W. Pafenberg
      • S SG George S. Knight
    • 42-96263 Crew Sheet
    • The Crew's Personal Stories>
      • 2 LT Claude W. Kline, Jr
      • 2 LT Emil F. Ostrowski
      • S SG James F. Bechtler
      • SGT Boris R. Salimsky
      • S SG Raymond F. Sablatura
      • S SG Joseph Amato
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      • Fanny F Whittingham
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      • George Thomas Gandon
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    • 42-107592 Crew sheet
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      • Lt Tommie Potts
      • Lt. Christian Burger
      • Lt. LeRoy Dyer
      • T/Sgt. George Kyle
      • S/Sgt. James Long
      • S/Sgt. George Williams
    • 42-96249 Crew Sheet
    • The Crew's Personal Stories>
      • 2nd Lt. Thomas Jenkins
      • 2nd Lt. Walter Winter
      • Sgt. George Rogers
      • S/Sgt. William Hoeb
      • S/Sgt. Ralph Parker
      • Sgt. Edward Baily
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Picture


The  crew sheets taken from the accident reports state that George S Rogers was crew aboard the  42-96263 and that Boris Salinsky was aboard the 42-96249. All other official documentation about this accident including the loading records, mission records and official details of the accident state that Rogers was aboard the 249 and Salinsky was aboard the 263. It is our conclusion that the official accident report erroneously switched the two men and therefore is incorrect. 

Official Mission Records


The flying formation of June 6, 1944
Picture

The Aircraft's History
42-96263, coded 5W-S of the 587th BS.

Built at the Glenn L Martin factory at Baltimore, Maryland as a B-26F-1-MA, and accepted by the Army Air Force on 28th February 1944. Next flown by ferry pilots from Baltimore, Maryland (ATC) from 1st March 1944, to the 3rd AF staging area at Hunter Field, Savannah, Georgia. Then went to Homestead Army Air Field, Florida on 8th March 1944, from where the aircraft was flown overseas to the UK via the Southern Ferry Route, departing the USA on 12thMarch 1944. Entered combat with the 394th BG / 587th BS as an early replacement aircraft on 24th May 1944. Collided in mid air with 42-96050 and crashed into an orchard at East Court Farm in Gillingham, Kent on 6th June 1944 during the morning mission to Gun positions at St. Martin de Varreville on the Cherbourg Peninsula, France. The pilot 2nd Lt. Claude W Kline, Jnr and crew were killed. The aircraft had flown 4 combat missions.