The Gillingham & Battle B-26 Crashes of 1944
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George Thomas William Gandon

Birth:  1898
Kent, England Death:  Jun. 6, 1944
Gillingham
Kent, England

George Thomas William Gandon was the son of Richard George Gandon and his wife Lucy. George married Edith Victoria Stafford in 1921 in Medway, Kent. Together they had two children, a son George R and a daughter Irene P.

In June of 1944 the family was living at 24 Corporation Road in Gillingham when in the early hours of the morning their home was struck by a bomb which had been jettisoned from a B26 which would crash down the street from them.  George and his wife Edith were badly injured at their home. George died the same day at the St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Edith passed away in 1945 - the cause at this time unknown. They left behind their two children, one son aged twenty years and a daughter thirteen years old. George's parents were living at 59 Medway Road at the time of their son's death.

June 6, 1944 was D-Day and the Marauders were part of a group flying on a mission. The 42-96050 587th Bomb Squadron and 42-96263 587th Bomb Squadron were involved in the mid air collision over Gillingham, Kent, England at aproximately 5:30 am. Poor weather was said to have been the primary cause of the accident. Heresay testimony of civilians in the vicinity on Gillingham, Kent indicates that one aircraft was flying around beneath the overcast. The other aircraft came down out of a large black cloud and the two collided. No actual eyewitnesses were found.

The 42-96050 587th Bomb Squadron crashed into homes on Corporation Road in Gillingham, killing the entire crew and four civilians. Six homes were demolished. The 42-96263 587th Bomb Squadron crashed into an orchard at the East Court Farm in Gillingham, Kent also killing all the crew.