Three B-26 destroyed on the ground at Earls Colne, 22 March 1944

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

On 22 March 1944, I have the following entry in my database:

During the night of 21-22 March 1944 the British defences reported that about 95 enemy bombers flew a two pronged attack on London. Some 70 machines came in over the East Anglian coast and another 25 flew in over Sussex and Kent, with most of them reaching London. 41 boroughs were hit and the first reports listed 247 fires in London, with major incidents in Poplar, Islington, Millwall, Tottenham and Dagenham, and 62 killed and 256 seriously injured, mostly at London.

Ten German aircraft were lost. One of them was the Ju 88 A-14 WNr 301185 3E+GS of 8./KG 6 that was shot down at 0050 hrs on the 22nd by a Mosquito XIII of 488 Sqn RNZAF flown by Flt Lt John A S Hall and Flg Off John Paul Wargrave Cairns, who had claimed together the first two claims of their squadron on 21-22 January 1944. It was their 3rd victory. The Ju 88 crashed amongst USAAF aircraft parked on Earls Colne airfield, Essex, causing a huge explosion. Three B-26 of 386th BG were destroyed, including the B-26B-15-MA 41-31627 "Perkatory" YA-Q of 555th BS. The 386th was especially unlucky, as it had only temporarily replaced the resident 323rd BG at the Essex base as part of a mobility exercise.

Crew:
Oblt Hans Diblik KIA
Uffz Egon Staufenberg KIA
Uffz Hermann Kamradt KIA
Fw J Zimmermann POW

Source:
"The Blitz Then and Now, volume 3. May 1941 – March 1945", collective work, ISBN 0-900913-58-4
"Osprey Combat Aircraft 2: B-26 Marauder units of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces", by Jerry Scutts. ISBN 1-85532-637-X
http://www.markstyling.com/b26_research.10.htm
http://home.fuse.net/vaughan/Serial%20Numbers/b-26-aircraft--information-plane--name-fix-with-photos.htm
http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche.html
http://www.fold3.com/image/#161305726
http://www.fold3.com/image/#161306032
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earls_Colne_Airfield
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.914444,0.6825&spn=0.03,0.03&t=m&q=51.91 4444,0.6825

I have searched the ID of the two other destroyed B-26s, but without success. I am now wondering if they were destroyed or damaged, or if they belonged to another unit.

If anyone knows more about these B-26s, I am interested.

Thanks in advance

Laurent