B-26 - 10 Feb 1945 - Dremmen, Germany

[Leendert]

From the After Action Report for Feb 1945 of the US 320th Inf Reg't (35th Inf Div):

"10 February 1945: At 1515 an American airplane crashed in front of the position of C Company east of Dremmen. The pilot was rescued by an artillery liaison pilot. The disposition and activities of the Regiment continued.

11 February 1945: The airplane referred to in the previous paragraph had been identified as a B-26. The pilot had given information about three other members of the crew, who had parachuted in the vicinity of our positions. The Third Battalion found and rescued one of that crew......"

Dremmen is in the west of Germany, roughly 10 kms/6 miles NNE of Geilenkirchen.

I do not know if this B-26 loss resulted in an MACR. Three MACR's however for B-26s in Germany on 10 Feb 1945: 42-96261 (323 BG), 42-107609 (344 BG) and 42-107720(391 BG). The latter may be discounted, for all crew KIA.

Info welcome about the B-26 at Dremmen, thanks.

Regards,

Leendert

[RSwank]

42-96261 actually returned to base but two men had bailed out.

"42-107607" (not 42-107609) appears to be the plane, MACR is 12196. The pilot and navigator made it to American lines.
The tail gunner drowned in the Roer River, 3 others captured. The target was Horrem (not Heinsberg as I first indicated).
MACR link for those with fold3 access:
https://www.fold3.com/image/46713326

[Rottler]

The target of the 42-107607 was a communication center at Horrem between Bergheim and Kerpen, west of Frechen.
The crash place was near Heinsberg.

Regards
Leo

[RSwank]

Leo, thanks for the correction, I read the MACR a little too fast.

What is curious is the map in the MACR drawn by I believe John Henry Chevalier, Engineer/Gunner. He was the first to bail out and landed the furthest away from the Roer. He has several villages and hamlets and roads indicated but not named. He has his exact landing spot marked on his map, but I can't fix the spot on a current map.