B-26 Marauder 42-107566
The horrific image in this post, which was taken on July 10, 1944, shows a B-26 Marauder 42-107566 after it was struck over Italy.
The website of the American War Memorials Overseas, which uses Missing Aircraft Report {MACR} 6454 as a reference, gives the complete story behind this picture:
‘B-26 (42-107566) and crew were part of the 441st Bomber Squadron, 320th Bomber Group, based at Decimomannu (Sardegna), Italy.
Left-wing and horizontal stabilizer blown away by flak
‘On that day, the 320th was directed to bomb the north side of the railroad bridge near Marzabotto, Italy, just south of Sasso Marconi. 20 B-26s of the 320th Bomber Group departed the airbase at 14:50 along with B-26 (42-107566) with its crew with one substitute. While en route to the bombing target, (42-107566) was hit by antiaircraft fire. The direct hit blew the left wing and horizontal stabilizer off, sending the plane into an uncontrollable spin and trapping the crew inside. A photographer in a plane above, captured the moment just before the plane’s impending doom; an iconic photo depicting the great sacrifice of the United States Army Air Forces during the war. The B-26, with bombs still aboard crashed into a hill just outside Lama di Reno.
‘The crew was declared missing in action. The unidentified remains were buried on site. In 1947, the remains were moved to the U.S. military cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy. On December 7, 1949, the remains of the six crew members, still unidentified, were buried in the U.S. at Jefferson Barracks. On Sept. 20, 1991, the six crewmen, now identified, received a full military burial; they are buried together in Section 79, Site 382A-B.’
The crew of B-26 (42-107566) included:
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- 1st Lt. Murry B. Wiginton ,Jr. – Pilot (KIA)
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- 2nd Lt. William E. Wigginton – CoPilot (KIA)
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- PFC Norford G. Meador – Bombadier (KIA)
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- Sgt. Ernest D. Casey – Engineer/Gunner (KIA)
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- S/Sgt. Wesley B. Hoffman – Radio Operator/Gunner (KIA)
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- S/Sgt. Philip A. Iannotta – Tail Gunner (KIA) (Substitute crew member)
A plaque to remember the sacrifice of the crew
Note: T/SGT Harvey Lias was a regular crewmember (Tail Gunner) of this aircraft. On this mission day, Lias was sick and was replaced by Philip Iannotta.
According to the American War Memorials Overseas website, T/SGT Harvey Lias returned several times to look for the site of the B-26 crash. In the early 1990s, with the help of local Italians, the crash site was found, and Lias left a plaque remembering his friends and fellow crewmates.
In the 2000s, the Group Collezione Storica Quardri-Venturi conducted a more extensive search of the area and found numerous aircraft parts that are now on display. One particular item was found as an 1882 silver dollar made into a necklace; this find and the story of this B-26 was front page news in Italy.
In 2015 Collezione Storica Quardri-Venturi and the Romagna Airfinders rededicated the plaque to remember the sacrifice of the crew.
Photo: U.S. Air Force
