MILEPOSTS #1100

By Ken Brafman, Image from ROWHS Collection

TITLE: B-26 BOMBER CRASHES INTO KELLER PEAK: In the beginning month of World II an event took place on December 30, 1941, that brought the war close to home in the mountain communities. A USAAF Martin B-26 Marauder bomber #40-1475 crashed into cloud enshrouded Keller Peak, killing its crew of nine. The bomber, along with eight others, took off on a positioning flight from present-day Edwards AFB to March Field in Riverside. During the flight, strong winds had forced the B-26 formation into instrument conditions. The B-26 #40-1475 failed to arrive at March Field and was reported missing. After an extensive search by army airplanes, the wreckage of the bomber was located on January 14, 1942, near the summit of the 7,882-foot-high Keller Peak. The B-26 was one of nine rushed to the West Coast prior to being flown to Hawaii to reinforce our armed forces following the recent Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The other eight B-26’s reached March Field and went on to Hawaii and from there they were flown to Midway Island to fight the epic battle of June 1942. The mountain winter had been very cold and stormy, but it was important to get the planes and their crew to their appointed base. The B-26 had been rushed from production into active service and had the unfortunate nickname of “the flying coffin.” When the wreck was spotted on January 14 national forest rangers led Army personnel to the crash site, and on January 15 the Army announced that the plane had been found. Much of the body of the B-26 was salvaged for aluminum. This week’s image shows one of the two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines that remain at the site, well-covered by brush. In 1994 a memorial plaque was placed above the crash site by David G. Schmidt of Running Springs.

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