Aircraft Wrecks in the Mountains and Deserts of the American West

Martin B-26
12/30/41
 

On 12/30/41 a USAAF Martin B-26 #40-1475 crashed into cloud enshrouded Keller Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California killing the crew of nine. 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 12/7/41 Japanese attack. #40-1475 was en route to March Field in Riverside County from Muroc AAB when it crashed. Weather was a factor in this accident, the other eight B-26’s reached March Field and went on to Hawaii from there they were flown to Midway Island to fight the epic battle of June 1942.

In 1994 a memorial plaque was placed above the crash site by David G. Schmidt of Running Spring, CA. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Schmidt the crew of #40-1475 will not be forgotten. Thanks to Pete DuBoise for sharing his photos of the memorial plaque and crash site. My first visits to the B-26 site were in the 1960’s and 70’s. Not much has changed since then as the long silent R-2800 engines still remain with the landing gear and assorted small parts. A salvager smelted the wreck in the late 1950’s for its aluminum value

R-2800-5 engine located near initial impact of Martin B-26 #40-1475. (Photo by G. P. Macha)	Another view of R-2800-5 engine with Rich Allision in the Manzanita  just below initial impact. A few hundred yards east, west, or a few hundred feet higher and  they would have cleared the peak. (Photo by G. P. Macha)
Keller Peak summit. The. B-26 crash site is located just to the left of this view. (Photo by Pete DuBoise)	Outstanding photo of plaque by Pete DuBoise