B-26 "Hitch Hiker" - The Plane and Her Crew

LEST WE FORGET

The Martin B-26 Marauder is said to have been one of the most controversial combat aircraft of the Second World War. Called the "Widow Maker" because of a high accident rate that followed its introduction, by 1944 it had the lowest loss rate on operational missions of any American aircraft in the European theatre, reaching a point less than one half of one percent. The B-26 was numerically the most important USAAF medium bomber in Europe, where the aircraft was mainly used.

The depicted aircraft, the "Hitch Hiker," was assigned to the 9th Air Force's 391st Bomb Group, 573rd Bomb Squadron for medium bomber missions flown out of Matching Green AB, England, beginning in February, 1944.Photos below show the crew and aircraft.

On July 28, 1944 at 12,500 feet on a bombing run near Grosley sur Risle, Normandy, the "Hitch Hiker" was taken apart at the waist by a German 88mm gun. Three survived, parachuting to ground. Culshaw, Lemmon and Rawlings, with over 170 bombing missions flown between them, heroes all, were killed in action.

This flight simulation panel and plane are dedicated to them and to all of the other "Marauder Men" of WW II.

Hitch Hiker Aircrew.
Left to right, front row:
S./Sgt. John R. Culshaw (flight engineer, top-turret gunner),
T./Sgt. William S. Rawlings (radio operator, waist gunner)
S./Sgt. John W. Sweren (tail gunner
back row: 1st Lt. Robert F. Lemmon, Jr. (bombardier)
1st Lt. Robert H. Clark (pilot)
1st Lt. George Lee Parker (co-pilot).
Matching Green AB, in about May 1944.

Hitch Hiker Ground Crew. Center man in the picture is
T/Sgt. E.W. Quillian, ground crew chief, "One of the best!"


Hitch Hiker crew with 2,000 lb bombs. From left to right, S./Sgt. John R. Culshaw , 1st Lt. Robert F. Lemmon, Jr. , T./Sgt. William S. Rawlings , 1st Lt. Robert H. Clark and S./Sgt. John W. Sweren		Hitch Hiker crew at ease, with smaller bombs. From left to right, S./Sgt. John R. Culshaw , S./Sgt. John W. Sweren , 1st Lt. Robert H. Clark and T./Sgt. William S. Rawlings .


The Hitch Hiker, 573rd Bomb Squadron, 391st Bomb Group. Shot down by German 88 mm guns on July 28, 1944, en route to attack a railroad bridge at Grosley-sur-Risle, Normandy.		The Hitch Hiker. The plane was shot down July 28,1944, when Culshaw, Lemmon and Rawlings were killed in action.


1st Lt. Robert H. Clark, on a mission, piloting the Hitch Hiker, circa May, 1944.		The Hitch Hiker, 391st BG archive photo. The plane was actually a B-26B-55-MA, and not a B-26B-50-MA as incorrectly indicated in the above photo caption.


Tableau B-26 Hitch Hiker et Ginnie Gee. Painting commissioned by Christian Levaufre, La Membrolle sur Choisille, France. It depicts two B-26s of the 391st BG, "Hitch-Hiker" ( Robert H Clark, pilot ) and "Ginnie Gee" ( Joe Boylan, pilot ) over Périers in the morning of June 13, 1944.		"Junior" (42-107740), plane flown by 391st BG Deputy Commander Lt. Col. John L. Samuel, badly flak damaged 573rd BS mission aircraft on 05/20/44.


Remnant of No. 2 runway (Runway 09), facing east, at Matching Green Airbase, about 30 miles NE of London, 1987.		Twelve O'clock High. Remnant of control tower at Matching Green Airbase, 1987.

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