Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

We went to Snowdonia's Y Garn for the third time yesterday, to document the wreckage trail we spied from the top on our last visit to the mountain.

Once you are in the right Cwm (Cywion), there are fragments everywhere, far more numerous and more sizeable than are suggested by other internet writers.

The right way up was such an easy walk compared with the wrong ways tried previously that we had time to try out the famous Pete's Eats in Llanberis afterwards-not bad at all. Big portions, if a bit pricey.

This undercarriage strut (around 1.5m long) is one of the three originally used in the Marauder's tricycle undercarriage. There is reportedly a second leg like this still at the site, but the third seems to have gone missing.

This one lies quite a short distance from the stream bed where much of the rest of the wreckage is to be found, but is not as visually obvious as the rest of the parts from ground level.

Location: SH 63149 60150

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

At the top of the stream we found these fairly sizeable components, which used to support the undercarriage leg seen in the post above, according to the Aero Part Identify Board posters.

Location: SH 63112 60187

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

These bits of armour plate were the highest fragments of any size we found. We are told they come from the crew's seats.

Other internet sites claim that only a few scraps of armour plate remain, but that is clearly not the case, as we have shown in this series of posts, which themselves only show perhaps 25% of what is there.

What happened to the remainder? We have little to add to David Earl's account.

Location: SH 63095 60149

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

A day out with Matt ZX to see if we could find anything from the Marauder crash site on Y Garn yesterday.

The photo shows what we believe to be the impact point of this medium bomber of the Western face of Y Garn, Snowdonia. The parallel lines of scree are deepish scrapes which have filled over time with small stones. The site location was proven correct by the presence of some distinctive bits of aircraft aluminium, as shown in the entry below.

David Earl reports that the aircraft broke in two from here, with one bit staying with one of the crew on the Llanberis side, and the remainder of the crew and 'plane going over the edge to break up and scatter in the valley below. An old-time wreckhunter has written to tell us that by the early 60s only the props lay on this side of the hillside, the wing sections seemingly having been pushed over the cliff.

Using telescopes and binoculars from the summit, we established that the undercarriage and other bits not weighed in for scrap by the local magpies are still present. We will return by the Eastern route to get photos and accurate locations for the scattered wreckage on a later trip.

Location of impact point: SH 62842 59856

Location of undercarriage:SH 631 602

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig

Site proving debris

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Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072?

Marauder?
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

It's all question marks this week, as we found artefacts, but cannot definitively say which aircraft they came from.

Our planned route of ascent of Y Garn proved impractical, so we switched to plan B, the nearby Ansons.

As we were about to get back into the car, I noticed this in the window of the warden station. It seems highly likely that this glob of previously molten aluminium comes from a 'plane wreck site, but the warden didn't know where it came from. He didn't know who had made it into a keyring either.

As the path to the wreck of the Marauder passes a few feet from where this was found, we speculate that this wreck is the source of this item.

Location:SH 64923 60329

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Marauder Memorial
Originally uploaded by wreckhunter

The weather prevented us taking the longer route originally intended to visit the Marauder crash site, but we visited this memorial to the crew on the Llanberis pass on our way back. It's around two miles from the crash site, which we will visit another time.

Location:SH 62066 57090

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