Warbird Information Exchange

This the plane pulled from Watson Lake, Yukon

Two charged after raising WWII bomber from lake


'The Flying Prostitute' crashed en route to aid Russia in 1942
Jun 05, 2009 04:41 PM

Bob Weber
THE CANADIAN PRESS

The fate of a derelict Second World War bomber once nicknamed ``The Flying Prostitute" is up in the air since two Calgary brothers fished part of it out of a remote Yukon lake.

The brothers want to complete the salvage and see the B-26 Marauder restored and placed in a museum. But the territorial government, suspecting a profit motive, has grounded their plans and is charging the pair with violating the territory's heritage legislation.

"Our past is not to be peddled," Jeff Hunston of the Heritage Resources Department said Friday. "We want our heritage in the Yukon."

The B-26 was a high-speed, medium-weight bomber developed by the United States and saw action in several theatres of the war. Some were used during the D-Day invasion, the 65th anniversary of which is being marked this weekend.

The plane's nickname was derived from its short wingspan, which appeared to give it no visible means of support.

Many Marauders were part of a lend-lease program that helped arm Russia against the Nazi invasion. In a massive airlift called the Northwest Staging Route, about 7,000 warplanes were flown from Great Falls, Mont., to Fairbanks, Alaska, en route to Siberia. There were stops in Canada to refuel.

On Jan. 16, 1942, six of them left Great Falls. Three got lost in Yukon airspace and crashed after running out of fuel, said Bob Cameron, a Yukon aviation buff in Whitehorse. The fourth crash-landed on the ice of Watson Lake and another crashed on takeoff as it set out again. Only one made it to Fairbanks.

"That was an unlucky group of airplanes," he said.

Enter history buffs Brian and John Jasman, who found one of the planes last year with a sonar device. They had been combing through declassified military records and accident reports for 20 years. This spring, the brothers floated the nose cone of the derelict up to the surface and hauled it to shore.

"It was kind of amazing," said Brian Jasman from his campsite beside Watson Lake, just north of the British Columbia-Yukon boundary.

"It should be in a museum where everybody could see it. Sitting in 70 feet of water, it's just going to rot to nothing."

The Jasmans were starting their search for the rest of the plane when the territorial government stepped in.

"The government of the Yukon owns that plane," said Hunston.

The Northwest Staging Route helped establish some of the territory's modern-day airports, he said. The many warplane wrecks it left behind are important artifacts of Yukon history – and potential tourist attractions.

Hunston suspects the Jasmans' motives.

"We're well aware of the antique warbird market out there. There's a lot of money to be made and even parts can be hot commodities."

Although thousands of Marauders were built, there are only a handful in museums and even fewer in flying condition.

Hunston fears the Watson Lake Marauder could wind up in an American private collection, much like a P-39 Cobra fighter that was allowed to leave the Yukon and ended up in a private museum in Oregon.

"We, too, want our warbird heritage preserved and exhibited in museums so that everybody benefits."

Hunston said the brothers have been served notice to appear in court on charges under the territory's heritage legislation. They could face a fine of up to $50,000.

But the Jasmans claim finders, keepers. Brian says the U.S. air force has relinquished any claim on the wreck. He also points out that the plane's location underwater places it under federal, not territorial, legislation.

"We're going to stick it out and let the lawyer deal with it and see what happens. Legally, they can't take it."

So, for now, the Marauder sits atop a trailer alongside the Watson Lake airport where it attempted to land 67 years ago.

There are dozens of relics like it along the old flight route. Just this week, a pair of unexploded 227-kilogram bombs were found near the airport.

The Marauder isn't even the only wreck in Watson Lake. Cameron said an old Lancaster bomber is visible from the surface.

The town's airport was a maintenance depot during the war and used for testing in the years afterward.

"There have been quite a few accidents in Watson Lake," Cameron said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/646307

Very interesting.

Thank you for the update!

Cheers,

David

P.S. Regardless of whether it's Territorial or Federal legislation doesn't matter one bit. They did not follow any rules. They never got permission to remove the artifact. I want to see it in a Museum too, instead of the bottom of Watson Lake.

He might want a new lawyer.

From what I understand, The Federal Government has control over coastal waters (ie: saltwater), lakes are clearly under the jurisdiction of the Provincial or Territorial Government. The heritage laws are pretty tight up there and are very well known. I don't think they would have had any problem obtaining a permit for recovery - but to recover without a permit is a huge deal under the legislation.

Another Lancaster for Canada. Fantastic!!

The Lancaster is far more inportant to Canada than the B-26.

Rgds Cking

P.S. Oh Canada!!

As posted on this thread: http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hp?t=30284 it's not a Lancaster, but a Lincoln.

...I tend to think that I OWN that plane ... not the ykon government...EH.

Perhaps a Russian museum could use the B-26, since they used so many during the war.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Not sure that would be sufficient proof in a Canadian court of law, when on a sovereign country, their laws prevail.

regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Those B-26 airplanes were definitely not part of Lend Lease to USSR. If I remember correctly, B-26 airplanes were not part of that program. Whoever told them that these planes were part of lend lease to USSR does not know what they are talking about.

According to the USAAF Form No. 14 Aircraft Accident Reports:

The airplanes were part of the 77th Bomb Squadron and were part of the USAAF Alaskan Air Force. The three B-26 bombers that crashed at Watson Lake were part of a flight of 13 B-26s that had originated at Gowen Field, Idaho, en route to Elmendorf Field, Alaska, via Fort Nelson and White Horse. There were also 11 P-40s and a couple of transport airplanes making the trip. Several airplanes made the flight successfully to White Horse and on to Elmendorf. The 3 B-26s that crashed in the vicinity of Watson Lake took off from Fort Nelson and soon encountered poor weather on the flight to White Horse. Three of them got lost and ran out of fuel, resulting in forced landings near Watson Lake. The three airplanes that crash landed that day:

B-26 # 40-1459, piloted by 2Lt. E.S. Avery
B-26 # 40-1464, piloted by 2Lt. W.J. Dancer
B-26 # 40-1502, piloted by 1Lt. G.A. Doolittle

Further, two airplanes were involved in accidents upon take-off from White Horse and landing at landing at Watson Lake. They were:

B-26 # 40-1461, piloted by 1Lt. J.G. Pickard; crash while taking off from White Horse.
B-26 # 40-1453, piloted by 2Lt. G.S. Stevens; crashed while landing at Watson Lake.

Also, a detailed accounting of the events surrounding this series of accidents can be found on page 41-42 of the excellent book by Blake W. Smith, "WARPLANES TO ALASKA." These airplanes were part of a plan to reinforce Alaska after the Pearl Harbor attack. The airplanes had absolutely nothing to do with the Lend Lease to USSR.

Tony Mireles

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

The article was probably written by a layman with no detailed knowledge of WWII. He probably heard that lend-lease stuff was sent to Russia through western Canada, and just jumped to a conclusion. It grates on our nerves, but most people today couldn't even tell you exactly when the war happened, much less the who the major players were (at least in the States..I don't know about our northern neighbors.)

It's wierd to think that to today's 20-somethings, Vietnam is as far in the past was WWII is to my generation (and I don't consider myself that old!)

SN

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Bump

T

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

Now what the heII kind of tourism are they hoping to set up with them the way they are. They need to be saved.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

yes, it is NOT a tourist attraction when it's at the bottom of the lake, and when it's kept so secret.

Such a rare airplane needs to be properly preserved above water.

-David

Steve,

Yeah, my buddy and I were marveling over the fact that WWII ended not too distant before we were born and was still close in time even when we began reading about it as youngsters. Nearly every grown up I knew had some connection to the war (or were born during it) and many referred to it as an inevitable time marker. It was defintely a touchstone of history that allows events to be catagorized as "before the war" and "since the war."

And you are absolutely correct, the youger generation, in many cases, have no clue about it. I made sure that this was not the case with my two nephews. I made sure that they were heavily immersed in WWII history with books and magazines. My 12 year old nephew really enjoys WWII ground campaigns and history rather than air war subjects. I think this is manifested in his interest in the WWII shooter games he plays on his game boxes.

TonyM.
Reading WWII every day.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

I have a compromise propasal. If this goes well it may launch my career as a mediator.

I proprose that the brothers keep the cockpit section they have recovered and Watson Lake can keep the rest of the bomber. This way the 'Heritage of the Yukon' can be protected until it rots away to nothing. Once it rots away and into the mud completely it will truly be melded with the yukon heritage forever. A win win situation for everybody. Even the beavers benefit and the brothers should be allowed to keep something if for no other reason than they have confirmed the existence of some yukon heritage. I'm sure they would be happy to display it to anyone interested in said heritage.

Second idea is the brothers build a swamp ghost type barbecue as a heritage trade and get to salvage the rest of the bomber. If it worked once it might work again.