Time Team

The Bombers in the Marsh - Warton near Preston, Lancashire

E3    Jan 16, 2005    50m    TV-G
On 29 November 1944, two US Douglas A-26 Invader bombers crashed in Warton Marsh. Both planes, along with a number of others, had left Warton Airbase in formation, en route to join forces in the preparations for the Battle of the Bulge. Only one minute off the runway and 1,000 feet into the air, the aircraft collided and came to rest in the marsh. All the crew died. Their bodies were recovered from the planes, but an investigation into the causes of the crash was inconclusive.

For this programme, Time Team enlisted a veteran air crash investigator, along with the RAF's 'crash and smash' team and other experts to try to find out what caused the crash. Each of the planes, including the engines, was believed to be relatively intact and, it was hoped, would provide the necessary information to determine why these two planes collided.
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Cast of The Bombers in the Marsh - Warton near Preston, Lancashire
  • Tony RobinsonSelf - Presenter
  • Carenza LewisSelf - Field Archaeologist
  • Phil HardingSelf - Field Archaeologist
  • John GaterSelf - Geophysicist
  • Stewart AinsworthSelf - Landscape Investigator
  • Mick AstonSelf - Landscape Archaeologist
  • Victor AmbrusSelf - Historical Illustrator
  • Francis PryorSelf - Bronze Age Specialist
  • Henry ChapmanSelf - Surveyor
  • Raksha DaveSelf - Field Archeologist

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