The Most Dangerous WW2 Bomber
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2024
- In the spring of 1945, at a forward airfield in Belgium, Allied ground crews worked feverishly to prepare the 449th Bombardment Squadron for a new mission.
Amongst all the B-26 Marauders, one stood out from the rest. Peppered with over 1,000 patches covering bullet holes, shrapnel, and anti-aircraft shells, this twin-engine bomber was better known around the 449th as Flak Bait.
This would be the 200th mission for the battle-worn B-26, and many wondered how it could still fly.
Leading the attack that day was Colonel John Samuel, the commanding officer of the 332nd Bombardment Group, who had hand-picked this aircraft as his leading flagship for the assault against Nazi targets in Germany.
As copilot, Captain Samuel's mission was clear: ensure the squadron's success and a triumphant return from the assault on German defenses, hoping the aircraft’s nickname wouldn’t finally catch up to it…
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My father, Lieutenant Thomas J Krell, was a co-pilot of a B-26 322 Bomb Group 451st Bomb Squadron. He definitely flew with the Flak Bait on his 9 missions in service. On that ninth sortie, in September of 1944, his plane was hit by flack on a mission to Aachen Germany. He was severely injured by the flack but still helped the pilot belly land the plane in Belgium. He spent a great deal of time in the hospital trying to recover from his injuries. He carried bits of shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life. He also suffered a "drop foot" which prevented him from ever flying again and caused him to have to wear a brace on his leg for the rest of his life. As with most veterans, he very rarely spoke of his experiences, but he was very proud of his contributions. He remains a part of the greatest generation and my personal hero.
My grandfather flew in the 449th and has Flak Bait in his log book as well. He would tell me stories of flak getting close to killing him. One time his clipboard fell off his knee and he bent down to grab it, and some flak flew into the cockpit where his head would have been.
Flak.
If the B25 had better results and fewer losses, why was the B26 developed and retained?
Lower combat loss rate
@@lewisjohnson8297
FYI , Flak Bait was a popular aircraft name in WW2, , Glamour Gal was too, many of those
My grandfather flew 43 combat missions in the European Theater of Operation as a pilot in the B-26 Marauder. It was an outstanding aircraft that could be difficult to fly. He called it: “…one Helluva piece of hardware.” He was a recipient of the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, finishing the war and going home. I miss him dearly. Thank you for making this documentary about an unsung classic of the war!
a belated heart felt thanks
Those guys were dam pilots or dead. Those airplanes were very difficult and dangerous to fly. Jets after the 1970's are mostly automatic and easy to fly. Commercial pilot retired.
Pp@@CFITOMAHAWK
Flak-Bait's first pilot is my father, James J. Farrell. He named the plane and designed the nose art. Ground crew member Ted Simoniatis painted the nose art on Flak-Bait as well as Sit N Git. One mistake in the video claims Flak-Bait flew two missions on D-Day. In fact Flak-Bait flew three missions that day. The first piloted by my father, the second mission was H.C. Roger's crew and the third mission was the V. N. Liniger crew.
That's awesome. Where is Flak-Bait today? The vid suggested it might be located in a museum.
Flak Bait is being preserved at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport@@markconover1441
My favorite thing about RUclips is reading comments like this. Your father had a great sense of humor and was, no-doubt, a fantastic pilot. Thanks for sharing your family’s story!
My Bush Pilot CFI let me read a magazine he had from about 1979 with an article about Flack Bait. Was you father there. FANTASTIC ARTICLE. I had a PPL single engine and loved the B26 which i saw an air show.
@@markconover1441 From Wikipedia: When the National Air and Space Museum opened in Washington, D.C., in 1976, the nose section of Flak-Bait was placed on display there, with the remainder of the aircraft in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. In 2014, all parts of Flak-Bait were moved to the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, for a comprehensive preservation and reassembly, which is still ongoing as of late 2023.
I used to be a docent at the National Air and Space Museum in DC. It's been about 5 yrs. but the last I saw, this plane Flak Bait was being restored at the Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the NASM right next to Dulles Airport. That museum also has the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima), an SR-71 and the space shuttle Discovery on display. Even if you aren't a big airplane fan, the history and the variety of artifacts there is incredible.
FUN FACT: on the nose you will see the bombs showing the number of missions it flew but you will also see the occasional silouette of a duck. That meant it flew a "decoy" mission to draw the German's attention away from the real bombing mission that was being conducted at the same time against a different target.
My father was the copilot of a B-26 on the day they got shot down. They were only on their 4th mission. He wound up as the last guy out of ‘Payoff’ the evening of 22 August 1943 near Beaumont Le Roger airdrome in occupied France. His tail gunner bailed out first, followed by a waist gunner and their top turret gunner/flight engineer. My father wound up bailing out through the the front bomb bay doors. He ultimately got out with the aid of the French Underground, during the course of months and months of evading the Germans. I commissioned a painting of the aircraft decades later. You can google ‘Pay Off’ and see the painting. With the aid of the 386th Med Bombardment Group unit historian, I was able to touch base with his tail gunner and a guy serving as a waist gunner who was on their right in formation. That was a date none of them ever failed to remember.
Couldn't find it on Google. My Uncle served with Canadian AF....killed in a Wellington medium bomber. Greatest Generation by far!!!
My father, Joe Lankford, was a mechanic in the 322th. This was a good presentation of all he ever told me. The disastrous mission to Ijmuiden, Holland in May 1943 impacted his life terribly with the loss of so many friends and aircraft.
belated heart felt thanks
Our next door neighbor was a B-26 pilot and loved the aircraft. THEY HAD THE LOWEST COMBAT LOSS RATE IN THE USAAF. They also rated very highly for combat effectiveness (i.e. hitting the target). The "one a day in Tampa Bay" legend came from the use of early models by "kick the tires and light the fires" type pilots. Early in the war, and sometimes after, pilots figured if you knew how to fly, then you knew how to fly anything. They didn't need foolishness like reading and following the aircraft manual. They "knew" they could feel if the aircraft was ready to fly. Classic examples of such pilots; Lindberg taught operational pilots flying P-38's how to greatly increase their range. He showed them that putting the mixture in "auto lean" (as directed in the manual) would do the trick. And, Richard Bong, America's top scoring Ace, at the end of WW II crashed and died testing a P-80 because he didn't turn on the aux. fuel pump for take-off (as directed by the manual). Our neighbor told me that once pilots took "the book" seriously, the B-26 was a great airplane. It just needed modern pilots for a modern aircraft (at the time).
You still have that kind of guy in USA GA. The "im too lucky to crash" kind of. They make the local news eventually.
You're so right, unfortunately. When I was younger, the local news thought that "Piper Cub" meant anything smaller than a jet airliner. I guess there are enough pilots reading the news now that is less common these days. It would be nice if general aviation accidents were a lot less common. @@CFITOMAHAWK
Jimmy Doolittle disproved it by going up in on in the copilot seat. He never flew in one before and got checked out on the instruments by the pilot with him. The field was crowded by everyone thinking the Doolittle would down grade the aircraft. Doolittle got the feel of the aircraft then made a low pass on the airfield, feathered an engine then rolled the aircraft before making a perfect landing. His only remark was that aircraft was on. Then again there wasn’t a pilot like Doolittle who could tame the notorious GB racer that later killed on of its. designers
Doolittle did indeed have "golden hands." @@michaeltelson9798
My great uncle was one of five Cherokee boys of my Great Grandmother who all fought in World War II at the same time. My uncle Edsel served on a Marauder and a few months before the end of the war they went on a propaganda leafletting mission over southern Germany and were shot down. Most of the crew survived the crash, but my uncle, who was the tail gunner, was killed. I often think about what it must have been like for my Grandma have to deal with all FIVE of her sons off fighting in the war.
My Father was bumped from a seat on a B-26. The plane crashed on takeoff. Wado for your post.
My Cherokee grandfather was an Army-Airforce mechanic during WWII...
My Crow granny was a lathe operator for Springfield.
God bless your family.
It was hell for her I have no doubt.
The lowest combat losses of any US aircraft during the war. That should be the legacy for this aircraft.
Mosquito - lower combat losses of any Allied bomber.
One of the B-26 instructors in Oklahoma was a fellow who gained fame after the war. "Lonesome George" Gobel said on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson that he spent the war in Oklahoma and figured that's where the Army wanted him. He was proud of his service and told Carson that if you remember, NO Japanese aircraft made it past Tulsa.
He said u.s. aircraft. The mosquito is my fave bomber. Spicy little wooden wonder!
❤❤❤❤❤ my uncle flew for the 319th inn africa
My Dad piloted Marauders over Germany and France. He loved the plane. It had the lowest loss rate of any American Bomber in WW2. He belly landed one, gear was all shot up. Came back on one engine another time. Hit by flak numerous times or shot up by fighters it always brought him home. Some of his stories were pretty wild.
I thought that was the A-20 Havoc?
Yeah, that’s a theme with American WW2 aircraft. Most everyone’s focus was on speed and agility, but we were willing to sacrifice some of those abilities for toughness and durability. There’s plenty of accounts of enemy pilots emptying their guns into American planes only to be amazed that they continued to fly. No other countries’ aircraft could take the beating ours could.
I knew a man who had flown B-26 during the second World War. Although difficult to fly, he was in the group that loved the aircraft, mostly for its speed.
I flew in the Airlines with a Pilot that flew B26's in the Pacific - he loved it & said it was no harder to fly than the Fokker F27 Friendship that we were flying.
@@billolgaauBut was harder to fly than the other bombers and some whinning guys didnt like it at beginning.
@@CFITOMAHAWK it was one of the first aircraft that had to be flown by the numbers (like the B29) as we do today in the airlines.
I liked the plane and read all the books I could find. The biggest fix was the longer wing. After that, most pilots loved the plane because it was a hot rod. Thanks for putting pictures to some of the books I read.
My great grandpa was a bombardier and navigator for the b 26. They were the kicking mules. I loved the stories he would share.
My father was a B-24 pilot. He told the following story. Once they spotted a B-26. They dived on it to gain airspeed, feathered the two outboard engines, and cruised past the B-26, waving, as if they were much faster than the B-26. Good fun.
No way a B24 will be faster than a 26 with 2 engines out. No way. Unless they were diving to pass it., but then the 26 will pass them when the 24 levels off. 26's were faster even with the B24 4 engines on.
@CFITOMAHAWK
A B-24 isn't faster than a B-26 even with all four engines running.
@@wanyelewis9667 Right. It sounds like many of thousand BS fabricating by Fake Pilots. Once in NYC, a guy told me he had "A twin Cherokee".. I was a CFI teaching on all kinds of Pipers. I just laught and told them i was a CFI. The guy went away from the party area.
He says they were diving to pass, I would believe his dad, actually.
* Whilst I loved the tale about "Flak Bait" as a boy & built "Flak Bait" back in 1972 .....
I wish more people knew about "Five By Fives" the amazing 387th B.26 Marauder that flew "188 Missions" & survived
She is the 2nd highest scoring B.26 Marauder of all time, mission wise, yet she's practically unknown
I used to regularly attend her 'derelict' base at Willingale, Essex, better known as Chipping Ongar home of the 387th
Lots of unknown stories from WWII skies. I also built the monogram model of Flak Bait without knowing it was anything out of ordinary for a B-26. The B-25 the "Ruptured Duck" that bombed Tokyo with Col. Doolittle was another model I built. It was portrayed in the book/movie "30 seconds over Tokyo" and piloted by Ted Lawson. Then I saw at an airshow about a decade ago, an F-111 named the "Ruptured Duck" piloted by Capt. Dawson. Very similar pilot names. The F-111 crew didn't even know about the original B-25 lost with the Doolittle raiders. They were just using old names from their squadron's records.
@@TheZX11 = Yeah , funny you should say that, because....
One of the very first 1/48th decal sheets I bought was for P.51 Mustangs & one a/c in particular
It had the attractive nickname of "June Nite" (20th FG) - Years later I photographed an F.111 (Flightline)
It too had the nickname "June Nite" = Exact same colours & type Font (Upper Heyford - F.111)
Glad I photographed her (at RAF Lakenheath circa 1992) before she was taken out of service...
P.S : Is the "ZX.11" nickname after a Kawasaki ???? - I used mine on the day I took the photo'
( Kawasaki Z.1000-J )
@@hawnyfox3411 Yeah, I still have a ZX-11 Ninja I bought new in 1991. I think it is a ZZX-1100 in Europe. Nice, that you saw that F-111. I wonder if it was the same squadron bringing back its historical nose art. Quite possible the squadron followed General Doolittle to England and transitioned to P-51.
750 mission hours. To put this in perspective, the air frame of the B24 heavy bomber was designed for a flight life of 100 hours, or roughly 7-8 missions once it was ferry flown to England.
I think you may be confusing how many missions they expected the plane to survive before a combat or mechanical loss (remember that some would make it home only to be written off) rather than how many hours the airframe was structurally engineered for. As I recall early in the war a bomber crew would rotate home after 25 missions and the expected survivor rate to reach 25 missions was only around the 25%. So with 75% of aircrew lost probably extrapolates pretty well to 75% of aircraft as well which would be an average "sortie live expectancy" of an airframe at around 15 based on intuition (idk what formula would extrapolate a true number without more data). That Flak Bait flew over 200 sorties is both a testament to how good the maintenance crews were and also despite all the damage it sustained none of it was in critical structural members like wing box or main spar that would have resulted in a write off. There is still one airworthy Marauder so clearly its still able to maintain and airworthiness certificate despite a safe assumption that it has over 100 hours on its airframe.
My father was a gunner/radio operator on a B26 with the 9th Army Air Corps. He was a late war replacement already in his thirties. He missed D Day but was in the Battle of the Bulge Raids. He fired at the ME 262, he never said he shot down any planes.
Flak Bait is a great name for a movie about this air craft, crews and squadron!
No mention of Jimmy Doolittle's multiple demonstrations proving the worthiness and abilities of the Marauder...???
Doolittle? How about having women of the ferry corps {don't remember the real name of the group} fly the planes to show that "even a woman could fly them." I read that they also did this with the B-29 when airmen refused to fly that aircraft when it first entered service. Women never get the credit they should.
My father was a pilot during the war. Due to his background he had flight time on a number of different bombers during the war. This includes the B-26 and B-29. I have his flight logs and saw all the different planes he flew. He was in the B-29 program and followed it into the Pacific. I saw the recent article on the B-29 and the two women who flew them and that they had to help the frightened men who were scared of the big bad plane. He shared a lot of stories from the war. Mostly humorous but never any of the bad parts. He never once mentioned having women doing this. If he did hear or see this happened he would have mentioned it since he would have found it funny. He did talk about the ferry pilots and some unique situations but not that. However hearing this story now that the men who flew the B-29 were scared is contrary to what he spoke about. Those men got into those planes and flew them. They trained, learned, and practiced. To say otherwise especially that they were scared is to denigrate their efforts.
100% agree @@diffened
Didn't Doolittle fly a B-25 also?
@@raggs2007 Some new pilots complained about the new airplane. There are always grumpy guys in every group. Doolittle brought good women flyers to show single engine take off and landings on the B26 to different training bases so the complainers about the new airplane shut up and put up as men they were.
Excellent video. Fact filled and very interesting. Glad "Flak Bait" made it through the war, however far from "unscathed"! What an amazing story.
The de Havilland Mosquito also had some very nasty characteristics. An engine failure on take-off could be fatal. But it gets forgiven because its ability to evade fighters meant you were more likely to survive in a Mosquito than conventional bombers.
Except for the fact that the B-26 had the lowest loss-to-sortie ratio of any multi-engine bomber of the war.
The Mosquito's loss rate was almost twice that of the B-26.
You do need to take into account the missions Mosquitos were sent on@@edwardcook2973
@@edwardcook2973 Two crew in a Mosquito - how many in a Marauder ?
Heresy!
"Let's put the power of two spitfires in a wooden plane that doesn't weigh very much more, and use it for treetop-level raids."
Hardly surprising it took a certain breed to tame that beast!
Out come the stories of uncles and others. Here's mine: My Uncle Charles was a 2nd LT co-pilot on the B-26, flying out of England to missions over France. As happened to a lot of the crews, his plane was brought down from flak. The Germans were quick to capture him and everyone else (all crew successfully parachuted out of the burning plane).
They put them on a train from Paris to a Germany POW camp for air corps officers. He then spent three years in the POW camp, and was liberated when American forces were plowing through Germany in 1945. He weighed 150 lbs before being captured. When liberated he weighed 98 lbs.
Germany was short of food for the civilians and even the military was getting lean. Does not excuse the violation of rules of but does explain it when German Civilians were also not getting enough to eat.
This POW treatment of course that of Western opposition. Goring ordered good treatment and roughly they got mostly good treatment.
No so much the slave labor which was starved to death by the SS.
@@milferdjones2573That's right, my Uncle said the lack of food was not a form of mistreatment, there was simply not much of it to go around for the entire camp. (I think he called it "Luft Stalag" or "Stalag Luft," something like that, I can't remember.)
He said they were never mistreated, him saying that there was the usual discipline if the rules were broken, but every POW knew the score in that regard.
Glad to hear it wasn't scrapped !
Years ago the nose section was at the Smithsonian.
My Grandfather Edward Leroy Howland trained on a B-26 in 1941/2 but washed out because he was too tall. He was 6 foot 3 and it was too hard for him to get in and out of the cockpit. He served in the USAAC in London until 46 where he returned to NYC became a mailman and met his wife (grandma) got married had 2 kids moved to California, had 3 more kids and died in 1999 at the age of 80.
1. In the 80s I worked with a former B26 tail gunner. He claimed to have crashed in Tampa Bay twice.
2. The B26 had Curtiss Electric props. During preflight, the ground crews cycled the props with the batteries. Then the plane was started for missions off a ground cart. If the plane lost an engine or generator, insufficient juice was left in the battery to feather the props. And that was that. Got to remember EVERYONE was going up a learning curve.
3. Early in the war, Lyndon Johnson flew as observer on. B26 on a New Guinea bombing mission. It was reported the plane was attacked by Zeros but fought them off (Robert Caro, “Path to Power”). Post mission, Johnson flew from North Australia to Sydney on the B17, Swoose Goose now at the Smithsonian.
That turd Johnson, put himself in for a Silver Star, the aircrew got nothing. F*** LBJ.
7:38 That's a Douglas A-26 Invader, redesignated B-26, after the Martin B-26 Marauder was retired, post-war.
What a legacy from the worst to the best!!!👏👏
Boy I just love the stories of brave family members who flew in these ships.
When I was a kid I built a model of this craft.
Much thanks and respect to those gallant men of the greatest generation. 🇺🇸👊🙏
First off, thank you to all our veterans and front line military today. Every war has these kinds of great stories. Where some piece of equipment simply took on a life of it's own. As hell came it's way, tried to kill it and it simply refused to die. Where it's unreal toughness saved the life of those in it and around it, all the while - giving back - just as powerful, as it took, right to the enemy. Flak Bait deserves a visit wherever she's sitting now. Thank you to every American who ever put their hands on Flak Bait, building her, and all those Americans repairing her, after every absolutely vicious mission. Thank you, Flak Bait, for bringing our guys home after every mission. You are awesome.
My father flew 56 missions in a B-26 over Europe. When he returned to the states in April 1945 he had such severe PTSD his own father had to nail the windows shut on his second floor bedroom. He died in the 1990s. I used to go to bomb group reunions with him.
I played contract bridge with a B-26 pilot back in the 70’s. He considered it a very good airplane, but said the performance was better before the wings were lengthened.
Amazing Aircraft from Drawing board to Production with no Prototype , but that was a vicious landing trait it Had..Great vid.
So pleased to see that this amazing aircraft with such a colourful history was not consigned to the scrapheap like so many others. It makes a change
Ive seen flak bait at the smithsonian museum with my dad a few years back
Thanks for covering this aircraft. This is one of my favorite planes from WW2 and the information was great as usual. Keep up the great work.
I have been to the National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC, on multiple occasions. On each such occasion, I have to go pay my respects to Flak Bait. Suffice to say, I knew about her record long before this video came out. They're only showing the forward section of her fuselage, at this point. On my first such visit, decades ago, they were displaying the entire aircraft.
God bless Captain Robert Longo. RIP Uncle Robby
My grandmother worked for Glenn L. Martin during the war along with my aunt. They worked at the Dundalk Maryland (i.e. Baltimore) plant. I can only imagine and hope that they had a hand in building Flak Bait.
My parents met working there while he was waiting his commission.
The B-26 WAS Martin's miracle. It was a state of the art medium bomber put directly into production without the benefit of prototyping. The only thing it lacked was a crew training program to match the requirements of a high performance twin engine aircraft. It also suffered badly from maintenance issues involving the Curtis Electric propellers it was equipped with. Ground crews who didn't use an auxillary power supply when performing pre-flight ground checks could drain the plane's batteries. This could cause an electrically controlled prop to slip into flat pitch, putting huge drag on one side of the plane. An inexperienced pilot would immediately do the wrong thing and go to full throttle to compensate, causing a violent roll, often resulting in a crash. It was a great aircraft and a credit to the men and women who dealth with its teething issues.
From zero to hero , great aircraft if unforgiving , good video
Awesome! Great perspective on B-26!
Always loved the B-26. She really deserves the nick. Hot Rod of the Skies.. Sleek. wonderful lines and her service records puts her in the top.
There were accidents in her beginning " as with most airplanes" But when ironed out,when crews learned her characteristics.. Wow.
Another outstanding video. Thanks again.
My grandfather was the radio operator in a B-26 marauder, in a company called “The Bridge Busters.” So thankful to find more and more history on these amazing aircrafts.
Thanks for that amazing story of an amazing plane an pilot s. Was relieved that it's value, and contributions were kept in mind and rewarded by bringing it back and putting it in museum. Seems, that a charm mystique does exist, such as also in the case of the Memphis Belle. Thanks again for revealing that old Flak Bait, (Flea Bait) still lives on !
Outstanding video...thanks. keep up the great work.
My uncle and namesake was a B26 pilot KIA near Tunis in 1943. Five of the six crew members were drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. The sixth was picked up by a German gunboat and held in prison. They were in the 320th bomb squadron. A very dangerous assignment. Many crews were lost. I am 81 years old and the last who remembers him. Every Memorial Day we display his photograph with flowers and honor his sacrifice. He was 27 years old at the time of his death.
My father was an enlisted staff photographer in the 320th Bomber Group (part of the 42nd mentioned by the Vice Air Marshal about Sardenia operations). He arrived in N. Africa during Operation Torch and remained in the 320 until just before D Day when he was sent back to the US as part of the personnel selected for further training and preparation for the future invasion of Japan.. The war ended and he returned to civilian life. While with the 320 he flew on many missions as the assigned photographer. Sometimes on the lead aircraft, sometimes on the trailing aircraft, sometimes on special missions. A different plane with a different crew each time. On those planes when not taking photographs, he served in multiple crew positions. Radio Operator, Waist Gunner, etc. I have downloaded most of the After Action briefing reports and unit diary and find his name in many of the documents. Although I had seen many of the photos he took during the War (later mostly lost in a burglary) he hadn't talked much about it, and of course there was no Internet or online access to the documents before he passed in '93. Staff photographers, due to a Washington, DC decision were not initially considered combat personnel even if in combat, so they did not receive combat pay for awhile. Likewise, since they were Staff and not combat personnel the mission count rule did not apply to them and the number of After Action Reports mentioning his name as an assigned crew man exceeds 30. Eventually as losses mounted and the War went on DC changed it's mind those policies were changed. The first few after N. Africa mission logs did not list the photographers as being on the planes, but the archives show photos of the bomb strikes, so they were there, just not listed. There is no mention in the unit diary exactly when a decision mas made to list them, but my Dad's name began appearing in the logs as Photographer or Radio Operator or Gunner somewhere around Mission 11 of the Group.
Early B26 missions were very hazardous based on the After Action Reports (AARs). Some of the early bomb release mechanisms and bomb fuzes were buggy. Bombs would hang up and stick half in, half out of the plane until someone climbed over them and kicked them loose while trying to hang onto the plane in the open bomb bay. If the armed bomb half with the rear half or tail stuck in the plane didn't drop then landing the plane was impossible. On at least two early missions as soon as the bombs were released they exploded while still in the plane and everyone in it died in front of their friends in the other planes. Both problems received a lot of attention on the ground. On many missions in N. Africa, Sicily and Italy anticipated fighter escorts never materialized and only the bomber's own machine guns defended them from the Nazi (and Italian) fighters. My father was credited with downing 3 of them.
Early war rations in N. Africa bases were not terribly comfortable. The enlisted men lived in tents and in the first few months food was not plentiful. The unit diary mentions supply ships with anticipated supplies being sunk while at sea. I know from things Dad said along with some photos and confirmation from some who served with him that they traded with the locals a lot for food.. The unit diary mentions higher ups trying to discourage the fraternization, but sometimes there was no other significant food source. I once had a photo Dad took of a few of them trying figure out how to cook a goat over a scrap wood fire. When anti-submarine duty was turned over to British Sopwith Camel crews (it was a joint British/US base and there was much interaction) they were moved to a new base and the crew area was a designated hollow below some hills. When the seasonal rains came everything there went under water. Officers of course lived in actual buildings up on the hill. Crews were not pleased at having everything in their tents going under water every few days. That base was relocated as soon as possible to a better location. They actually occasionally got 3 day passes, between missions (if you flew today you didn't fly the next day and that was refit and rest time) and of course that often meant a plane would go on 'supply run' to Cairo or someplace equally interesting and return 3 days later.
One of the most interesting things I had not known but learned in the AAR documents was that many of the bombs we dropped had timer fuzes. Instant, a half second, 15 minutes, a half hour, an hour, 10 hours, a day, 3 days. Ouch. .A dropped 1,000 pound bomb that doesn't explode and lands in soil tends to completely disappear leaving only a small hole in the soil it tunneled into. Or it sits half buried in rubble and looks like a dud. Tic--Tock said the timer. That must have made rescue and rebuilding operations interesting for the Nazis and Italians
The B-26 was one of the first airplanes that was Required to be Flown by the Numbers. No seat of the pants flying.
It was fast, it took a long time to get off the ground and if you mishandled it you were in trouble.
Once mastered, it had the best combat record of any US combat medium bomber and was loved by it's crews.
A beautiful aeroplane.
That was very interesting & informative.
You forgot one of the best stories about the marauder. When they were having so much trouble with it they sent Jimmy Doolittle out to figure out how to fly it, or to see if it was worth continuing with. He got right into the plain sight unseen took off and started making suggestions about how to fly the airplane. That was where new training for the future Pilots of the airplane came from.
Some new pilots complained about the new airplane. There are always grumpy guys in every group. Doolittle brought good women flyers to show single engine take off and landings on the B26 to different training bases so the complainers about the new airplane shut up and put up as men they were.
My grandfather commanded a B-26 and loved it. He said the best/most astute pilots found its quicks usable. 48 successful missions over Europe. It was the weak pilots that had the troubles.
Flak Bait is currently going under restoration at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, VA.
Excellent stuff bro
My Father flew 153 missions over Europe
from May 1943 to May 1945.
9th Air Force 454 Bomb Group
In a B 26.
Two Pratt Whitney 2800 WASP engines.
Four bladed Curtis propellers. The fastest bomber in WWII. Landing speed. 150 mph.
Top speed in a dive without bombs
475 mph.
12-50 Caliber guns
2 in the nose ( modified)
4 belly guns forward, pilots guns.
2 top turret guns
2 tail guns
2 waist guns either side.
12 total. Most fearsome formation tactical bomber in world war two.
Most missions between 10-15,000 feet.
The most powerful zone for deadly
88 German flak batteries. As many Luftwaffe fighters coming and going to
targets until his last mission in
May 1945 over Kassel Germany.
In addition,
My Father led the B-26 raids over Bastogne
during the Battle of the Bulge breakout.
This bomber could carry 6,000 lbs in bombs, the same as a B-17.
153 times where every mission was
D Day.
My dad was a B-26 pilot in both the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe campaigns. 42 missions in the Widow Maker.
Thank you very interesting
All I can say is, "WOW!" That thing had so many holes in it - it was held together by the paint!
flack bait is now on display at the Air and Space Museum in DC.
Outstanding info.
My Dad was an aircraft mechanic in WW2 and referred to the B-26 as "widow maker" but said it was very effective in it's bombing runs! We needed all kinds of aircraft to win the war. I loved that aircrat!
Great story !!
Great video
Once they (army air corps) figured out you couldn't just "bend it over, clean it up" and that you had to hold the pitch attitude until you had 135 knots the training crashes went way down. And, as others have pointed out, it turned out to be a very good medium altitude bomber with a better survivability rate than most
The wings were not the issue. Crew training was. The Army added six feet of wing and promptly upped the gross weight, absorbing any advantage. The Marauder’s record still speaks for itself. Doolittle proved it. This video echoes the popular gibberish that created the Marauder’s reputation. Training.
The Smithsonian air and space museum annex at Dulles Airport is in the process of restoring “Flak-bait” for eventual display.
My father was a B-26 USAAC mechanic at the Martin airfield in Baltimore.
Those Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engines would have really pepped up the B-25 Mitchell as well.
As a kid, in the 70s, I had 78 different aircraft hanging from the ceiling of my bedroom, from both the European and Pacific theaters.
I've gotta say they were some serious 'Chick Magnets', or so I told myself 😉
Good Video/Info.
wow that plane record is impressive to say the least
Flak Bait is currently being restored at the National Air and Space Museum.
The B-26 was also known as the aircraft that "brought 'em back alive" due to its speed & rugged construction. Like the supersonic F-104 of a decade later; low rates of speed in the pattern (for whatever reason) often resulted in a VMC roll & stall which would only be exacerbated by an engine-out condition. Thus: for the B-26 Marauder; pilots were required to "hit the numbers" in the book in all phases of flight. VMC rolls and resultant spins and stalls are commonly incurred at velocities slightly above design stall speed in most incidences and thusly come on as a surprise to many aviators. The weight of two powerful engines mounted nearly at half-span increases the moment of inertia out outboard of the fuselage thus making conditions for a spin (perhaps unrecoverable) a lot more likely in such a design. Early models of the pre-modified short wingspan Martin Marauder were referred to by the Marines at Cherry Point MCAS in North Carolina (where I was born) as "The Flying Prostitute" since the aircraft seemed to many to be flying along with no visible means of support. The Marine Corps ships were designated the nomenclature "JM-1" per the U.S. Navy system. The bomber featured the Curtiss Electric propeller pitch control system somewhat known for it's lack of system reliability when compared to the Hamilton-Standard "Hydra-matic" (sp) prop pitch controls. We spotted a refurbished Curtiss C-46 Commando at the Miramar Air Show and pointedly took notice that the antique ship had been converted from Curtiss Electric Pitch Control over to Hamilton-Standard Hydraulics; a remarkable effort to avoid the Curtiss technology which required the swapping out of the two engines. It was postulated by many at Cherry Point that runaway pitch controls may indeed have been the primary cause of numerous accidents which occured a couple of hundred miles North of "One a day into Tampa Bay" for the AAF.
Thanks for your great memories.
It’s a shame US manufacturers refused to see the value of DeHavilland Mosquito. No defensive guns just offensive in the nose, lots of bombs and very high speed. They did not “have” to be made of wood bug that was a huge part of their success.
Different missions different planes. They were more quick strike raiders. And they could be caught by some German fighters if the fighters were in a position where they could dive down on them.
Why did the British use Boston bombers and the Bristol Blenheim in the Non-stop offensive of 1941-1942 bombing Western Europe coasts if the Mosquito was a better choice? Wikipedia says there was 20 Mosquitos built in 1941. In 1942 where were not much more (first half of 1942) and they took high losses in daylight raids. A few, weight trimmed down, airplanes hitting a high value target seemed its specialty. That and pathfinding for Lancasters.
YOWSA! This very special aeroplane's history is far more AMAZING than the story of the Memphis Belle! This is fodder for not just a movie, but a whole series! Hey, Netflix!
My dad trained as a B-26 pilot. Scared my mom to death. He was a manual follower and had no issues with it. Moved on to the B-17 before deployment. I assume that was an equipment availability issue but I'll never know.
Spent his post war years after 1954 as field service rep for Lockheed on the C-130, C-141, and C-5 programs.
This is clickbait. The B-26 was the most dangerous bomber for newbie pilots to learn to fly - the old saying of "One a day in Tampa Bay" for the training at MacDill Army Air Base. Pilots had to fly it by the book, because it had the power-off glide ration of a set of car keys and could not be floated in like a single-engine trainer. HOWEVER, for pilots that learned to fly it by the book, it had the LOWEST LOSS RATE of any bomber in the European Theater.
That Bomber Was Dangerous To Fly
My parents - yes, both of them - flew Marauders in the war. It was a "hot" airplane, meaning it had had to be flown off and on to the runaway. It was faster than it looked but required constant attention.
Just wanted to say how greatly impressed I am with ALL your work on ALL the various channels you run… thankful & grateful for your incredible depth & attention to the Details big & small & especially the unique situations & circumstances in logistics that caused the ‘changes’ in plans or war tactics used (on ALL sides fighting) I thoroughly enjoy your content & work and wanted to make sure you were aware of just how much you are appreciated… So Thankyou for ALL you do & Keep up the EXCELLENT work!!! 😏👍🏻👌🏻🙌🏻✌🏻🤙🏻
All I can say is wow thats amazing
What a legendary aircraft ❤
I had read that the placement of the wings at the shoulders was problematic . Thats why B29s wing (same type of wing) was more midship after wind tunnel testing.
My uncle, Henry Stewart Herr, flew 85 missions in the ETO. He was the squadron bombardier. I've got his complete record.
My father was a radio operator and gunner in a B26. 52 combat missions in North Africa and Sicily.
Our late Uncle Hugh MacFarlane was a B26 navigator for the South Africa Airforce who flew in North Africa and Italy. His squadron were also involved in the bombing of Banyaluko in Yugoslavia. He always felt safe in a B26 and said enemy fighters were not keen to take on the fire power of a squadron of B26s flying in formation.
The main reason why the B-26 was called the flying coffin was the only way to get in and out of the plane was to climb up or down through the bombay. There was no side door ever put on the plane by Martin. If a B-26 ever went down the crew was basically trapped in the plane with no escape if the bombay doors jammed which happened often if the plane was in a rolling dive.
It was also called the flying cigar and the flying prostitute. (because the wings were so small the aircraft had no visible means of support)
My uncle built B-26s during the war, my father PBMs.
Our unit did a POW honoring event. The POW at our table had bailed out of a B-26 into German captivity. He said he was very unhappy to have lost his cigarettes banging round as he left the aircraft. Lost cigarettes was just icing on the cake to a bad day.
My father was a waist gunner on a B-26 called "Porky" of the 320th bomb group, 444th bomb squadron.. He flew several missions until on March 20, 1945 Porky was hit by accurate flak and crashed. Two crew members perished. My fathers parachute caught in a tree. He had a schrapnel wound to the back of the skull and was unconcious. Somehow he eventually was picked up by 3rd Army tanks. I only recenly requested his service records and was saddened to learn that they had burned up in a fire in 1973.
🎖️🏆💙⭐🙏🤗
Thank you for sharing
Grandfather LtC Herbert Ault flew the Widowmaker , shot down twice and got back to England to get a new plane and bomb again , over 60 sorties , on third time getting shot down he was helped by same resistance fighters who recognized him.
Sadly bad intel had him drop bombs on own forces . It upset him till 90s when he passed .
It's obvious that "Flak Bait" was an exceptionally blessed aircraft, with its own guardian angel. No one will ever know how and why Flak Bait was so blessed and fortunate. It's really not normal.
That would be the Mosquito. Higher bomb load, deadlier weapons, much faster, higher service ceiling, more than double rate of climb and longer range. Also more versatile.
Some years back I watched restoration work being done on Flak Bait at the National Air And Space facility in Dulles International Airport area in northern Va.
My dad was an instructor pilot and taught new and experienced pilots how to fly the B26. He talked about how dangerous it was (and I suffered from his experience when he taught me how to drive). Dad was actually an NCO at the time. He was in the army when war broke out and transferred to the Army Air Corp as part of the last batch of enlisted pilots. Apparently, there was never any question that he was in command of the plane even when the trainee was an experienced officer. (A very kind and easy going guy, he had definitely learned to yell when you made a mistake!) He received his commission and joined the 9th Air Force when it moved to France and flew over 70 missions, returning to base with one engine twice. He told me that they moved to forward bases outrunning their logistics so that they had to bring their bomb load back if the mission was aborted. Once, aborting to land at fighter strip after losing an engine, they removed the fuses and toggled the bombs out in the grass beside the strip before landing.
THANKS🇺🇸
I saw "Flak Bait" 's nose (front) on display at the Air and Space museum. It's relatively small size makes you appreciate the damage it took.
About 5- 6 years ago I met a veteran who was a bombardier in a B26 over D-Day and through the end of the war. He actually said the plane was pretty good. If you knew what you were doing. He said he hated firing the gun though.
Nice mix of the background music.
I had the honor of speaking with a b26 pilot a number of years ago. He had only good things to say about its survivability in combat.
It was when the US gave the B-26 to the RAF that they saw the accident rates drop drastically. As you said, inexperienced pilots had a hard tome with it, but in the hands of experienced pilots, it was a different plane. As one article I read said, it weas like going from a sedan to a Ferrari and new pilots didn't know how to handle the high performance of it.