Martin B-26 'Marauder'
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engined medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The B-26 began flying combat missions in the Southwest Pacific in the spring of 1942, but most were subsequently assigned to Europe and the Mediterranean.
Development
In March 1939, the US Army Air Corps began seeking a new medium bomber. Issuing Circular Proposal 39-640, it required the new aircraft to have a payload of 2,000 lbs, while possessing a top speed of 350 mph and a range of 2,000 miles. Among those to respond was the Glenn L. Martin Company which submitted its Model 179 for consideration. Created by a design team led by Peyton Magruder, the Model 179 was a shoulder-winged monoplane possessing a circular fuselage and tricycle landing gear. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines which were slung under the wings.Martin's proposal was considered to be so far in advance of other proposals that the company was awarded an 'off the drawing board' contract for 201 aircraft in 1939. While initial designs for the Model 179 utilized a twin tail configuration, this was replaced with a single fin and rudder to improve visibility for the tail gunner. The first B-26, with Martin test pilot William K. "Ken" Ebel at the controls, flew on 25 November 1940 and was effectively the prototype. Although the Marauder did not make its first flight until Nov. 25, 1940, its design showed such promise that the United States Army Air Corps ordered 1,131 B-26s in September 1940. Deliveries to the U.S. Army Air Corps began in February 1941 with the second aircraft, 40-1362. In March 1941, the Army Air Corps started Accelerated Service Testing of the B-26 at Patterson Field, Ohio. While the B-26 was a fast aircraft with better performance than the contemporary North American B-25 Mitchell, its relatively small wing area and resulting high wing loading (the highest of any aircraft used at that time) required an unprecedented landing speed of 120 to 135 mph (193 to 217 km/h) indicated airspeed depending on load. At least two of the earliest B-26s suffered hard landings and damage to the main landing gear, engine mounts, propellers and fuselage. The type was grounded briefly in April 1941 to investigate the landing difficulties. Two causes were found: insufficient landing speed (producing a stall) and improper weight distribution. The latter was due to the lack of a dorsal turret; the Martin power turret was not ready yet. Due to the number of accidents from design flaws, an investigation was held and Martin made further changes to the aircraft. Due to the losses, the B-26 quickly earned the nicknames 'Widowmaker', 'Martin Murderer', and 'B-Dash-Crash', and many flight crews actively worked to avoid being assigned to Marauder-equipped units. By February 1943, the newest model, the B-26B-10, had an additional 6 feet (1.8 m) of wingspan, plus uprated engines, more armor and larger guns were incorporated for a safer aircraft.
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The Pacific and Far East
The 22nd Bomb Group was the first American air group to receive the B-26, this at Langley Field in February of 1941. This initial group consisted of B-26 and B-26A models, replacing the B-18 Bolo, with a further two groups, the 38th and 28th, beginning to equip with the B-26 by December 1941. Immediately following the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, the 22nd BG was deployed to the South West Pacific,first by ship to Hawaii, then its air echelon flew the planes to Australia. The 22nd BG flew its first combat mission, an attack on Rabaul which required an intermediate stop at Port Moresby, New Guinea, on 5 April 1942. A second group, the 38th Bombardment Group, began receiving B-26s in November 1941 and began transition into them at Patterson Field, Ohio. There, the 38th continued the testing of the B-26, including its range and fuel efficiency. Immediately after the entry of the United States into World War II, plans were tentatively developed to send the 38th BG to the South West Pacific and to equip it with B-26Bs fitted with more auxiliary fuel tanks and provisions for carrying aerial torpedos. Three 38th BG B-26Bs were detached to Midway Island in the build-up to the Battle of Midway, and two of them, along with two B-26s detached from the 22nd BG, carried out torpedo attacks against the Japanese Fleet on 4 June 1942. Two were shot down and the other two were so badly damaged that they were written off after the mission. Their torpedoes failed to hit any Japanese ships, although they did shoot down one Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. From approximately June 1942 the B-26 squadrons of the 38th BG were based in New Caledonia and Fiji. From New Caledonia, missions were flown against Japanese bases in the Solomon Islands. On one occasion, a B-26 was credited with shooting down a Kawanishi H6K flying boat. In 1943 it was decided that the B-26 would be phased out of operations in the South West Pacific Theatre in favor of the North American B-25 Mitchell. Nevertheless, the 19th Bombardment Squadron of the 22nd BG continued to fly missions in the B-26, and the B-26 flew its last combat mission in the theatre on 9 January 1944
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Europe and the Middle East
First seeing service in support of Operation Torch, B-26 units took heavy losses before switching from low-level to medium-altitude attacks. Flying with the Twelfth Air Force, the B-26 proved an effective weapon during the invasions of Sicily and Italy. To the north, the B-26 first arrived in Britain with the Eighth Air Force in 1943. The B-26 entered service with the Eighth Air Force in England in early 1943, with the 322nd Bombardment Group flying its first missions in May 1943. Missions were similar to those flown in North Africa with B-26s flying at low level and were unsuccessful. The second mission, an unescorted attack on a power station at Ijmuiden, Netherlands resulted in the loss of the entire attacking force of 11 B-26s to anti-aircraft fire and Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw190 fighters. From then onwards the B-26 units were shifted to the Ninth Air Force. Flying medium-altitude raids with proper escort, the aircraft was a highly accurate bomber with the Ninth Air Force rating it the most accurate bomber available in the final month of the war in Europe. Bombing from medium altitudes of 10,000 to 15,000 feet, the Marauder had the lowest loss rate of any Allied bomber, less than one-half of one percent. The B-26 flew its last combat missions against the German garrison at the Île d'Oléron on 1 May 1945, with the last units disbanding in early 1946.
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Other Nationality Air Forces
Royal Air Force
The RAF, which fielded only two complete squadrons of B-26 'Marauders' (No. 14 and No. 39) received a batch of 52 Mk I and Mk IA models while totals of Mk II's and Mk III's topped 250 and 150 respectively. 521 B-26 'Marauders' were manufactured for the R.A.F., only two of its Squadrons used them operationally, although from this total, five South African Air Force Squadrons were equipped, together with No. 70 Operational Training Unit at Shandur, and No. 1 (Middle East) Check and Conversion Unit replaced by No. 1330 Conversion Unit at Bilbeis in Egypt's Canal Zone. In addition, the first of the two RAE Squadrons equipped, No. 14, operated their early and later models with great success in the coastal reconnaissance and attack role throughout the whole of the Mediterranean for more than two years, from October 1942 to November 1944.
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Free French Air Force
Following Operation Torch, the Free French Air Force re-equipped three bomber squadrons with B-26 'Marauders' for medium-bombing operations in Italy and the Allied invasion of southern France. These B-26s replaced Lioré et Olivier LeO 451s and Douglas DB-7s. Toward the end of the war, seven of the nine French Groupes de Bombardement used the B-26 'Marauder', taking part in 270 missions with 4,884 aircraft sorties in combat.
Production and Aftermath
A total of 5,288 were produced between February 1941 and March 1945; 522 of these were flown by the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force.
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