Flying the B-26 Marauder Over Europe

Memoir of a World War II Navigator, 2d ed.

“This is the story of my experiences with the medium bomber designated by the Army as a B-26 and named by the British the Marauder. The book includes a history of the development of the plane. My war experience began with ferrying our Marauder to England, which included a Sahara Desert stretch from Dakar to Marrakesh. Less than a third of the way there we lost the right engine but flew on safely on one engine, making an emergency landing at the oasis village of Tindouf, an old French Foreign Legion base. The Marauders were involved in the tragic, low-level mission over the E-boat pens in Holland where 60 percent of the officers and airmen and all ten aircraft were lost. This mission resulted in a reconsideration of low level operations in Europe (decision: move to medium altitude). My journal entries were created after each mission and offer details (target, date, crew members, their emotions, action narrative) of 50 combat missions (Appendix A). Considerable background on the design and construction of the Marauder is included, as well as a description of the B-26 reconstructed by the Confederate (now: Commemorative) Air Force. The book ends with a description of each of the crew members and their activity since the war if available.”