Flying the B-26 Marauder Over Europe

“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.”

The late Carl H. Moore wrote several books about economic history. He lived in San Antonio, Texas.

Carl H. Moore
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 132 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7357-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0194-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Preface and Acknowledgments 1

Part I : The Memoir

 1. Development of the Marauder 3

 2. Pearl Harbor: Marauders in the Pacific—Cadet Training 15

 3. Operational Training: Getting Ready for Combat 20

 4. The Long Way to England 29

 5. What Good Are These Marauders? 48

 6. Combat Mission Procedures 57

 7. Pre-Invasion Targets: Noballs, Rail Yards and Bridges 69

 8. D-Day and Support of Ground Troops 76

 9. Missions I Won’t Forget 90

10. VE Day and Home 101

11. After the War 107

Part II : Logs, Specifications, Charts and Miscellanea

12. Mission Logs 117

13. Author’s Pilot’s Log 162

14. Martin B-26 Marauder Cutaway 201

15. Leading Particulars 203

16. Marauder Specifications 205

17. Specific Engine Flight Charts 206

18. Flight Operation Instruction Chart 208

19. Summary of Estimated Performance, Model 179 210

20. Pilot’s Operating Instructions 217

21. Marauder Serial Numbers 249

22. Group and Squadron Identification Symbols 252

Index 254

“a memoir of a World War II participant from a generation that we are slowly losing. Recollections such as Moor’s allow us to grasp what it felt like to be in the skies above war-torn Europe going against enemy fighters and targets”—H-Net Reviews; “valuable research material”—Reference & Research Book News.