|
|
Thumper II |
|
|
Coming home over France |
|
|
Missouri Mule, beat up but beautiful |
|
|
06 and 07 coming up on the Italian coast |
|
|
Belle Ringer |
|
|
Heading home ! |
|
|
07 crew chief, Joe Allen, never lost a crewman |
|
|
443rd ships lining up in Dijon |
|
|
On the bomb run |
|
|
Bombs Away! |
|
|
Nine ship squadron |
|
|
The first and second flights of a squadron |
|
|
Good formation flying by the backup ship |
|
|
Three of the later G models |
|
|
P-47 Thunderbolt flying escort |
|
|
Model builders love this shot |
|
|
"They leaked almost as much oil as they burned" |
|
|
The "Cloud Mission" |
|
|
A nine ship squadron & the lead ship, 04, of the second squadron. |
|
|
Three 441st aircraft. |
|
|
Each of these planes flew over 100 missions. |
|
|
#14, Miss Manchester |
|
|
No. 18, (41-31574) |
|
|
Little
Lu, #5 (41-5051) |
|
|
A 441st ship. |
|
|
Missouri Mule over Dole, France |
|
|
Missouri Mule, #19 |
|
|
Nice
view of 444th Marauder 41-17845 sitting in its dispersal area at
Montesquieu. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
41-17978, #78 |
|
|
The first Lady Eve |
|
|
|
|
|
Millie, 41-35176, #03
|
|
|
|
|
|
A formation heading out |
|
|
Eight
Ball42-95742, #01 on the left |
|
|
Eight Ball, #01 (42-95742) |
|
|
Eight Ball, #01 (42-95742) |
|
|
Eight Ball, #01 (42-95742) |
|
|
441st ships over mountain terrain Becky;
#02(42-96119) |
|
|
|
|
|
Becky;
#02(42-96119) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lady Halitosis, 41-17765 |
|
|
Flying over the snow-covered Alps of Norther Italy was a thrilling sightfor airmen, but the experience was always dangerous |
|
|
The movement overseas by the Flight Echelon was done in small four to eight ship sections rather than in massed formation. Almost unbelievably casual, whenever a section(or two) were ready to go, they simply went on to the next stop. At one point in time, B-26's of the 320th were scattered for thousands of miles along their route. |
|
|
A larger formation of the group's ships joining up over Montesquieu in 1943 |
|
|
A Marauder in trouble . . . smoke pours out of the right engine of this B-26 |
|
|
Lady Halitosis, 41-17765 |
|
|
#26
(42-955991) |
|
|
Klein
Engstingen, Germany |
|
|
Florence Belle, #50 (42-107549) unloads |
|
|
Nice formation flying on the bomb drop |
|
|
Miss Hazleton, #43 (42-95789) over the snowy Alps |
|
|
Little Chum, #28 (41-31573) bombing Gailenkirchen Ammo Dump, Germany 6 April 1945 |
|
|
Aircraft of the 441st releasing their load |
|
|
Gunga
Din, #41 (42-95996) |
|
|
Group formation over Corsica |
|
|
Two 442nd ships with Miss Des Moines, #30 (42-107854) on the left |
|
|
O'Riley's
Daughter, #67 (42-107550) |
|
|
A 441st formation winging off to hit another German target. The Marauder in the foregraund is Little Sherry, #09 (41-34911), a veteran B-26. Black tailed Bashful Baby, #01 (42-107754), was a former 9th Air Force ship that was originally named Miss Minneapolis before being turned over to the 320th. |
|
|
#80
(42-107571), foreground, completed 101 missions. |
|
|
Row'n Home, #25 (42-43302) |
|
|
#80 (42-107571) completed 101 missions. |
|
|
Judy II, #89 (42-107800) |
|
|
Belle Ringer and friends |
|
|
Marauders heading north towards Italy |
|
|
Ships of the 441st and 443rd |
|
|
Guys on the ground in Sardinia watch their B-26s form up and move our for attacks against the Italian Mainland. |
|
|
The Termite, #70 (42-107778) |
|
|
444th Marauders over Porto Romano |
|
|
320th Marauders take off by dawn's early light to fly in support of ground troops that invaded the coast of Southern France between Foulon and Cannes |
|
|
The Pilot's Halo |
|
|
Nice formation flying by the 320th |
|
|
Drop time |
|
|
Bombs away over Germany, 1945 |
|
|
Ann, #90 (42-107541) landing in France after a successful mission. |
|
|
An excellent concentration of bombs cluster on the Pontecurone rail bridge in North Italy as a 320th ship flies over the target. |
|
|
A flight of 320th Marauders south of Rome on the way to bomb Ciampino Airdrome. Smoke resulting from an earlier attack by Flying Fortresses raiding the Literno M/Y can be seen in the upper right hand portion of the photograph. Date: 19 July 1943. |
|
|
Lady Eve, #20 (41-34855) lifts off the strip in North Africa. |
|
|
Heavy clouds shielded the Germans at Rimini, Italy as 320th Marauders flew over the enemy's Gothic Line to blast strong points and troop concentrations in support of the British Eight Army. A long break in the clouds allowed the Marauders to pick out their target and score an excellent coverage over the enemy. |
|
|
320th Marauders accurately bombed the airfield at Grazzanise, Italy 5 September 1943 leaving the entire field well cratered and temporarily useless. Seven enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground and one was damaged. |
|
|
Flak over Piacenze railroad bridge 20 July 1944. |
|
|
Headed
For Home-- |
|
|
A 441st ship is seen breaking away from the Ostiglia bridge. Smoke rises from a string of bombs walking across enemy's last link over the Po River between Germany and the front lines in Northern Italy. The Germans had set up 70 Flak guns to protect this new vital link in the Nazi supply line. In the first formation of bombers over the target, 24 were damaged by flak, but all returned safely to base. |
|
|
320th Group Marauders are seen speeding away after smashing the railroad bridge at Montalto Di Castro, north of Rome on the main line between the capital and Leghorn. The picture was taken as the Marauders made their bank after hurling bombs directly on the span. Date: 22 February 1944. |
|
|
444th Marauders over the Magra River Valley |
|
|
The sun shines bright over the Po Valley in northern Italy and a formation of 320th B-26s sparkle in the sun as their silver wings and fuselages reflect the light. Below them, the Po River lazily winds through the valley. 320th Marauders had been choking the German communications in Italy by blasting all the bridges that cross the half-mile-wide river. |
|
|
Bombs Away The climax of every mission is this moment. The target for the day was the rail bridge at Albenga, between Genva and the French border. |
|
|
320th bombers on their way to bomb the railway bridge at Orvieto, Italy |
|
|
Heading down the Po River Valley |
|
|
Group Marauders over Castelneucove |
|
|
Group
Marauders on the way to target - the railroad bridges at Orvieto. |
|
|
Our Marauders strike north along the Tyrrhenian Sea to blast German targets in Italy. Typical of the mountainous terrain is this view showing the rugged mountainous country the Allied armies encountered in their drive toward Rome. |
|
|
Four thousand pounds of TNT plummet downward from the bomb bay of 320th Marauders to land smack on a vital Axis railroad bridge in the Po Valley. In the background is another flight. Far below them, barely visible in the photo, their bombs funnel in toward the bridge. |
|
|
442nd ships are seen here crossing the coast of Southern France with the wide mouth of the Rhone River in the background. Ship #46 is Retonga (42-96014) |
|
|
Here 320th Marauders roar over Annweiler, Germany, where a smoke column rises from a previous attack as they head deep into the Reich to hammer other targets on 30 December 1945. |
|
|
A big "hit" is scored by 320th Marauders over the enemy marshalling yards at Haslach, across the Upper Rhine. 51 bombs can be seen spewing out of the bays of the eight B-26's as they pass over the target on 2 March 1945. |
|
|
Our Marauders chalk up another bull's-eye on the rail yards at Haslach, Germany during the campaign to disrupt Germany's battered transportation system (2 March 1945). |
|
|
04 and 08 of the 441st pass by an explosive column of smoke towering almost 10,000 feet over enemy ammunition storage areas at Siegelsbach, 18 miles southeast of Heidelberg, Germany. |
|
|
Klein Enstingen ammo storage area was hit 8 April 1945 by two waves totaling fifty-four 320th Marauders in support of Seventh Army's drive into Western Germany. Results of this Norden mission (briefed, but not executed as a COCANUT PLAN strike) were excellent with many fires and three great explosions again sending hug pillars of smoke high in the air. |
|
|
The Marauders could kick up a lot of dust |
|
|
Another Bull's-eye |
|
|
Banking away from the target 8 August 1944 |
|
|
Heading toward the target |
|
|
|
|
|
444th Squadron 41-17863 in Tafaroui. Notice the radio call sign "E" marked on the rear fuselage. |
|
|
Another photo (see photo 101) of our Marauders chalking up another bull's-eye on the rail yards at Haslach, Germany during the campaign to disrupt Germany's battered transportation system (2 March 1945). |
|
|
Soaring over the burning Savona oil storage tanks on this 3 July 1944 raid is a 442nd flight |
|
|
Bomb bay doors open An unusual photo of bombs, just before they go into action. Moments later the bombs were hurtling down through space on the Incisa railroad bridge, south of Florence, Italy in order to cut the line used by the Nazis to bolster their Cassino and Anzio fronts. |
|
|
Sardinia-320th bombers cross the Anzio bridgehead as Allied troops and material are being unloaded along the beaches. The Marauders of the "Boomerang" group are on their way home after attacking German troop concentrations near the front lines. |
|
|
|
|
|
Little Sherry, #09 (41-34911) |
|
|
Florence Belle, #50 (42-107549) |
|
|
Little Sherry, #09 (41-34911) |
|
|
Walking out to the flight line |
|
|
Taxiing out |
|
|
444th ships unloading. Notice that the bombs from the first ship are spaced farther apart. The other ships would watch for the bomb release from the lead ship and the longer interval in the first ship's bombs allowed for the associated split second time delay. |
|
|
D-day drop with 30 100 pounders |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A nice view out the astrodome |
|
|
|
|
|
443rd
ships on take-off |
|
|
320th Marauder contrails over Germany |
|
|
Group Marauders out over the Mediterranean headed for Italian targets. The missions were long . . . bomb bay fuel tanks were installed. And, the missions were dangerous . . . the sea swallowed up several downed 320th crews before Allied or Axis Air-Sea Rescue could reach them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
442nd ship taking off |
|
|
|
|
|
Over Italy 1944 |
|
|
|
|
|
Decimo |
|
|
A 444th ship lifts off |
|
|
Marauder Battle Formation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wolfette, #78 (42-43276)
|
|
|
Idiots
Delight, #93 (41-18292) |
|
|
Heading to the target |
|
|
Little Chum, #28 (41-31573) |
|
|
Jungle Happy/Donna Delores/Margie, #75 (43-34462) |
|
|
|
|
|
320th planes in formation over France |
|
|
Ships
of the 442nd squadron including: |
|
|
320th
Marauder unloads a string of bombs |
|
|
Italy-With German flak bursting black against white clouds, 320th Marauders dropped anti-personnel bombs on Axis positions on the Nettuno bridgehead. Despite the almost complete cloud cover under which Germans were launching an attack near Cisterna, the bombardiers spotted a hole in the overcast and dropped frags on the target. |
|
|
Bangin' Abroad, #66 (41-35157) flew 101 combat missions |
|
|
Notice that the prop blades are not vertical. This was intentional. Because of the very large props, if the ship developed a flat, the blade would hit the ground if in the vertical position. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Over the Po River |
|
|
Flying formation over Sardinia, August 1944 |
|
|
320th formation over Germany |
|
|
|
|
|
320th Marauders forming up and heading out |
|
|
Little
Lu, #5 (41-5051) |
|
|
|
|
|
07, 42-96322 |
|
|
Sweet & Low, 7 (42-95791) |
|
|
Buzzing the fiel |
|
|
|
|
|
My Gal (originally Taboo), 08 (42-5753) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Gal (orig. Taboo), 08 (42-95753) |
|
|
Little Sherry, 41-34911 |
|
|
Little Sherry, 41-34911 |
|
|
Beauts and Saddles, #17 (42-95790) |
|
|
|
|
|
No. 27, 42-107785 |
|
|
Lady Lynn, 27 (42-107531) |
|
|
Two 444th ships that just finished dropping another span |
|
|
Miss
Manchester, #14 (41-18305) of the 441st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Little Chum, #28 (41-31573) |
|
|
Nana, 41-17792 of the 444th |
|
|
Thumper II with P-47 Thunderbolts escorting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two 441st ships, No. 11 and No. 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ships of the 441st heading in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Belle
Ringer, #22 (42-107534) in the lead of this flight. |
|
|
Gotta Match, #57 (42-43309) |
|
|
A 444th flight letting loose |
|
|
Jungle Happy/Donna Delores/Margie, #75 (43-34462) |
|
|
|
|
|
Breaking off the target. There must not have been much flak or the bank would have been much steeper. |
|
|
Lend us your 320th aircraft photo Remember, all original photos will be RETURNED |
Copyright(c) 2003 320th History Preservation. All rights reserved.