In the late 40s, I was at a camp(Camp Germinal) in Jamison, Bucks County, PA where our swimming pool was the housing of a B-26 engine retrieved from government scrap. This film describes the plane and its history perfectly. Thanks!

This is an incredible documentary. It's about time the Marauder got its due. My father-in-law, Thomas L Adams was 27 years old when he captained a B-26 for the 386th Bomb Group. He had his stories to tell. Suffice it to say he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. I am so very proud of you all and the credit due to all brave men who flew her. Thank You for posting this! I just wish he was here to see this.

Definitely one of the best WW2 documentaries that I have ever seen on WW2 Air Power and specifically the US AAC and their B-26 Marauders...

I really appreciate you sharing this video, John Deam. My dad, Max Guiley, Sr. -- a pioneer Oregon aviator who was partners in a WACO dealership and was Airport Manager of Klamath Falls, Oregon (LMT) before WW2 began -- trained in Martin Marauders right after Pearl Harbor, out of Tampa and told me the ol' "One a day in Tampa Bay" rhyme when I was a small boy. He was base ops officer of Columbia Army Air Base in Columbia, South Carolina, where he went on to fly the B-26 to tow targets for the P-47 squadrons training there. My dad passed away Jan 13, 2000. I was always fascinated by my dad AND the Martin Marauder; my dad was my hero!

Amazing Video! My dad was a Bombardier on a B-26 and flew his full quota of missions over Germany out of France at the end of WWII. He passed away two years ago and I wish he was still around so I could watch this video with him:( I learned a lot about the history of this bomber from this video and I think the B-26 ranks right up there with the history of the B-17.

My grandfather flew in the 386th bomb group 554th squadron, he was a tail gunner. Glad to see a great history of such an amazing group.

This is one of the best aviation documentaries about World War II I have seen in a long time! Thank you so much for posting. You can tell that this film was a labor of love by its producers! Bless ‘em all!

Documentary is one of best ive seen..Thank you for sharing!

Thanks to John for an excellent program. My Dad, Maj. Ralph Trostel, flew 37 missions in the B-26 as a co-pilot. He was assigned to the 9th AF, 596th SQ, 397th Group. They were based in Peronne, France and Venlo, Holland.

An older friend was a tail gunner on this aircraft. When on one day they were 4 or 5 in the take off pattern. The first two crashed with total loss of life. His pilot from Chicago was able to fly it well and probably saved his crew

I worked for a contractor for 20 years. He was a retired USAF Colonel. On the 50th anniversary of D-Day, it was business as usual. As we were only about a half a mile from Macdill AFB I said , Wally why aren't you at the base at the ceremonies celebrating? I asked what he was doing on D-Day? He told that he was flying a B-26 on missions over France. He was very nonchalant about it and said that he was there and he didn't a dog and pony to remind him.

Thanks for posting this vid6eo on KZfaq. Like many others, I have a connection with the B-26. My father served as a waist gunner on the B-26. He was in the 320th bomb group, 444th squadron. After a number of sorties, his aircraft was shot down by accurate flak behind enemy lines west of Neustadt and only three of the crew survived. I was fortunate to meet his pilot at a reunion of the 444th at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in 2013. Along with some war diary records found online and this and other videos, I am slowly piecing together some of the details of my father's WW2 service and what he at age 18 and 19 experienced in the war. Thanks very much again for posting.

This guy was there but didn't know the real problem. When they made the wings longer is what cured the problem with design. I wasn't there but I stayed at a Holliday Inn last night.

Thank you to THE GREATEST GENERATION..

I love this documentary without commercials or Interruptions. Now that’s the way to have a great documentary this what you were just displayed

My Father*** was their at McDill flying B-26's in training. On the beach he saw more than one pilot die right in front of him. "One a Day in Tampa Bay." He specifically told me on take offs you didn't have time to survive a spun engine/prop unless you reached up (above his head) IMMEDIATELY and hit one (the opposite) of the two Left/Right kill buttons on the live prop engine. Only then could you use the other controls to keep from flipping over. You had to kill that engine that was still cranking on full power. On take offs that meant a belly landing and a chance of survival. Later those props we're engineered to withstand going flat at high RPM and losing power. The buttons we're thump sized, above your head center, in recessed pockets and with flight gloves on nearly impossible to hit with 'fat' fingers, off. He and some of his other trainees cut off the finger tips of their gloves and practiced (at higher elevations) losing an engine suddenly and killing that live engine to regain control of the aircraft. Needles to say, other than a flat spinning plane, losing a engine on take off is the most dangerous situation a pilot can endure. Jimmy Doolittle proved this testing the B-26 on take offs with one engine and controlling and actually flying the B-26 very effectively with just one engine. Doolittle's display saved the B-26 production for WW2. *** 323rd Bomb Group 456th Bomb Squadron ETO, completed 153 missions from May 1943 to May 1944.

When they refer to this as a "hot aircraft", they mean it had muscle, like a muscle car or a flying hot rod! Today I live on a flyway for a Airfield that holds air shows. When they pass overhead with the Marauders you can tell the hot rod engine sound versus the Wright Cyclones of a B-17. It is an impressive sound

I hadn't seen this before. Very interesting. Many thanks for posting.

Just saw the video twice, thrice to appreciate it even more... What a terrific story and thrilling narration of this underrated but truly recognized B-26! As honorable and venerable a bomber as they came during WWII. Many thanks again for placing this here.

One of the modifications to increase the B-26's safety and performance was to increase the wingspan, as well as the vertical stabilizer and rudder. As far as aesthetics goes, I think the earlier, unmodified, plane looks the sleekest and most attractive. There is a WWII training film on KZfaq which addresses the problems of flying the B-26 when dangerous situations arise.

I have a picture of my dad standing in front of a B 26 with a sharks mouth on it..I'm sure he was ground personnel that arrived in the beginning as he had worked at Wright field before joining..Yesterday I Googled B 26 and the 8 Th and the wiki came up telling me all the facts I'd never known..Then today this comes up on KZfaq..Thank you for giving me a glimpse into what he went through all those years in Europe..

First time I've seen this video. Very interesting. My dad flew second seat in 26's in the 9th Air Force, ninth air defense command. One of the things they did was fly grids over the channel near the coast watching for V-1's to launch and then radio their location so British guns with the help of radar could try and shoot them down. He said sometimes it was tough thinking you might get shot down by guys on your side. He also flew during the Battle of the Bulge trying to lead fighters in below the weather to help the ground troops.

Excellent, thorough documentary. Thank you for posting it, Mr.Dean.

Excellent video. One of the best of World War Two.

What great story. My Father, a founding member of SAC, flew the slightly bigger brother the B-25 out of Ascension Island. He was hunting different game entirely, U-Boats. I think the only similarity was they both had two engines.

This is an outstanding historical video. Thank you.

My dad Capt. Albert Stillo was a navigator in B-26 in WWII , Pacific, Korea, and Vietnam. He suffered from PTSD and died at age 48. They were the Greatest Generation.

E X C E L L E N T research / documentary on the Marauder. Well deserved tribute to this trial-and-error heroin. Indeed, it vindicated itself after hard and long-suffering growing pains. She matured and grew into a strong and successful performer and key contributor to the war. Thank you JD Sir for the upload.

My father wasn't a B26 pilot my grandfather wasn't a pilot but I stayed at a Holliday Inn last night.

The B-26 was an amazing bomber and history made it a legend in tis own time.

Like a famous series of photos of a B-26 being hit by Flak and taking out others in its formation as it spun out of control. This reminds me of B-24’s being hit by Flak and taking out others in the formation. The B-24 was difficult to handle at the best of times but in the close formations demanded, was a real headache. My personal view was that the policy of flying in tight formations for mutual support actually led to more casualties especially with HOT aircraft. The record of aircrew killed in flying and training accidents for the B-24 accidents was also horrendous. There was no margin for error or mechanical failure..tough young men

My father's Air Navigator's Log, has been in my grip for 32 years; after the world was shook by an earthquake with my birthplace's name on it Whittier's 10/01/87 Quake it came into my life, from deep in our closet. It became a, Purple Heart within 3 World War II months aircraft: 44-67899. Posting a share on it yesterday. It was an aircraft, my father was the Navigator's signature of, until 11/30/44. When it was downed in Germany, six Americans were obviously attacked by Germans responding to crash site. But, only 3 were P.O.W. the other 3 were K.I.A.

Really enjoyed this video thx for sharing. My gpa’s little brother flew with the 386th as a pilot. They sustained damage over France (rail bomb runs) Aug 1944 but managed to get back across the channel. I think there was landing gear or hydraulic damage so they were landing in a field. It didn’t go well. Some of the crew survived but both pilots perished. Their plane was The Bad Penny II. They were both buried in Cambridge.

God I hope you are still with us today. Would love to talk to a marauder crew member.

Great story!!👍

These guys were Truly afraid of this plane.I asked Jimmy Doolittle in person at a dinner what he had to do there.He told me they asked him to come and show these kids that it was a good plane so he flew it in front of a crowd of pilots at low level doing all kinds moves.We talked more later.I asked to sum up his career at Shell Oil and the Army and he said "I could never be so lucky again" Give your book that name I said.The rest is History.👍

Thank you John ,very interesting.

One Beautiful Bird !!! - "Semper-Fi"

interesting and informative thank you.......i never realised what an important plane this was.

John Deam, thank you for digitizing and posting this video. After WWII was over, my parents purchased a house in La Crescenta on Prospect Ave. Our next door neighbors, and good friends, were Tad and Helen Hankey. In the 50's, Tad and his wife Helen purchased a home in the Glendale hills on Princess Drive and they convinced my parents to purchase a house close to theirs that was located on Imperial Dr. My parents moved from La Crescenta to Glendale in the summer of 1953 and I told them I was not leaving La Crescenta but they overrode me. Tad and his brothers started California Car Rental after WWII with Tad running the company. California Car Rental later became part of National Car Rental and after a period of time, Tad became president of National. Around 5:09 into the video, Tad introduces himself.

Speed was the way to go for world war 2 bombers. With speed enemy flak needs to lead much more in order to hit a bomber. With speed the enemy fighters have to atack from behind since they are not fast enough to overtake it flying right into the deadly fire of the rear gunners. With speed the bomber can get to the target and back faster then the enemy fighters can climb. Martin probably knew that. Thats why the B-26, with its twin 2000hp engines turned out to be the U.S. bomber with the lowest combat losses.

A true unsung hero!

This is a great documentary of the history of WWII.

Wonder why there is no mention of Doolittle taking them up early on and after several trials figuring out that by extending both wing tips it really changed how it handled on one engine and gave it safer landing qualities?

34:23 - That's some creative editing of buzz bombs being exploded by flack, not B-26's. 28:39 is a horrifying clip of a Marauder receiving a direct flak hit in the left engine. I'm surprised the clip survived censorship. Very few of such film are available to us today. There are some videos of bombers going down with crews bailing out and the famous one of a B-24 being hit in the wing by a bomb dropped by one of its own flight members overhead, but damned few showing the utter carnage in the most dangerous service branch of the entire war. 35:15 is a very pretty bomb pattern right down the pipe.

At 24:25 you will a tragic situation as the pilot bales out of an FW190, shortly followed by is seat parachute. He fell without his chute. Tragic as it may seem today, but those things happened to both allied and axis forces throughout the war.

As these men all prove, the Marauder did an excellent job in the European Air War. Taking nothing awa6 from them though, the their experiences and contributions, I think the Marauder did even better in the Pacific Campaigns and that's where the airplanes really came into its own and showed its full potential. With the large number of modifications made to the Marauder in the field by its Air and ground crews in the Pacific, some authorized and approved and some not so much, the aircraft was able to truly and honestly live up to its name. I've seen some pictures where there are so many fifty Cal barreles sticking out it does look like a porcupine. With this greatly increased forward firepower it proved to be a devastating ground attack and anti shipping aircraft. I've even seen one photo with I believe it's a 105mm cannon rigged to fire through the nose. I truly believe that it was due to that pacific experience that the Marauder was flying even in Vietnam, although technically designated differently it was at heart a Marauder. Fantastic Aircraft great and brave crews. One thing I will never understand though, and again no insult to the Marauder, but I don't understand why America didn't just build the Dehavlind Mosquito under a license agreement in the huge numbers that American factories could turn out. Not only far faster than any American Bomber, it could carry the same bomb load as the B 17, it would conserve critical wartime materials as well. The Mosquito had the lowest losses of any type, by percentage, than any allied bomber despite being assigned the most dangerous missions. One top of that the Mosquito was also the most accurate bomber of any allied aircraft as well, inventing the concept of pinpoint accuracy and surgical strikes. Personally I think that instead of the B 17 America should have flown the Mosquito in its place, same bomb load, only two crew risked per aircraft and with its speed two missions could have been flown per day, perhaps alternating crews, doubling the number of sorties. I'm sure it was something political, even during a war for your very survival politics proves more important to politicians... Some things never change I suppose.

I'll bet the Tuskegee Airmen could have had it under control a lot faster! :)

There's and old saying "If it looks right it is right" I think the B-26 is one of the best looking bombers ever conceived! Well except for the B-18.............I'm kidding. The B-18 is the mud fence of all mud fences Wow is it ugly............

..it always ticked me off how the Air Force re-designated the A-26 Invader the "B-26"..a fine airplane, but not a "B-26"...the only "B-26" was the Martin Marauder....

10:12) this is about the time that the pilots noticed this plane was meant to be a muscle airframe, or kind of "Mahotrauder" . Today when they fly by to neighboring air shows, you can hear what those old guys were talking about!

I never knew B-26s didn't carry oxygen. Didn't Jimmy Doolittle have an important role in establishing best practices and procedures for flying the Marauder, acting as a test pilot himself? If so, I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned. Apparently the B-26s weren't quite fast enough to make it safe for them to fly on the deck (i.e. below radar detection range) over heavily defended enemy territory as was the preferred mode of approaching and exiting targets for many Mosquito attacks under daylight conditions.

@ 28:39! No Apologies offered. The Big, Beautiful, Baltimore, Bitch was it! ♥️It!

Aircraft in general, I think the Cheyanne is the most controversial

The later success of the B-26 was paid for by pilots and crews who sacrificed their lives because of the early B-26 design flaws and extremely poor testing before fielding. None of the generals or company executives who rushed this production boondoggle were killed during the fatal early stages of this bomber. Salute to the brave B-26 crews.

I mean B26.... oops

The B26 marauder and their crews God bless those heroes

He said that after he cut an engine, "the airplane was over on it's back before the pilot could reach for the trim wheel". I don't know what they were teaching in those days for an engine failure on takeoff (V1 cut), but it certainly shouldn't have been that you counter the resulting yaw and roll with trim. Use the rudder pedals ... your feet are already on them. Unless the 26 didn't have enough rudder authority at the time, with proper instruction an engine failure on takeoff should have been no problem. I think the young guys must have been being trained wrong. What a shame!

Does anybody know when this documentary was made? It was certainly interesting hearing the interviews of the actual people that flew them. Thanks for posting it!

Weren't some B-26's in North Africa used as fighters to shoot down Rommel's air-supply from Italy?

America for the world forever! America for the world forever! As

"The most controversial ever built?" How about the Northrop flying wing, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose...I can think of several other which were much more controversial.

this burns. this plane is or would be a lovely CAS

no disrespect Sir, us airborne infantry, don't exactly consider 20mm, to be small arms. GBU.

there is no town called Leise in the Netherlands! i have to announce that this town is called Leiden...

There was a B-26?

Why didn't they just take North American B-25 bombers when problems with the B-26 like crashes when on one engine became apparent? Overall poerformance didn't differ alll that much

Compare him to a 27 year olds today. Thank god for the greatest generation. We would be speaking German today if we had to depend on these youngsters today. They would complain they are being bullied or there would not be enough trans bathrooms on the b-26. God what has happened to our country, really?

Could someone explain to me why the B-26 had a tougher time at low level bombing compared to the British Mosquito's which used low level bombing exclusively? Flying at tree top level how would a German AA battery have time to react? A B-26 doing 250 mph would cover over 360 feet in one second. It seems to me by the time a German AA battery lay the gun on target, it would be out of sight and over the horizon. What am I missing?

hello the B 26 is not an American aircraft . you can prove me erroneous if you can . saludos

could use a proffessional editor. Not criticism of vets just seems to need some help.