Monday, 10 April 2017

Martin 167F - French Army Users

After a weekend off, we're back, dealing with the French users of this American bomber.
The Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) ordered various types of American airplanes during the late 1930s, among them 200 Martin 167F (which was a version designed specifically for France with for instance metric equipment or the 0,30 FN built Browning machine gun. It entered service with the Armée de l'Air in early 1940 (when they were originally expected to be delivered in early 1939) due to the American arms embargo on weapons export that held the airplanes for various months.
By the time of the German invasion of France, there were only four Groupes de bombardement (Bomber squadrons) equipped with the 167F and they were sent to the battlefield where they served quite well with their speed and maneouvrability with just a 4% loss rate.
Just before the French Armistice of June 1940, those squadrons equipped with the 167F were sent to the French North Africa to make them escape and avoid being taken by the Germans. Apparently one of them landed in Spain were it was interned and tested by the Spanish regime and another one landed in Gibraltar where it was repainted with Royal Air Force's colours.










Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Maryland
2. AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 96 - Martin 167 Maryland (translated)

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