Amiot 357

Today it's the turn for a French secret project of the World War 2 as this aircraft wasn't discovered until France fell.
The Amiot 357 was a prototype of a high altitude bomber featuring a pressurized cockpit based on the Amiot 350 twin-engined bomber family.
It was powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Z-89 engines turbocharged delivering each of them 1200hp of power in order to achieve good performance when on high altitude.
It was being constructed at Amiot's factory in Le Bourget, close to Paris during the first quarter of 1940 and the prototype was almost finished when the German troops captured the factory on 14th June 1940.
As this bomber would've been a true breakthrough in French bomber technology, we imagined how a possible French high-altitude camouflage would've looked like and therefore applied an hypothetical version considering that France would've resisted the Blitzkrieg.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_357.html

Amiot 370

The Amiot 370 was a racing aircraft piloted by the minister Pierre Cot that took part in the Istres-Damascus-Paris air race, that it wasn't allowed to register as it wasn't ready at the time.
However, that aircraft beated many world records on 8th February 1938 when it was able to fly at a speed of 437 km/h for 2000km, at 401km/h for 5000km on 8th June and at 301km/h for 10000km on 15th August. It was powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Yirs/12Yjrs engines delivering each of them 860hp of power.
It was piloted by Rossi-Vigroux and Rossi Emont with J.Calvy, Girodin, Perpère and Y.Maurice as engineers.
It was also this aircraft that took part in the quick flight Marseille-Djibouti on 26th and 27th July 1941 piloted by Gaston Durmon.
It was present at Tolouse when it was liberated but, when Amiot was nationalized, it was scrapped by order of the minister Charles Tillon.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)

Amiot 356

The Amiot 356 was a variant of the Amiot 351/354 twin-engined bomber that was to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines delivering each of them 1030hp of power.
Thirty-five of them were ordered in January 1939 together with on-hundred of the 353 type. On 1st December 1939, the order was increased to forty.
It made its maiden flight on 18th March 1940 in Villacoublay but, due to the German invasion and it was flown to Tolouse, in southern France, where it was storaged. In April 1941 it was one of the five aircrafts that was part of the Vichy's fleet that had their weapons removed and used by Air France and, between July 1941 and November 1942 was used as a liaison aircraft between metropolitan Vichy France and the colonies in North Africa.
As it had British engines, we thought it would've been feasible that some units of the Royal Air Force would've used it if France had resisted the Blitzkrieg.

Amiot 140M

Today we bring you two airplanes, though of the first one we don't have any pic as we couldn't find a pic of a Lorraine 18G Orion W-18 engine.
The Amiot 140 was the precursor of the Amiot 143 and was a twin engined that was going to be powered by two of the aforementioned Lorraine 18G Orion W-18 engines delivering an expected power of 691hp each. It was the most direct response to Armée de l'Air's requeriment but due to the obsolescence of the Lorraine engines for the year 1931 (the order was from 1928) the prototype was finished equipped with two Hispano-Suiza 12Nbr inline engines that delivered less theoretical power (650hp) but they were more reliable.
The finished Amiot 140 was renamed as the Amiot 140M (that letter M standing for Modifié - modificated). It was an stressed-skin bomber that won the contest competing against other French aircraft manufacturer firms like Dewoitine.
It has been regarded as one of the ugliest airplanes ever built with a rectangular fuselage, a large and thick wing, awkward looking nose, a large glazed gondola below the superstructure and was armed with three Lewis Mk.II machine guns (as the first indigenous French aircraft machine gun, the 7.5mm MAC wouldn't appear until three years later, in 1934) one in an open cockpit, another spinal one in another open cockpit and both were able of rotating 180º and a last one inside the superstructure facing the tail, below the wings. This last post was completely isolated from the rest of the airplane as it was placed just behind the bomb bay.
It performed well for the Armèe de l'Air and flew for the first time on 12th April 1931. It was tested at the CEMA (Centre d'Essais de Matériels Aériens - Air Material Research Centre) in the French city of Villacoublay and took part on some night maneouvres in July 1933 where some defects were detected and noted in order to be solved in the next model that would've been the Amiot 141.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_140.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 189 - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 355

The twelfth Amiot 351 was selected to be fitted with the new Gnome-Rhône 14R 02/03 engines (which were an advanced version of the previous 14N) delivering 1200hp of power each of them and with some advanced features, for 1939, like a two-speed compressor.
The Amiot 350 was about to start its flying tests in June 1940 in Bourget but, due to the rapid German advance, it was quickly transferred on 10th June to the airfield Landes de Bussac, close to Pau in southern France, without the engine cowlings, piloted by the famous French woman pilot Maryse Hilsz and, later to Clermont-Ferrand with the hope of keeping it away from the frontlines and complete it some time in early 1941 at the AIA Aulnat (Amiot's research office in Vichy France). As the type was never ordered into production, the prototype was used briefly as a transport to carry Marshall Petain from the colonies of Algeria and Morocco to Metropolitan France, but after that it was storaged and not used again.

Sources:
1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_355.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 354

The Amiot 354 was the most advanced of the 350 family that was actually completed and entered production. It was powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14N-48/14N-49 (depending on the rotation of the engine, the engine received a number or another) delivering each of them 1060hp of power, that was 200hp more of power than the Amiot 351.
It had a streamlined fuselage and engine cowlings with most of them produced with a single tail fin with, some few others completed with the double fin.
It was armed with two 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns, one in the nose and another one in ventral position, and one 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon mounted on the dorsal side of the airplane, at the end of the cockpit. However, the first eleven airplanes lacked the cannon due to production shortages and replaced it with another MAC machine gun. It could carry up to 2756lb (1250kg) of bombs.
It was ordered in small numbers as, of the 880 bombers of the 300 series ordered on 1st December 1939, only 40 of them were of the 354 model. As the production was slow, by 1st May 1940 only 37 of them were in active service with the Armée de l'Air.
The first unit to receive the 354 was the G.B 9 (Groupe de Bombardement 9) and operated them together with the Bloch M.B.210. The other aircrafts were assigned to G.B. I/34, G.B. II/34, G.B. I/21 and G.B. II/21 on 7th April 1940 and 10th May 1940 respectively. By 22nd June, most of the groups moved on to Oran, in Algeria, leaving only seven aircrafts in metropolitan France. During the French campaigns of May-June 1940 those groups were forced to push the 354 into combat as soon as they received it and they realized armoured reconnaissance missions over Netherlands on 16 and 17 May 1940, without any setback.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_354.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 189 - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 353

The Amiot 353 was a version of the Amiot 351/354 that was powered by two British made Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled engines delivering each of them 1030hp of power.
It was part of a project of testing the airframe of the Amiot 350 with as many engines as possible. Sixty of them were ordered when the original contract for the Amiot 351 was modified for the third time in early January 1939 and, when the second production contract was issued for more Amiot bombers, one-hundred 353 were ordered in late January 1939. The order remained active until 1st December 1939 but, due to more important issues that the French Armée de l'Air had, the Amiot 353 fades away and, apparently a single prototype was completed that was probably destroyed during the German invasion in May 1940.
As this variant was half-British, we couldn't resist the tentation of painting in early Royal Air Force colours in an hypothetical French resistance of the Blitzkrieg.

Sources:
1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_353.html
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 352

Now it's the time for the Amiot 352 which was a project of an improved version of the Amiot 351/354 twin engined bomber intended to be powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12y 50/51 with a predicted power of 1100hp each of them. It was going to be technically the second member of the Amiot 350 family to be equipped with a Hispano-Suiza engine, as the first one was the Amiot 350.
Back in 1938 the French Air Ministry, issued a production contract for a number of Amiot 351 bombers, but due to shortage of Hispano-Suiza engines in January 1939 and the priority that the Armée de l'Air gave to the fighters, meant that the order was cancelled, so no Hispano-Suiza powered Amiots were ordered for most 1939, but, on 1st December 1939 the French Air Ministry modified all the production orders. A total of 880 Amiot bombers were ordered, among them 560 Amiot 352. It's not clear if this airplane went beyond the drawing board stage and, as we couldn't find any graphical evidence, the drawing should be considered as hypothetical.

Sources:
1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_352.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 189 - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 350

The Amiot 350 was one of the variants of the 350 family that was powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Y28/29 12-cylinder liquid cooled engines delivering each of them 920hp of power. It had a twin-tailed and was expected to be armed with three defensive 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns, one in the nose, another spinal one and a ventral one.
Considering how the French design of the time worked, the airframes were to be tested by as much engines as possible, to see which one achieved the best results. The first production contract for an Amiot 350 B.4 was placed in 1938 for 20 of them with a expected deadline delivery date of April 1939, however, 100 Amiot 351 B.4 were added to the order, and problems with the Gnome-Rhône engines destined for the 351 altered the order, so the order was altered and it was composed of forti-five 350 and seventy-five 351.
Those contracts were the closest point for a mass production of the 350 because in January 1939, it was decided that the fighters would have priority for the production of Hispano-Suiza engines, so the first order was altered yet again for sixty 351 and sixty 353 (although this one would never go beyond the prototype stage) so all the work on the 350 came to an end with just one prototype being built.

Sources:
1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_350.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 351

The Amiot 351 was a modified 340 that served as the prototype for the Amiot 354. It flew for the first time on 21st January 1939 after reciving the new Gnome-Rhône 14N 20/21engines with 1020hp of power each. It featured a twin-tail and redesigned engine hoods in order to reduce the drag. It was going to be armed with three 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns, a ventral one, another one in the nose and another one at the back of the cockpit, however due to the lack of time and resources being diverted to more prioritary projects, most of the bombers didn't receive any defensive armament at all. The prototype was named as Amiot 351 Nº1 and was damaged on a crash on 4th July, just before the start of the war, so it was repaired and assigned to G.R.I/33 to be evaluated against the Potez 637.
The aircraft was well liked and accepted by the crews, however its production was terribly slow as only 5 aircrafts were accepted into use by January 1940, seventeen by 1st March, 21 by 1st April and 37 by 1st May, by which time much more of them should've been ready and deployed on the battlefront.

Sources:
1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_351.html
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 340

The Amiot 340 was a three-seated double-engined bomber that was based on the Amiot 341 mail plane. The prototype took part in a flight to Berlin in August 1938 to make Germany think that France had already modern bombers. It made its maiden flight on 6th December 1937 and was powered by two 920hp Gnome-Rhône 14P air-cooled radial engines. One-hundred thirty machines were ordered, but due to modifications in the orders, September 1939 arrived and not a single aircraft had been delivered. As the French Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) urgently needed a modern bomber, the prototype was sent back to Amiot's main factory in order to be modified into the Amiot 351, which was the basis for the Amiot 354.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_354 (translated)
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_340.html
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action  - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Amiot 143, various foreign users

A little bit later than usual but now it's the turn for the foreign users of this French medium bomber as France wasn't the only one to employ it.
The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia apparently received one of them and used it, probably, for training purposes. However as we couldn't find any graphical evidence, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
The Vichy French Air Force got some of the bombers that weren't destroyed after the French armistice, and gathered them in Istres, southern France in order to use them as transports to send them to take part in the Syria-Lebanon campaign, which is why they created the G.T. I/15 meaning Groupe de Transport or Transport Group on 14th July 1941 and became the G.T. III/15 in October of that same year. However, as the Syria-Lebanon campaign finished just in July 1941, they were never sent to Syria and were based in the French North Africa, mainly in Algeria and Morocco where most of them were destroyed during Operation Torch with some of them, belonging to the G.T. I/36 (a reformed G.T. III/15) being used during the Tunisian Campaign in January 1943. Anyway, all of them were scrapped in early 1944.
The Polish Air Force in France, employed some Amiot 143M as bomber trainers, mainly in the bomber flying school of Lyon-Bron and Caen. During the last days of the French Campaign in June 1940 they were used to evacuate personnel to Southern France.
Regarding the Spanish Republican Air Force, there were several reports of them being used in the early days of the Spanish Civil War, but they seem to be erroneus, as there aren't any significal evidence of the airplane flying in that conflict. We couldn't however let the oportunity pass and painted one of them with the colours of the FARE (Fuerzas Aéreas Republicanas Españolas - Spanish Republican Air Forces) to see how it could have looked like.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143 (translated)
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action -  French Bombers of World War II in Action
4. http://bioold.science.ku.dk/drnash/model/spain/didnt.html

Amiot 143/143M - French Users

We have decided to change our system of chosing what airplane to draw next. As the previous system was too strict, now we decide, inside its corresponding letter, which ones to do, which ones will be leave for another moment and which ones to give priority. This way we favour quality over quantity. But let's get started with today's post itself.
The Amiot 143 was a French medium bomber designed to meet a specification from 1928 for a bomber able of performing day and night bombing runs and long range recconnaissance missions.
They entered service with the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) back in July 1935 with the deliveries being followed during 1936, 1937 and until March 1938 when it was declared outdated and was decided to be replaced by the more modern Bloch M.B.131, however, at the outbreak of the World War II in September 1939, five metropolitan squadrons and an African one were equipped with the Amiot 143. During the Phoney War period (the stage of the war going from September 1939 to May 1940) the Amiot 143 squadrons carried out reconnaissance and leaflet dropping missions over Germany and around 87 143M were still in active role at the frontlines in May 1940, 50 of them in metropolitan squadrons, more exactly G.B. I/34 and II/34 in the north, I/38 and II/38 in the East and 17 of them in service with the African G.B.II/63 that was already in process of transitioning into the Martin 167F . When the Battle of France started in May 1940 as the type was already seriously outdated, it was relegated to night bombing against German airfields and communications hubs with, surprisingly low losses with the exception of a daylight raid when 10 Amiot 143M from the G.B.I/34, II/34 and II/38 commanded by the Commandant de Laubier attacked German brigdeheads in Sedan on 14 May 1940. They were escorted by fighters but two of them were shot down and a third one had to force-land before reaching their base.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143
2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 189 - French Bombers of World War II in Action

Ambrosini-SAI 7/107

The Ambrosini SAI.107 was a light fighter interceptor made entirely out of wood that was developed and produced by Italy during World War II.
It was developed from the Ambrosini S.7 that was a racing airplane which was converted into a two-seater trainer and served as the prototype for the 107. Such prototype differed from the final version in being slightly shorter (8.17m against the 8.20m of the 107) and having a different engine, a 540hp Isotta-Fraschini Gamma. It was really light, as it weighted just 1000Kg (2205lb) and was really fast for the time reaching speeds of 563km/h (350mph) with an excellent maneouvrability.
It was a single-seat low-wing monoplane with a conventional tail-wheel undercarriage powered by a 750hp Isotta-Fraschini Delta R.C.40 engine with a central cooling intake and armed with two 12,7mm Breda-SAFAT machine-guns with an impressive achievement of 560km/h in level flight and even 800km/h in a dive. Those results made the Italian Aeronautical Ministry to place an order for 2000 airplanes, however, some shortcomings were found in further tests that cannont be solved before the armistice in 1943. The only 12 pre-production airplanes served briefly with the Regia Aeronautica with three squadrons in July 1943 without any success, so they were sent to the Castiglione del Lago airfield (at the time of the Regia Aeronautica's main training centre) in order to equip one squadron, however the armistice made it impossible. Furthermore, the Italian pilots weren't impressed by the speed and its service ended just in the summer of 1943.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosini_SAI.207
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosini_S.7
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell Douglas F-15B Eagle, American users

The McDonnell Douglas F-15B Eagle was a two-seater version of the regular F-15 with only 61 airplanes built. It's powered by two Pratt & Whitney F-100-PW-100 engines each of them rated at 14670 pounds (65,26Kn) at full power and 23830 pounds (105.7Kn) in afterburning. It's armed with one M61A1 Vulcan machine gun placed in the nose and has six hardpoints under the wings plus another five ones under the fuselage with a total payload of 7257Kg (16000lb). The usual air-to-air configuration is 4x AIM-7F Sparrow, 4X AIM-9E/L Sidewinder plus three external fuel tanks with a capacity of each 610 US gallons (2309litres). It's actively used both as a trainer and as a bomber by the United States Air Force and the Israeli Air Force.
The one depitcted below belongs to the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron that were received in 1978 replacing the F-4 Phantom while based in the Netherlands. They served until 1994 when the unit was reorganized.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32d_Air_Operations_Squadron
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Ambrosini SS.4

The Ambrosini SS.4, AKA SAI-Ambrosini SS.4, was an Italian fighter prototype that featured a canard-style wing configuration and a pusher type engine.
It was designed by Sergio Stefanutti and was based on his previous SS.2 and SS.3 light airplanes that were tested in Guidonia, the test centre of the Regia Aeronautica.
The SS.4 was an all-metal single-seat fighter with a canard configuration wing with mounted twin fins on the wing trailing edges. It had also retractable trycicle undercarriage and short fuselage with an Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI RC.40 V-12 engine that delivered 960hp of power and was cooled by two radiators placed in either side of the fuselage in ducts just behind the cockpit and the fuel was storaged in two fuel tanks located at mid-fuselage together with another oil tank.
The pilot sat in the cockpit placed in the centre of the fuselage forward of the two fuel tanks and aft of the armament in the nose. The place of the cockpit gave the pilot an excellent visibility specially on the sides and front. The prototype was unarmed, however the expected armament to be installed was to be two 20mm cannons and another one of 30mm calibre clustered in the nose. Trully a very well armoured airplane for the time and for being an Italian one, specially when compared to another Italian fighter of the time.
The prototype was built by SAI-Ambrosini at their factory of Pasignano sul Trasimeno and then sent to the Eleuteri Airfield, located all of them in the Trasimeno region in central Italy. There, the aircraft was successfully flown on 7th March 1939. On next day, the prototype was going to be transported to Aviano airbase, in North-Eastern Italy, to be furtherly tested, however, the test pilot, Ambrogio Colombo, wanted a second test flight. After 45 minutes in the air, an aileron malfunctioned just 2km away from Eleuteri airfield. Colombo tried to land but he couldn't reach the runway and crashed near Campagna hitting a tree and, unfortunatelly, killing the pilot. The investigation of the accident concluded that the accident was caused by a faulty installation of the aileron and that the engine transmitted excessive vibration to the wing.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosini_SS.4
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Martin B-26B Marauder, American users, part six

Now it's the turn for the last post about the Martin B-26B Marauder, but it's not, however, the last post about the B-26.
The B-26B was used by the 597th Bombardment Squadron that was formed at MacDill Field, Florida in April 1943 equipped initially with the Martin B-26B and after completing their training with the Third Air Force, they were dispatched to the European Theatre of Operations via Hunter Field, Georgia, on 14th March 1944. They were based at RAF Gosfield, in England, from April 1944 where they flew their first combat missions together with their parent group, the 363rd Fighter Group. They took part on the famous Operation Overlord by attacking V-1 flying bomb launch pads, bridges and other tactical targets throughout all Normandy campaign. They took part on the Operation Cobra in July 1944 after having moved from England to Gorges Airfield, in France, where they attacked naval targets at the ports of St. Malo and Brest. By September 1944 they were already attacking targets in Germany from Peronne Airfield in North-Eastern France. During the Battle of the Bulge, they attacked enemy communications lines and it was then, on 23rd December 1944, when attacking a bridge in Ediger-Eller, Germany, the unit received the Distinguished Unit Citation due to the heavy flak and fighter opposition they encountered. They remained offering ground support until 20th April 1945 when they flew their 239th combat mission. When the war in Europe ended, they returned to Peronne Airfield, from Venlo Airfield in the Netherlands, where they remained until December 1945. They returned to Camp Shanks, in New York in January 1946 when they were disbanded.
The case of the 598th Squadron, was almost identical, as they were also formed at MacDill Field, in Florida, were sent to the European Theatre of Operations on 14th March 1944 and were stationed at RAF Gosfield and later they took part on Operation Overlord, Operation Cobra, the Allied advance into France, Low Countries and Germany and they took part in the Battle of the Bulge where they also received the Distinguished Unit Citation. After the war in Europe they returned to Peronne Airfield in France, before returning to the USA in December 1945 and being deactivated in January 1946.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/597th_Bombardment_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/598th_Range_Squadron
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin B-26B Marauder, American users, part five

We start this week with more American users for the Martin B-26B Marauder.
The 444th Bombardment Squadron was formed in July 1942 in Florida and since the very beginning they were equipped with the B-26B Marauder. They started under the command of the Third Air Force in order to be trained, but soon after the formation and training was over, they were transferred to the VIIIth Air Command, in England. They flew some missions over continental Europe until fall 1942 when they redeployed to North Africa and transferred to the Twelfth Air Force in November 1942. They remained there until the end of the Tunisian campaign in May 1943 and took part in the Sicilian, Italian and Sardinian campaigns (where they were rebased in 1944). They were redeployed to France in late 1944 to take part in the bombardment campaigns against German soil, and became part of the occupation forces when the war ended. They remained in Germany until December 1945 when they were demobilized.
The 34th BS, was already formed when the USA entered into the World War II, and they replaced their North American B-25 Mitchell by the B-26 in June 1942 in order to train before being deployed, in November 1942 to North Africa. They took part in the Tunisian campaign and remained there through all the allied invasion of Italy and the south of France during the summer of 1944. They were rebased to Lyon Bron airport, in order to provide support for the troops fighting in the western frontier of Germany and remained there until the war in Europe ended in May 1945. After the German capitulation, they were rebased to Linz, Austria where they remained until November 1945 when they were disbanded.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/444th_Air_Expeditionary_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Bomb_Squadron
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action - Martin B-26B Marauder in action

Martin B-26B, American users part four

Today, we retake the American users for the B-26.
The 439th BS, it was formed in mid-1942 in Louisiana and were equipped since the very beginning with the B-26. They were assigned to the European Theatre of Operations in September 1942 where they flew various missions over France and Belgium before being assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and sent to Algeria in order to serve in Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. During the advance in Algeria, they provided air support for the ground troops and, in March 1943 they were rebased to French Morocco in order to be re-equipped with a more modern version of the B-26 and later, in June 1943 they moved on to Tunisia in order to attack Italian islands like Sicily, Sardinia or Pantelleria, among others. In November they were rebased to Sardinia to bomb targets in Central and Northern Italy and during 1944 they remained there providing air support in, among others, the Battles of Anzio, Montecassino and Operation Dragoon. They returned to the United States in January 1945 where they were re-equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader in order to serve in the Pacific.
In the case of the 554th Bombardment Squadron, they were activated equipped with the Martin B-26 at the south-eastern USA and were assigned to the European Theatre of Operations in June 1943 serving with the VIII Air Support Command and then, in 1944, with the IX Bomber Command. They performed tactical bombardments through all the campaign, from England first and from advanced bases in France and Belgium later. When the war ended in Europe, they were taken back to the USA, re-equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader in order to take part in the Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan that never took place, so they were disbanded in November 1945.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/554th_Fighter-Bomber_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/439th_Operations_Group
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 50 - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin XB-27

We make a small break from the Marauder in order to present you a never-built aircraft from Martin's.
The Martin XB-27 was a proposal by the Glenn L. Martin company to fill a need in the United States Army Air Corps for a high altitude bomber. It was strongly based on the Martin B-26 but it never went beyond the blueprints.
It was expected to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-9 radial engines delivering each of them 2000hp (1500Kw) each, a fully pressurized cabin with a crew of seven and was going to be armed with three 0.30in machine guns, one in the nose, another dorsal one and a ventral one and a 0.50in machine gun placed in the tail and a payload of 4000lb (1800kg) of bombs in an internal bay. The expected maximum speed was 375mph (603.5Km/h).

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_XB-27
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b27.html

Martin B-26B Marauder, American Users part three

Now it's the turn for two more USAAF's squadrons, the 432nd BS and the 533rd BS.
The 432nd Bombardment Squadron transitioned to the Martin B-26 from the North American B-25 in 1942 in Louisiana before being, shortly after, destined to North-Western Africa in order to take part in Operation Torch. They took part later in the battle for Tunisia and the operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, in 1943 and, when Sardinia was liberated, they were rebased there and to Corsica in order to take part in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France. They were rebased to Southern France in 1944 and took part in the bombing campaigns against German homeland until the end of the war. They remained in Germany after the war until November 1945 when they were deactivated.
The 533rd Bombardment Squadron got some Martin B-26 Marauders that served with the rest of the squadron operating from the United Kingdom as part of the Eighth Air Force since 1943 until the end of the war in Europe in 1945. They returned to mainland USA to replace the B-26 and were assigned to the Pacific Theatre of Operations.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/89th_Attack_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/533d_Training_Squadron
4. Signal Squadron - AIrcraft in Action 50 - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin B-26B Marauder, American Users part two

We keep on with the Martin B-26B Marauder in USAAF's hands, and now it's the turn for two more squadrons.
The 37th Bombardment Squadron replaced their B-25 Mitchell by the B-26 Marauder in 1942 and flew them until the end of the war. As they were assigned to the Twelfth Air Force, they operated in the Mediterranean area before moving in 1943 to the United Kingdom and assigned to the Eighth Air Force to perform PSYOPS dropping supplies and propaganda leaflets.
Apparently, the 452nd Bombardment Squadron also used them when was part of the 322nd Bombardment Group and, assigned to the Eighth Air Force, was deployed in the European Theatre of Operations. They were based in the United Kingdom from December 1942 until September 1944 when they were rebased to Beauvais-Tille Airport, in North-Eastern France and later, to Le-Culot Airfield in Belgium where they remained until the end of the war.
Edit: This is our 500th post!

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Martin_B-26_Marauder_operators
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37th_Bomb_Squadron
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/452d_Operations_Group
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin B-26B Marauder, American Users

Now we start with this, rather long, series of entries about the native users of the B-26, the United States Army Air Force.
We're covering two squadrons in this post, the 439th Bombardment Squadron and 34th Bombardment Squadron.
In the case of the 439th BS, it was formed in mid-1942 in Louisiana and were equipped since the very beginning with the B-26. They were assigned to the European Theatre of Operations in September 1942 where they flew various missions over France and Belgium before being assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and sent to Algeria in order to serve in Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. During the advance in Algeria, they provided air support for the ground troops and, in March 1943 they were rebased to French Morocco in order to be re-equipped with a more modern version of the B-26 and later, in June 1943 they moved on to Tunisia in order to attack Italian islands like Sicily, Sardinia or Pantelleria, among others. In November they were rebased to Sardinia to bomb targets in Central and Northern Italy and during 1944 they remained there providing air support in, among others, the Battles of Anzio, Montecassino and Operation Dragoon. They returned to the United States in January 1945 where they were re-equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader in order to serve in the Pacific.
The 34th BS, was already formed when the USA entered into the World War II, and they replaced their North American B-25 Mitchell by the B-26 in June 1942 in order to train before being deployed, in November 1942 to North Africa. They took part in the Tunisian campaign and remained there through all the allied invasion of Italy and the south of France during the summer of 1944. They were rebased to Lyon Bron airport, in order to provide support for the troops fighting in the western frontier of Germany and remained there until the war in Europe ended in May 1945. After the German capitulation, they were rebased to Linz, Austria where they remained until November 1945 when they were disbanded.

Sources:
1. https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=439th%20Bombardment%20Squadron&item_type=topic
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Bomb_Squadron
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin B-26C Marauder, Free French and South African Users

The B-26C was the name given to those B-26 manufactured in Omaha, Nebraska, instead of Baltimore, Maryland that included all the improvements made to the B-26B-55. As such it served with the Free France Air Force and the South African Air Force during the World War II. When serving with the South Africans, it received the denomination of Martin Marauder Mk.II.
The last squadron of the Free France Air Force to receive the B-26 was the GBM 1/22 Maroc that together with its flights VB-109 and VB-125 was detached from the 31éme Escadre de Bombardement Moyen (31st Medium Bombing Wing). After operation Torch, it was decided to re-equip it with the B-26C Marauder replacing the old Lioré et Olivier LeO.45. So the were retrained in Rabat, Morocco and were officialy formed on 1st September 1943. On January 1944 they operated from Châteaudun-du-Rummel, Algeria and later, in March 1944 they moved on to Villacidro, Sardinia, where they remained until the end of the war performing bombing missions against Italy and supporting troops in southern France during operation Anvil-Dragoon.

In South African hands, the B-26C was operated by two squadrons, the No.12 and No.24. They were received in 1943 and were employed in bombing missions on the Aegean Sea, Crete and Italy. The No.24 Squadron received the B-26C in December 1943 when based in Algeria, later in 1944 they were rebased in Pescara, central Italy before moving on, later to Iesi, also in Italy where they remained until the end of the war. When the war was over, the B-26C were employed as transport airplanes, moved to Egypt in October 1945 and were disbanded in November 1945.
In the case of the No.12 Squadron, they replaced their Douglas Boston in December 1943 at Algeria and were rebased to Southern Italy in February 1944 where they remained until the end of the war.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. https://www.enpa-capmatifou.com/Enpa2/Aero/EVENEMENTS/66_seconde_guerre_13.pdf (translated)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Squadron_SAAF
4. http://www.b26.com/page/south_african_air_force_saaf.htm
5. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 50 - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action

Martin B-26C Marauder, Free French Users part two

Today we cover two interesting squadrons of the Free France Air Force that were equipped with the Martin B-26C.
The first one is the GBM 2/20 "Bretagne" squadron that received the B-26 in December 1943 at Telergma airfield, in the East of Algeria where they were formed and assigned to the 31º Escadre that was part of the 42nd Bombardment Wing of the USAAF. Later, in April 1944 they operated from Sardinia, together with the other FFL's bombardment squadrons and conducted attack and support missions against Corsica and Northern Italy.
In November 1944 they were rebased to Bron, in Lyon in order to perform attack and bombardment missions against Germany. In March 1945 they were rebased to the French town of Saint-Dizier in order to provide support for American troops fighting in the Saarland.

The second one, the GBM 2/52 "Franche-Comte" was formed as a bombardment group, receiving the B-26C, in Médiouna, in Morocco, in January 1944 where they got their nickname. In March 1944 they were rebased to Telergma, Algeria and in July 1944 they were rebased to Villacidro, Sardinia, in order to take part in the operations against Northern-Central Italy where they remained until the end of the war. After the war, they operated from Blida until they B-26 were replaced in order to serve in Indochina in 1949.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
2. http://halifax346et347.canalblog.com/archives/2013/10/11/28195353.html (translated)
3. http://anfas.fr/escadron/Bretagne%203.pdf (translated)
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 50 - Martin B-26 Marauder in Action