Martin Type 139 - Various Foreign Users

 

The Martin Type 139 was an all-metal monoplane bomber that was used by the United States Army Air Corps and by many other countries:

• China: The National Revolutionary Army, (Kuomingtan's Armed Forces) ordered six 139s which Martin called them 'Type 139WC' (the letter 'C' standing for 'China'). This version was powered by two Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines which could deliver up to 850 hp of power each. 
  They arrived in China in February 1937 and were used in August against the Japanese in the Battle of Shanghai, where the Chinese Nationalist Air Force (CNAF) launched a major strike with a formation of various types of aircraft. One of such attacks took place on 14th October 1937 when three 139WC, two Heinkel He.111A, five Douglas O-2MCs, five Northrop Gammas and three Curtiss Hawk IIIs, based in Nanjing, bombed Japanese positions.
  Later, on 19th May 1938, the Type 139WC has the honour of being the first aircraft to conduct a raid into Japanese mainland. On that day, two 139WC belonging to the 2nd Bomber Group, 14th Squadron, commanded by Cpt. Hsu Huan-Sheng and Lt. Teng Yen-bo successfully flew a nighttime raid over Japan. However, instead of dropping bombs, they dropped propaganda leaflets over the cities of Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kurume, Saga and some others, while making reconnaissance duties over ports, airports, warships and factories. 
  Most of the 139WC were destroyed during the course of the war.
• Japan: After the fall of the Dutch East Indies, three Type 139WH (the export version made for the Dutch colony) and Type 166 were captured intact by the Nippons and shipped to Haneda, Tokyo to be evaluated by the Testing Division of the Army Aircraft Authority. Their ultimate fate is unknown, but they were most likely destroyed during an air raid.
• Philippines: Apparently, some few B-10B (regular production variant) were leased to the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) by the 4th Composite Group. They were most likely, destroyed during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of a B-10B serving with the PAAC, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Thailand: Six Type 139WS (the 'S' standing for 'Siam') were sold to Thailand in April 1937. They saw action against the French in the Franco-Thai War in late 1940 and January 1941 and later they were used to support Japanese troops in their advance towards Burma in early 1942. They were complemented by an amount of ex-Dutch airplanes given by the Japanese later that same year. They were kept in active service until 1949.
• Turkey: When fascist Italy sought to expand their empire in the Mediterranean, the Turkish Government, decided to equip their air force with a long-range bomber. Therefore Cpt. Enver Akoglu was sent in a mission to the United States to purchase 20 Type 139WT ('T' standing for 'Turkey'). This variant was powered with uprated engines which could, theoretically, deliver up to 1.000 hp of power instead of the regular 750 hp. They arrived to Turkey in September 1937 and were assigned to 55 and 56th Tayyare Bölügü (Flying detachment, a squadron-sized unit) based at the city of Çorlu, in the Marmara region. Those were part of the higher 9th Tayyare Taburu unit. During 1941 and 1942 they were employed extensively in reconnaissance patrols over the Black Sea. When the type was showing its obsolescence, they were reassigned to other secondary and transport units. They were in active until 1946 with four of them crashing in 1945.

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-10

2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b10.html

3. http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/martin139wt.asp