9th Air Force
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B-26 Marauder
Assigned to 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. During the course of its service life of 207 missions, with bombing runs over France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, it was perforated with over 1000 holes, twice returned with only one engine operating, once with an engine on fire and twice with the complete loss of its electrical and hydraulic systems. Having survived the war in Europe, Flak Bait was selected to be returned to the US. On 18-Mar-46, Major John Egan and Captain Norman Schloesser flew Flak-Bait one last time, to an air depot at Oberpfaffenhofen in Bavaria to be broken down to component parts and shipped in crates back home. Currently being restored at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA part of the National Air and Space Museum - Smithsonian Institution.
Group
The 322nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium) was activated on 19-Jun-1942 at MacDill Field, Florida with B-26B Marauder aircraft. In late September 1942 the unit moved to Drane Field, Florida. The Ground echelon sailed for the UK aboard the Queen Elizabeth...
Squadron
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombadier | 322nd Bomb Group
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot, 322nd Bomb Group, Commander, 450th Bomb Squadron | 322nd Bomb Group
John Lloyd retired from the Air Force, having served in World War II as Commanding Officer of the 450th Bomb Group and as a Commander of the 95th Bomb Squadron during the Korean War. He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross Awards.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot
James J. Farrell, original pilot of Flak Bait. Flew 72 combat missions as a member of the 322nd / 449th. After WW II he flew for American Airlines, then became a corporate pilot for General Electric Corporation
Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Radio Operator/Gunner | 322nd Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Crew chief | 322nd Bomb Group
Assigned to 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. Crew chief of B-26 41-31773 'Flak Bait'.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Assigned to 364BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. Completed tour of duty. Returned to ETO with the 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF until July 1945 [Documents accompany database form]
Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), GC, WWII Victory, EAME, DUC.
Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Engineer/Gunner | 322nd Bomb Group
Military | First Lieutenant | Aviation Cadet, then Bombardier/Navigator | 322nd Bomb Group
The service records for Terrence J. O'Neill show his recorded name as such and there are two entries on the National Archives and Records Administration with this name. One was from New Jersey and one from New York. This record is for Terrence J. O...
Military | First Lieutenant
Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer
Military site : airfield
The base was known as Great Saling when construction – by US Army engineers – began in 1942 but was renamed Andrews Field in honour of the memory of Gen. Frank M. Andrews, who was killed when the B-24 he was travelling in crash-landed in Iceland on 3...
Event | Location | Date |
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Manufactured | Middle River, MD, USA | April 1943 |
Built at Martin's. |
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Delivered | Joint Base Andrews, MD, USA | April 1943 |
Delivered to USAAF. |
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Assigned | Andrewsfield Aviation Ltd, Saling Airfield Stebbing Great Dunmow Essex CM6 3TH, United Kingdom | May 1943 |
Assigned to 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. |
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Selected for display in US | Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Weßling, Germany | 18 March 1946 |
Flown to air depot to be crated back to the US. |
Date | Contributor | Update |
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05 June 2017 11:47:59 | Al_Skiff | Changes to nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations, place associations and media associations |
Sources | ||
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/martin-b-26b-25-ma-maraude... |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
20 January 2015 21:46:10 | Tanks | Changes to unit associations |
Sources | ||
AAM Photo |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
20 January 2015 21:45:22 | Tanks | Created entry with serial number, aircraft type, production block number, manufacturer, nicknames and media associations |
Sources | ||
AAM Photos |