While stationed in England, XIX TAC assigned a Cessna UC-78 "Bamboo Bomber" for the Fighter Group's use, as needs arose to take 3 or 4 people to hurriedly called meetings somewhere in England, or to get emergency parts to keep our Thunder Bolts ready for combat. After we moved to France, it became more vital in keeping aircraft combat readiness, carrying men to specialized schooling in England, for meetings at higher quarters, rest leaves and other urgent needs. Not only was it slow, but our loads far exceeded the capacity of the little "Bamboo Bomber", as it had but 5 seats, and then with little cargo. Our Leader never missed an opportunity at XIX TAC headquarters requesting General Weyland to "get us a better utility airplane." (Of course all other Fighter groups had similar problems and similar requests to General Weyland.) In August of 1944 Col. Joe's (Joseph L. Laughlin) persistence won General Weyland's attention and the General said: "Well, there's a Martin B-26 sitting on one of the abandoned Normandy airfields which a Bomber group left behind when it couldn't be put back in combat condition. Joe, if your boys can get it started, you can have it."

That's all it took! Shortly the "Bamboo Bomber" took off (from A-27 Rennes, Brittany) for Normandy with mechanics and tool boxes. Our pilots had never flown a Marauder but when our mechanical magicians succeeded in getting the airplane patched and the engines started, the pilots "checked themselves out" and flew the Marauder back to Rennes. (After all, it had stubby wings and two R-2800 P&W engines like our P-47s.) When the extra weights of armor plate, gun mounts, etc. were stripped away, the B-26 was fast, nimble and could carry the people and cargo we needed. (2x12 planks installed in the bomb bay served as passenger seating.)

For several months it served us well, proving valuable as we move east of Reims (to A- 79 Prosnes), staying close to the front lines of our victorious armies. You can well imagine the envy of the other Fighter Groups. The Group Commander of the 406th, Col. Anthony V. Grosetta ("Snag"), was noticeably vocal at every TAC staff meeting, telling General Weyland how badly he needed a B-26 "like Joe has." (you realize that the rivalry between these Group Commanders was akin to that between coaches of foot ball teams -- fierce, proud and continuous). "Snap" persistently said: "Joe, it's not fair, you ought to let me have that B- 26, or at least use it some.

In October 1944 the Marauder set out from Prosnes on another quick supply run to England with Major Tom Beeson, CO. 377th Sqdn., and another pilot as "crew.". Upon their return, the fickle weather pulled a switch "socking in" most of France.

As Tom neared Reims, our control tower "Gayname" gave him homing steers until he was directly over the base. Nothing but clouds to the deck anywhere to be seen. Obviously, all the combat groups were on !stand down" due to the weather, which meant most people were back at their quarters. Major Beeson called on "Gayname" to get Col. Joe on the phone and ask what he should do, as there was not enough fuel to get back to England even if the weather had been suitable.

Col. Joe consulted the Group weather wizard, Capt. Darl Gatchell, who said there might be a few scattered holes in the clouds. "Gayname" called the other bases on their phone patch and learned that a C-47 had found a hole and landed at Mourmelon le Grand about 20 minutes before. That was the base of Col. Grosetta's 406th FG. Col. Joe told Beeson to go over and give it a try at Mourmelon and if he couldn't find a hole, to climb-up, trim her up headed towards Germany and "bail out."

Tom homed in on Mourmelon and set up a landing approach in the near-zero visibility. When he finally saw the ground, it was as the last part of the runway flashed past behind him. He told "Gayname", "I'm going to try one more time and if I can't get it down we're bailing out!" On this second approach he glimpsed the runway dead ahead and planted the tricycle gear of the B-26 on the linked "pierced steel planking" often used for forward combat strips. The only problem was that the fast touchdown was past the tower only a few hundred feet left. They were desperately committed and so grabbed the overhead emergency air brake handle. This locked the wheels which dug into the steel planks and resulted in dragging several hundred feet of the runway behind them as they came to a screeching halt. The airplane was so badly bent, the propellers tangled in the steel runway and the engines had sudden stoppage -- it would never fly again! Shakily, they walked back in the fog to a nearly-deserted building of the 406th FG, where they found a phone and got Col. Joe on the line. Tom said: "Col., should I try to find some of the 406 wheels? Their quarters are in town about 3 miles away."

Col. Joe said: "Tom, find a jeep and get to hell back here as fast as you can." When Tom arrived at our base, Col. Joe called Col. Grosetta: "Snag, this is Joe. You know we're grounded today too and I've been thinking how well our Groups have done by cooperating and backing each other up. You know that B-26 you've been asking me about for so long? Well, I got remorse feeling that maybe I've been unfair so I've decided to let you have it." You can imagine Col. Grosetta's beaming face when he replied: "Joe, that's a fine gesture on your part and I really appreciate it. I might even let you use it sometime if you need it. When can we get it?"

"Well, Snag, as a matter of fact we've already delivered it. That B-26 is sitting on your field, right now." Col. Grosetta's expressions of gratitude overflowed before hanging up to go inspect his gift.

Col. Joe called his staff around and said: "In about 15 minutes that phone will ring and when I answer it, watch the smoke curl out of the receiver!" True to his prediction - right on schedule - "Joe, you lousy @#$%o&*X! Don't you realize my airstrip is destroyed? How the hell am I gonna explain to the General why we can't fly any combat missions?"

Luckily, the runway damage wasn't nearly as severe as portrayed and the engineers had it back in operating condition before the weather cleared. And the war went on! So closes the saga of our B- 26. (Our next utility airplane was a genuine Douglas C-47 "Gooney Bird.")

Warren J. Jahnke, Lt. Col. (Ret), says: "We too had a B-26 to play with. I was in the 365th FG stationed at Fritzlar, Ger. (Y-86) when the war ended. Earlier on
the powers that be asked who of our pilots had any twin-engine time. When I was
young and stupid and a single engine instructor in Advanced at Moore Field, TX, I
had tried to fly everything that I could get my hands on. We had an AT-10, better
known as the "twin-titted cub." I got a little time in it so I qualified as an
accomplished twin-engine driver. The reason was that a B-26 was flown in by two
instructor pilots who were to be checked out in the Jug in exchange for myself and a pilot from another squadron, Mooney Rogers, being checked out in the 26. At about the same time we got a war-weary B-17 on a similar deal. Mooney and I spent a lot of time in the B-26 and there were a lot of similarities - the same engine as the Jug, same Curtiss props, and with all the guns out and the armor removed it was a fine flying machine. Mooney and I were flying it by ourselves in short order and doing some trips to Paris and the Riviera.

Checking the 26 drivers out in the Jug was something else. The pilot I was working with was a little apprehensive about the Jug but I finally thought he was ready. I had him on the runway on my wing and we took off down the strip. He was slow and apparently not used to torque. As I got airborne all I saw behind me was a cloud of dust where he had run off on the right and turned the bird up-side down. He swore off single engines then and there.

The first flight I made in the big bird as the only pilot "qualified" for this training flight, I had as co-pilot another not-so-smart-fighter pilot. I told him that all I wanted him to do was raise the gear on my call and don't touch anything else. I should mention we had a PSP runway that ended just before a high voltage line on towers. The takeoff was normal and when I called for "wheels up" he dumped the flaps! I was damned busy for a few seconds recovering from that!

Another flight we made in the Marauder was ferrying pilots to the Riviera for R&R. We had both "qualified" pilots aboard (Mooney and me) but I was in the nose navigating. About halfway across France we ran into overcast and I was out of business. Mooney continued on the course and altitude we had been flying. We suddenly broke out of the overcast just before we would have flown into the coastal range, exiting!

Back in Germany we had located a large tent hospital southeast of Fritzlar and someone got the great idea that hospital had nurses and we had two transport air
planes - a B-17 and a B-26. We set up a party, contributed all our mission booze and NAAFI rations and two of the pilots, me included, flew down to the hospital and landed our Jugs on the hospital strip. There were plenty of volunteers from the nurses 30 we set up the time for pick-up and went home. At the scheduled time we went back with the bombers and filled all the space with the nurses, no parachutes of course, no instructions, just climb in. So the next morning the nurses had to be flown back. I was in better shape than Rodgers so I loaded the B-26 and looked for a co-pilot. No volunteers so some non-flier said held like to go. I told him to raise the gear on my call and not touch anything else. Turned out to be a breeze with no problem. A lot better than the fighter pilot previously! I really enjoyed flying the B-26. It was a fine airplane!

Do you ever wonder how so many of us lived through the war? Did you ever consider that all of the really great ships of the war were powered by R-2800 Pratt & Whitneys. Ours were built by Ford and with few exceptions I've driven Fords ever since the war. There's no way I could repay them for turning out such a fine piece of machinery!" (Author's note: Amen to that! Same for me on the Fords since the war. The R-2800 powered the B-26, P-47, C-46, F4U, C- 123, A-26, SB2C, C-118, R6D, C-82, F6F, F7F, F8F, PV-1, PV-2, PBM-5, P-61, C-69 and a host of experimental models)

Perry Lusby writes: "I was the Group Operations Officer of the 366th FG and we used a B- 26 extensively for several months. We received it while at Thruxton in England and used it till we moved to Y-29 in Belgium. Don't remember how we got it or how we lost it.

I was the only multi-engine pilot in the Group at the time so flew it on every flight. I remember that we hauled new gun sights from a depot back in Thruxton and I told the CO to load all of them in the aft bomb bay, not having the slightest idea about weight and balance. I could not understand on take off why the rear end was so heavy. Anyway, she lifted right off and made it home O.K.
The story you heard about at the reunion was just a day or so after D-Day. Gen. Kinkaid from TAC HQ called and told me to take some vital equipment to strip A-1 immediately. We landed there while it was still under construction and I had to dodge baled PSP on the landing roll. Gen. Quesada met us with a big smile and when no one but my CO jumped out, he wanted to know where Gen. Royce was. When I told him that I did not know, he chose a few choice cuss words and told me to get that damned thing off the field ASAP. We unloaded the cargo and flew back to Thruxton without mishap.

After the 366th was established on A-1 I made several trips back to England to ferry both people and cargo. When we were told to move to our next base I got the bright idea to rig a miniature control tower in the top turret and consequently landed ahead of our first flight and taxied off the runway and then controlled their landings until the mobile tower was in operation. Did the same thing again on our third move and it worked well. (Author's note: The 366th moved from A-1 St. Pirre du Mont to A-41 Dreux/Vermouillet, to A-70 Laon/Courvon, all in France, and then to Y-29 Asche, Belgium).

After that we traded the B-26 for a P-38 Droopsnoot and I flew weather recon in that with the Group Weather Officer in the nose. Sorry, but I do not remember the details further. Will add that we never had a problem with the AC and it was never out of commission as long as we had it."

When Jack H. Hallett, formerly of the 394th Squadron of the 367th Fighter Group called me before Christmas last year he admitted he was a bit apprehensive when he asked me if I was related to an Elmer B. Havener. When I told him that I had no idea who Elmer B. was he later sent me the following account of the B-26 their Group had: "We flew P-38s until late winter of 1944-45 when they switched us over to P-47s. Some of the P-38 people were able to go home and we started to get P-47 replacement, pilots.

I don't know how we got the B-26 but I do know we didn't keep it very long. it was used as a courier plane and was stripped of all armament which made it a lot lighter than what you flew. I can't understand why we needed the B-26 because we kept a P-38 Droop Snoot which I flew more than once for courier work.

One reason I felt I could fly the B-26 as pilot was because I was an instructor before going to fighters and had checked out in the AT-10, AT-9, UC-7B and the Twin Beech. I also had close to 2000 hours flying time which helped. (Author's note: The 367th was probably at A- 64 St. Dizier, France at the time of this story).

A pilot by the name of Elmer B. Havener transferred from a B-26 outfit where he had been a co-pilot (I have no idea how he worked the transfer). He flew my wing, and I had a hell of a time teaching him fighter tactics. He always tried to stay in the same relative position on the wing by either adding or decreasing power, instead of using the same radius of turn that necessitated a change of wing position. Also, on strafing and dive bombing runs he would hang on my tail instead of moving out, following a different line of attack. This put him in the line of fire so when they shot at me with not enough deflection, he was in a vulnerable position. This is exactly what happened when he got shot down and killed.

Now that I have covered that, lets get back to the B-26 flight prior to his death. For some reason, we had to take the B-26 to Paris so Havener flew as pilot and I rode co-pilot as I had never been in a B-26 before. As I recall we had pierced-plank short runways on a grass field. On take off as speed built up, he gradually rolled back the elevator trim tab to lift off. At the end of the runway there was a radar tent which was getting closer, while we were running out of runway. At the last minute I grabbed the wheel and broke ground, missing the tent by maybe ten to twenty feet. Needless to say we had some discussion about it, and his answer was: "You always take off by just trim tabs."

We got to Paris and on landing approach he overturned the runway and had to "S" back twice to line up. We touched down long and ran off the end of the runway.
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Luckily the ground was hard and we got stopped okay and were able to turn around and taxi to the ramp.

When we finished our business I got on first and sat in the left seat. Havener asked what I was doing, that I had not been checked out in the B-26. My answer was, in so many words, I could fly it better than he could and if anybody was going to kill me, it was going to be me, not him! Needless to say we got home in one piece with an undamaged aircraft. That was my only flight in a B-26.

If there are any more of you fighter jocks out there who had an experience with the "Marvelous Marauder" please drop me a line and tell me about it.