WOW477 B-26G Martin Marauder ‘Sandra Lee’

The Martin B-26 Marauder was an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II.  After entering service the Martin B26 Marauder aircraft gained a reputation as something of a “widowmaker”, with early models’ prone to a high accident rate during take-off and landings. This was due to the aircraft requiring a high landing approach, 150 mph, and if the aircraft dropped below that speed it had a tendency to stall.  However after further crew training and significant aerodynamics modifications the Marauder ended the Second World War as an aircraft with one of the lowest loss rates for the Allies.

In total, 5,288 were manufactured between February 1941 and March 1945, with 522 flown by the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force.  By the end of WW II, the B26 had flown more than 110,000 sorties, dropping 150,000 tons of bombs.

The B-26 entered service with the Eighth Air Force in England in early 1943, flying its first missions in May 1943. In the beginning operations were low level, similar to those flown in North Africa Theatre, but these proved unsuccessful as the anti-aircraft defences and fighters were much better and more established in the European theatre.  The second mission, an unescorted attack on a power station at the Netherlands, resulted in the loss of the entire attacking force of 11 B-26s to anti-aircraft fire and FW190 fighters.  Following this, the UK-based B-26 force was switched to medium altitude operations, and transferred to the US Ninth Air Force, set up to support the planned invasion of France in 1944.

Tactics were changed and bombing was from altitudes of 10,000 to 15,000 feet (3,000 to 4,600 m) and with fighter escort, the Marauder proved far more successful, striking against a variety of targets, including bridges and V-1 launching sites in the buildup to D-Day, then moving to France as bases became available. The Marauder, operating from medium altitude came into its own and proved to be a highly accurate aircraft, with the 9th Air Force rating it the most accurate bomber available in the final months of the war. Loss rates were far lower than in the early days, with the B-26 stated by the 9th Air Force as having the lowest loss rate in the European Theatre of Operations at less than 0.5%.

The B-26 flew its last combat missions against the German garrison at the Île d’Oléron on May 1st 1945, with the last units disbanding in early 1946.

Thomas Gunn is releasing two 1/30 scale Mahogany versions of the Martin B-26G Marauder,

WOW477 Martin B-26G Marauder “Sandra Lee” 441st Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. Flown by Lt Norman P. Zierk.

The price for each aircraft is $1200 plus $200 postage.

The figures are not included and are there for diorama and scale purposes only.