USAAF 44-67870 Martin B-26G-15-MA Marauder

USAAF serial number S/N: 44-67870 Martin B-26G-15-MA Marauder

1944067870, 44-67870 Martin B-26G-15-MA Marauder Fate: Shot Down Unit: 322BG449BS

Remarks: 322BG449BS Nye's Annihilators Code:PN-? was shot down by flak Mar 22, 1945. 2 KIA Pilot: Lt. Harry Megson MACR-13236, Disposal: 22-Mar-45.

USAAF Chronology and War Diaries 1945

ETO - EUROPEAN TACTICAL OPERATIONS (9AF): In Germany, nearly 800 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb 9 communications centers and a marshalling yard E of the Rhine River (plus 7 towns, flak positions, and a target of opportunity) as part of the interdiction program to impede the movement of supplies and troops; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and other assigned targets, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US 1 and 9th Infantry Divisions SE of Honnef and along the Wied River, cooperate with the XII Corps as it begins crossing the Rhine River in the Mainz-Oppenheim areas and with the XX Corps which begins an attack on Ludwigshafen. HQ 69th Tactical RG and the 10TRS arrive at Nancy, France from the US with F-6s; HQ 474FG moves from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany; the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 9AF [attached to 9TRG (Provisional)], arrives at Maastricht, the Netherlands from the US with F-6s; the 72nd Liaison Squadron, 9AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Buhl to Sarreguemines, France with L-5s.

Veterans Family Comments:
Date: Mar 27 2010
Hi, just discovered your site...awesome!!!  By the way, my father, Lt. Harry Megson, was the pilot of 44-67870 when it was blown apart by flak on 22-3-1945. 2 KIA, he and three others survived crash and Stalug Luft 1. Have not been able to find a photo of this plane or42-43285 (Sit-n-Git)which he flew often. Contact me if you would like more info. Thanks for putting up such a great bunch of photos of the B-26. Puts a lump in my throat.... Jim Megson

Date: Apr 1 2010

Hi Matthew. I appreciate the reply, all this is important to me. I do have a picture of my Dad, 2nd Lt. Harry Megson (promoted to 1st while a POW) and his crew in front of an unidentified  B-26 nose taken at Barksdale Field, LA. One of the places they trained. If I can scan it with good clarity would you be interested in having it? The crew is clearly identified as they often did with these photos.

You may be interested in this: Harry's plane was hit almost directly by flack, killing tail gunner and one other. Harry opened bomb bay doors,standard bail out procedure, and stayed at the controls while other three bailed out bomb bay, which were engulfed in flames from a fuel rupture. Not knowing if the men got out (they did) or if they were laying there burned to death, Harry went out through the pilots overhead hatch, which was not big enough to accomidate his chute. He got stuck half way out with the plane spinning in, then pushed with all his might off the pilots seatback. When his 'chute lines took up, first thing he saw was a church steeple swing by, then landed at gunpoint of teenagers in german uniforms, as scared as he was.

More to the story but I have to go now. You've probably heard lots of these stories. Thanks for listening, hope you can find a picture of 44-67870, it would be a HUGE deal for me...Jim

322d Bombardment Group

Constituted as 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) on 19 Jun 1942. Activated on 17 Jul 1942. Trained with B-26 aircraft. Part of the group moved overseas, Nov-Dec 1942; planes and crews followed, Mar-Apr 1943. Operated with Eighth AF until assignment to Ninth in Oct 1943. Served in combat, May 1943-Apr 1945, operating from England, France, and Belgium. Began combat on 14 May when it dispatched 12 planes for a minimum-level attack on a power plant in Holland. Sent 11 planes on a similar mission three days later: one returned early; the others, with 60 crewmen, were lost to flak and interceptors. Trained for medium-altitude operations for several weeks and resumed combat on 17 Jul 1943. Received a DUC for the period 14 May 1943-24 Jul 1944, during which its combat performance helped to prove the effectiveness of the medium bombers. Enemy airfields in France, Belgium, and Holland provided the principal targets from Jul 1943 through Feb 1944, but the group also attacked power stations, shipyards, construction works, marshalling yards, and other targets. Beginning in Mar the 322d bombed railroad and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the invasion of Normandy; on 6 Jun 1944 it hit coastal defenses and gun batteries; afterward, during the Normandy campaign, it pounded fuel and ammunition dumps, bridges, and road junctions. Supported the Allied offensive at Caen and the breakthrough at St Lo in Jul. Aided the drive of Third Army across France in Aug and Sep. Bombed bridges, road junctions, defended villages, and ordnance depots in the assault on the Siegfried Line, Oct-Dec 1944. Flew a number of missions against railroad bridges during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945. Then concentrated on communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on 24 Apr 1945. Moved to Germany in Jun 1945. Engaged in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities. Returned to the US, Nov-Dec 1945. Inactivated on 15 Dec 1945.

Redesignated 322d Bombardment Group (Light). Allotted to the reserve. Activated on 9 Aug 1947. Inactivated on 27 Jun 1949.

Redesignated 322d Fighter-Day Group. Activated on 1 Jul 1954. Assigned to Tactical Air Command. Equipped first with F-86 and later with F-100 aircraft.

35th Bombardment Squadron 35BS

Squadrons. 35th: 1947-1949.

449th Bombardment Squadron 449BS

449th: 1942-1945; 1947-1949.

450th Bombardment Squadron 450BS

450th: 1942-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.

451st Bombardment Squadron 451BS

451st: 1942-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.

452nd Bombardment Squadron 452BS

452d: 1942-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.

Stations. MacDill Field, Fla, 17 Jul 1942; Drane Field, Fla, 22 Sep-Nov 1942; Rougham, England, c. 1 Dec 1942; Great Saling, England, Jan 1943; Beauvais/Tille, France, Sep 1944; Le Culot, Belgium, Mar 1945; Fritzlar, Germany, Jun-Sep 1945; Camp Kilmer, NJ, c. 14-15 Dec 1945. Reading AAFld, Pa, 9 Aug 1947-27 Jun 1949. Foster AFB, Tex, 1 Jul 1954-.

Commanders. Lt Col Jacob Brogger, c. 8 Aug 1942; Col Robert R Selway Jr, c. 21 Oct 1942; Lt Col John F Batjer, c. 22 Feb 1943; Lt Col Robert M Stillman, c. 17 Mar 1943; Col Glenn C Nye, c. 19 May 1943; Col John S Samuel, Jul 1944; Maj John L Egan, c. 12 Jul 1945-unkn. Col Carlos M Talbott, 1 Jul 1954-.

Campaigns. Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe.

Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citation: ETO, 14 May 1943-24 Jul 1944.

Insigne. Shield: Tierce per fess azure and or, five piles, three conjoined between two transposed counterchanged. Motto: Recto Faciendo Neminen Timeo - I Fear None in Doing Right. (Approved 9 Jan 1943.)