Martin B-26 Marauders Italy Pompeii Takeoffs Combat Over France WWII, National Archives Airailimages

The Martin B-26 Marauder was a phenomenon of World War II that endured early concerns about its loss rate to become a respected medium bomber over western Europe in the last year of the war. I’m Fred Johnsen for the Airailimages Channel. As we search the archives for footage of the Marauder for a future special project, we have found several short film clips from the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation we’d like to share with you now. Our footage begins with B-26s taking off from an airstrip at Pompeii, Italy in the Spring of 1944. In March of that year, Mount Vesuvius sent tons of ash over the airfield, damaging or destroying many B-25 Mitchells of the 340th Bomb Group and leading to the closure of the airfield. Filed with the Marauder footage are scenes of single-engine aircraft diving on ground targets. Eighth Air Force B-26 flights are shown in newsreel footage. Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders with invasion stripes attack targets in France in 1944. If the Marauder's frequent bombing altitude was between 10,000-15,000 feet, the B-26s went lower when needed in support of the Normandy landings. Thanks for watching the Airailimages Channel. If you enjoy seeing genuine vintage film from the archives, narrated by a real human being, please give this video a Thumbs Up, and subscribe to Airailimages. We search for genuine film to show you in our historical programs, and not Artificial Ignorance.