The Marauder Strikes!

The Marauder Strikes!

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The B-26 has arrived in the European Theater of Operations. It has now joined the B-17, B-24 and the Lancaster over the skies of war torn Europe...


PRE-ORDER B-26 HERE AT LEGION WARGAMES: http://www.legionwargames.com/legion_B26.html

Martin B-26 Marauder: The Wingless Wonder was the name of a variant of Avalon Hill's B-17: Queen of the Skies solitaire boardgame. A draft of B-26 was available for play testing which used the B-17: Queen of the Skies rules and B-17 was needed to play. Everything has changed since then, and B-26: The Marauder Strikes! has completly new mechanics and is a stand alone game. It is a solitaire game set on board a Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber during World War Two in the European Theater of Opearations from July 1943 until the end of the war in May 1945.

B-26: The Marauder Strikes! is a big game in that there are many target lists, rules, mission maps and details which are not found in B-17: Queen of the Skies or B-29 Superfortress: Bombers over Japan. For example, the Damage Tables are more detailed than the earlier games and the combat system is similar, but completely new. The Target Lists include a large selection of targets attacked by B-26s from July 1943 until the end of the war in May 1945 and are placed on 13 maps (movement boards) which are different depending on where your base is located, from England to the Netherlands. Different models of the B-26 is also included from the early B-26 in 1941 until the B-26G which entered combat in October 1944. The earlier models are not used in the European Theater of Operations (the ETO) in which B-26: The Marauder Strikes! is set, but will be used in 22nd Bomb Group: Marauders from Australia, an add-on variant set in the Pacific in the war against Japan in New Guinea.

The rules in this Flight Manual try to reflect the twin engined B-26 Marauder and situations and events which the crews saw on their missions and historical accuracy has been an important guideline during the development of this game.

Players familiar with B-17: Queen of the Skies or B-29 Superfortress: Bombers over Japan recognize the mechanics used in B-26. One or more 6-sided dice are rolled on tables to plan the mission, to determine if enemy fighters appear, to hit with machine gun fire and to determine damage and wounds and much more. B-26 is as easy to play as B-17 with its basic system which is similar to the mechanics in B-17: Queen of the Skies. Players who have flown missions in B-17 may find that B-26 is similar, but more detailed and there are ideas included in B-26 which can be found in the B-17: Queen of the Skies community. If you add the advanced and optional guidelines you will find B-26 to become deep, detailed and complex, but still does not stray far from the simple mechanics of the basic system. You will also find yourself in situations where you have to make a decision.

The Core Game Flight Manual will be used to play the A-20 Havoc, A-26 Invader and B-25 Mitchell add-ons.

You can begin your campaign flying missions from bases in England or jump in later in the war when the B-26 groups had moved to the continent and you will find Mission Maps with your station either in England, France, Belgium or the Netherlands depending on when you fly your missions. Put together a crew, name your B-26 and fly missions over France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and Chechoslovakia!

1st Pathfinder Squadron (Provisional)

Pathfinders & Night MissionsPosted by Magnus Kimura 2015-04-06 22:18:32

The 1st Pathfinder Squadron (Provisional) was a special unit which led missions when the cloud cover over the target made visual bombing impossible. They used the Oboe technique to navigate to the target and to release the bombs. The squadron also led night missions and flew night missions on its own.

It was activated on February 16, 1944 and one Pathfinder flown by Major Porter, the 1st Pathfinder Squadron Commanding Officer, B-26 led 17 B-26s from the 322nd Bomb Group on February 21, 1944 to Coxyde in Belgium. The first night mission was flown by 3 B-26s from the 1st on the night May 31/June 1, 1944, to bomb gun positions at St. Marie au Bois in France.

When a Pathfinder was assigned to lead a group the crew had to be briefed 3 to 4 ours before the scheduled take off, then fly to the assigned group and attend the group’s briefing where the Pathfinder crews and the group’s Operations Officer decided the position of the planes in the formation and presented their flight plan. Some days a Pathfinder crew could find themselves leading two missions. The group could also rendez-vous with the Pathfinder at a specific point where it waited.

The first crews were made up of experienced crew men from the groups, but later replacement crew members had only a few missions and many pilots came from the two Replacement Training Groups (the 335th and 336th Bomb Group) after they had been disbanded in May 1944.


It seems to be very difficult to find photos of B-26 pathfinder ships, but here are photos of four ships I have found that were assigned to the 1st PFF Squadron:

Sharkmouth IH-A1:
Danita IH-C:
Florida Fox IH-?:Early Morning Scrub IH-X:I also found this photo:

I am pretty certain that this is a pff B-26. You can't see the first letter in the ID code, but it seems to be an I. 1st had IH and then you see F1. As far as I know only the 1st PFS had that type of identification. While searching for the serial no (43-34291) I found this comment: The Marauder under repair is 43-34291. The squadron code is
most probably IH, then it is a 1st PFF aircraft (Pathfinder).
The bombed airfield is Y-55 Venlo in Holland, 394th BG base
from May 1945.(top sides only painted cammo)


Other pff ships:
Dubissary - and perhps this is the ac:
Weary Lera 42-95878 IH-X?

Sleepy Time Gal IH-E - and this could be the nose art: Where's It At?:

Where's It At?

B–26G–1–MA, SN 43–34201

1st Pathfinder Squadron (Provisional)

9th United States Air Force

Attached: 387th Bombardment Group

Péronne A–72 Air Base

1st Lt. Joseph M. DuBois, O-677682, Pilot, Bridgeton, New Jersey

1st Lt. Richard R. Britanik, O-822630, Co-Pilot, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1st Lt. Raymond H. Boettcher, O-766186, Bombardier, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

*1st Lt. Hugh W. Robbins, O-749933, Navigator, Buried Cedar Bluff Cemetery, Annapolis, Maryland

*S/Sgt. William G. Glass, 38117765, Flight Engineer, Buried Epinal American Cemetery, B–42–36

S/Sgt. Samuel M. Assey, 20304258, Radio Operator, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania

S/Sgt. Mike Flores, 39571005, Tail Gunner, California

22 January, 1945

With its left engine damaged by FLAK, while over the target on a Pathfinder marking mission, this bomber approached the A-72 air base with the left engine running only part of the time. After several attempts of landing during the heavy snow storm covering the base that day, the bomber was diverted by A-72 Drunkard Control toward the Cambrai A-74 Air Base. As it flew over Tincourt-Boucly, both engines stopped. The bomber crashed into the Bois de Buire, 1,200 meters west of this memorial.

*Two men were killed during the crash when they were crushed by electronic equipment falling on them. The Pilot and Co-Pilot were both awarded the Soldiers Medal for their efforts in removing the two men's bodies from the burning bomber.

The Soldiers Medal is the United States highest non-combat medal awarded


This could be a pff ship:You can see an H on the fuselage behind the wing. This is from the 323rd BG. No squadron had that letter in the first two of the code. 596th/394th Bg had H9 but a different tail flash. Could the I of IH be censored?

Hillman Hellcat IH-N

Terrible Turk

41-31668 387BG 559BS "TERRIBLE TURK"
11 Feb 44 transferred to 1.PFF "TERRIBLE TURK"
13 Mar 44 88mm shell passed through fuselage and exploded above aircraft. Pilot Lt. Turk
1.PFF "TERRIBLE TURK"
27 Sep 44 to 31 Mar 45

TERRIBLE TURK II 42-96203 IH-S

CHERE AMIE 42-96223 IH-O


41-31903 IH-T

44-67881 IH-W

Are these men also from the 1st PFF?
http://www.b26.com/marauderman/lawrence_m._hohlaus.htm



















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Posted by Magnus Kimura 2017-09-19 23:20:08

http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=528&MemID=799

The memorial is located on the southern edge of Bois de Buire, along the tree line. 100 meters north of D6 (can be seen from the road). Monument The monument is made of concrete and displays 4 grey granite plaques screwed onto the front of the monument. Each of the plaques has carvings of pictures of the aircraft that crashed there, insignias of the units involved in the crashes, the names of the men in each of the crashes, and the stories associated with the crashes.

The top left plaque commemorates the crew of the 1st Pathfinder Squadron (Provisional) and the crash of their B-26 Marauder, "Where's It At?" on January 22, 1945. The aircraft crashed 1,200 meters west of the memorial.

The bottom left plaque has the French translation of the story of the crash of "Where's It At?", as well as a commemoration of the 27th and 30th Divisions, who helped liberate France in both World Wars in this area.

The top right plaque commemorates the crew of the 36th Bombardment Group and the crash of their B-24 Liberator on November 10th, 1944. The aircraft crashed 330 meters behind this memorial.

The bottom right plaque has the French translation of the story of the crash of the 36th's B-24. It also commemorates four squadrons of the 452nd Bombardment Group (H), the 728th, 729th, 730th, and 731st Bombardment Squadrons, who flew several missions in France during World War II. In particular, it honors the crew of the 729th Squadron, whose bomber, "Lady Jeanette," crashed near Hattonville, where there is a memorial similar to this in their honor.


Posted by Magnus Kimura 2015-06-29 13:50:33

"...on 9th BC codes is the 1st Pathfinder Squadron was issued the code IH, but not until September 1944 was this code applied to its B-26s. Up to that date Pathfinder planes had been operating in their donor squadron codes. To further confuse the issue in some instances no codes whatsoever were painted on its planes."