B 26 Marauder aka “winemaker” was not a nice airplane. Earned it’s name.
I just lost a first cousin, WW2 Navy vet. 93. Was a gunner on PT and crash boats. Shot down one Japanese plane. Got Navy Commendation Medal from Admiral Nimitz himself. RIP sailor.
“Widowmaker”...dick!
Sorry for your loss - another great one gone.....
widowmaker
I knew an old guy who flew B-26s on D-Day. His squadron of 16 attacked a ground target and 7 of the 16 were shot down. He said the German anti-aircraft fire was extremely deadly.
His plane lost an engine. He was limping back to England. He said a Spitfire flew up next to him and flew alongside until he landed. Not really protecting him as much as being company and to locate his crew if he crash landed.
The regularity of crashes by pilots training at MacDill Field (up to 15 in one 30-day period) led to the exaggerated catchphrase, “One a day in Tampa Bay.”
B-26 crews gave the aircraft the nickname “Widowmaker”. Other colorful nicknames included “Martin Murderer”, “Flying Coffin”, “B-Dash-Crash”, “Flying Prostitute” (so-named because it was so fast and had “no visible means of support,” referring to its small wings) and “Baltimore Whore” (a reference to the city where Martin was based).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
My dad was a B-26 crewmember in Sicily, North Africa, and later went to Okinawa in early 44. While many were built in Omaha, the plane was known as the Baltimore Whore - no visible means of support. When he was training in FL, his crew saw three aircraft literally fall out of the sky. Made them less than anxious to make their takeoff that day. He said they never had any problems in his group.
I think your spell check was on. The B 26 was the “Widow Maker” and not “Winemaker.”