B-26 Marauder Footage

Hi All,
more details from, 323rd GB from this web page http://www.b26.com:
"323rd Bombardment Group
Constituted as 323rd Bombardment Group (Medium) on 19 Jun 1942. Activated on 4 Aug 1942. Trained with B-26's. Moved to England, Apr-Jun 1943. Assigned first to Eighth AF and, in Oct 1943, to Ninth AF. Began operations in Jul 1943, attacking marshalling yards, airdromes, industrial plants, military installations, and other targets in France, Belgium, and Holland. Then carried out numerous attacks on V-weapon sites along the coast of France. Attacked airfields at Leeuwarden and Venlo in conjunction with the Allied campaign against the German Air Force and aircraft industry during Big Week, 20-25 Feb 1944. Helped to prepare for the invasion of Normandy by bombing coastal defenses, marshalling yards, and airfields in France; struck roads and coastal batteries on 6 Jun 1944. Participated in the aerial barrage that assisted the breakthrough at St Lo in Jul. Flew its first night mission after moving to the Continent in Aug, striking enemy batteries in the region of St Malo. Carried out other night missions during the month to hit fuel and ammunition dumps. Eliminated strong points at Brest early in Sep and then shifted operations to eastern France to support advances against the Siegfried Line. Received a DUC for actions (24-27 Dec 1944) during the Battle of the Bulge when the group effectively hit transportation installations used by the enemy to bring reinforcements to the Ardennes. Flew interdictory missions into the Ruhr and supported the drive into Germany by attacking enemy communications. Ended combat in Apr 1945 and moved to Germany in May to participate in the disarmament program. Returned to the US in Dec. Inactivated on 12 Dec 1945."

From Wiki I have copied the areal shot from Earls Colne Air Field from 9july1946. Source: Wikipedia

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In the BP footage there are 2 sequences where an air field is shown.
4:39 to 4:42

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6:06 to 6:14

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I think chances are high the 2 series of stills are from the same airfield. Need to check the next days.

 

Hi All,
I have tried to locate the airfield in the BP 1953.02 reel. I stitched together frame with time stamp 6:06 until frame 6:14 with the hope to match it to Carpiquet but no match for me.
Image Credit: British Pathe 1953.02

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Image Credit NCAP RCAF 400 Sortie 0283.

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I scrolled through the pictures from by RonaldV's web page Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields to find an easy match, but nothing.
So far no good :huh:.

 

Hi Pat,
I took my screen, mirrored it horizontally and rotated the whole thing to match north orientation and after this manipulations it looks exactly what you found: Evreux. With the 'pie' shaped field now at the top and the structures of taxi and run ways I think we have enough proof points to be certain.

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Hans
PS
Reloaded a smaller picture but the over-sized width still stays. Sorry Hans

 

Hello,

Most of this footage is of 323rd BG missions flown from Earls Colne Airfield, Essex County, England. It should be fairly straightforward to match up the strike photos with 323rd targets and dates. Sorry to chime in so late in the game.

The footage at the beginning shows the aircrews in a take off cue at Earls Colne-the aircraft took off at 20 second intervals and met up over the airfield in an organized procedure to create the formation.

Some of the footage is very clear, with great views of the aircraft, nose art, radio call codes and target areas - it would be nice to flesh out as many details as the footage will yield. The loading lists, to the extent available, will provide details on the aircrews with 9th AF reports detailing the bombing results.

The 323rd flew a mission to Tourigni sur Vire on the morning of June 11, 1944.

The 323rd returned to the area the next day, June 12, targeting Tourigni sur Vire Road. Aircraft 41-31944-G "Kactus Kid" - WT-G flown by 1st Lt. Grey was flying in Box I, Fioght 3 as Deputy Flight Lead based on available records. A photographer flew with 1st Lt. Boothe in 41-31810-U "Klassie Lassie" WT-U in Box I, Flight 1 off of Lt. Col. Robert O. Barker's wing. (Lt. Boothe and the Boothe crew perished shortly after this mission when they were shot down in Klassie Lassie over France.) Flying in WT-N "Weary Willie, Jr." in Box I, Fight 1 Deputy Flight Lead were 1st Lt. "JD" Helton and 1st Lt. "Walt" Foster. The loading lists are available for this mission, making it possible to edentify each of the aircraft and all aircrew. Heavy, accurate flak was encountered over the target area. (All WT aircraft are 456th BS.) The results of the mission were as follows-

Box I, 1st 6. Good. Excellent concentration 300 feet NW of desired MPI. Numerous strikes on road to NE.
Box I, 2nd 6. Poor. (Attacked target of opportunity.)
Box I, 3rd 6. Fair.
Box II, 1st 6. Fair.
Box II, 2nd 6. Excelled. Concentration on desired MPI.
Box II, 3rd 6. Gross.

To determine which of the Tourigni sur Vire missions is in the footage, it will be necssary to either (a) get very detailed strike photos to compare against the detailed results or (b) check the loading list for the mission flown on June 11. It is interesting to note that at least 3 photographers also flew with the 323rd on June 10 to Foret de Cerisy in the morning and Clecy (a target if opportunity) in the afternoon. There were likely more photographers on Tourigni sur Vire Road. ( I only have one page of the loading list for the 456th BS.

Aircraft 42-107582-B "The Shark" RJ-B was the latest model of the B-26 at the time. It created quite a lot of interest within the 323rd. There are good photographs of it available.

The stills identified as an AD will be discussed at another time. However, most 323rd attacks against AD occurred prior to April 1944 in January and February 1944.

-Jan

 

Hi Jan,

here are 2 panos which I put together from the stills of britishpathe_1953.02 to find the locations.

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I was following the railway up and down which I think can be seen in the 2nd pano w/o any success so I had given up on this one. Maybe this helps to get more info about the location.

 

Hi, Hans,

Thanks. Would you please designate due North on the strike photos? I need accurate directional quadrants to compare the points of impact in the strike photo with the official reported results.

At first glance, this is looking like Tourigni Road Junction flown on June 12, but will wait do draw any conclusions.

Thanks,

Jan

 

Hi Jan,

I can't tell where due North is. I added the different stills together without questioning the orientation at all with 'British Pathe Layout Only' being always at the bottom.

The bottom pano, where the impact was captured, is showing shadows pointing to ~ 9 o'clock. The top pano are pointing to ~ 5 o'clock. These stills are either not from the same sorties or somewhere randomly oriented and added into the clip.
I case we would have the time of the day (morning, noon, evening) the aircraft's were over the target area, we can do some reorientation of the bottom pano and find a more accurate due North orientation.

 

Still 338 - 341 Evreux

Hi Everyone,
I could find a match for the location shown in the stills 338 / 339 / 340 / 341 in the British Pathe clip 1953.02. It is the city of Evreux.
Here the still 340 from the British Pathe clip. (Source British Pathe 1953.02)

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Here is the equivalent from IGN Cover 1954-07-20 (Sourc IGN).

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The 'triangle shape' area above the 'B' and the 'square' place next to it can be clearly seen in both pictures. The shape of the railway grid, the major streets all identify this as Evreux.

 

Cherisy

Hi Everyone,
I have it. It is the railway connecting Dreux to bigger area Paris and in addition the old today disconnected railway between Evreux to the line at Dreux. I had been looking extensively around Evreux and wider area around Evreux. Than I had the lucky moment or punch when I followed a railway which was no longer there, which stopped in the middle of nowhere but where the old track is still visible. I followed them and could finally find the location starting with

BP 1953.02 Frame 124 (Source British Pathe)

[img=850x679]http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah267/hajothehh/British%20Pathe/BP_1953_02/BP1953.02%20Frame%20124_zps5zekluu5.jpg[/img]​

and in the IGN Cover from 1947 (Source IGN)

[img=850x827]http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah267/hajothehh/British%20Pathe/BP_1953_02/IGN%20Cover%20Eure%20close%20Cherisy_zpsny6f8luc.jpg[/img]​

and Cherisy in IGN 1947 cover (Source IGN)

[img=850x682]http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah267/hajothehh/British%20Pathe/BP_1953_02/IGN%20Cover%20Eure%20close%20Cherisy3_zpsltxmbvqs.jpg[/img]​

and today with the suspended railway (Source IGN)

[img=850x722]http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah267/hajothehh/British%20Pathe/BP_1953_02/IGN%20Dreux%20-%20Cherisy_arrows_zps8f1c9l4t.jpg[/img]​

and the overview. Top circled location shows Evreux, top arrow where the railway stops today, bottom arrow shows Cherisy and middle arrow frame 124 in th BP 1953.02 (roughly)

[img=850x731]http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah267/hajothehh/British%20Pathe/BP_1953_02/IGN%20Cover%20Evreux%20Cherisy%20missing%20rail%20today_arrow_zps0ohheh0f.jpg[/img]​

There are 2 sequences from either 2 raids or one raid clipped together. Frame 124 down 156 and 348 to 355 which are now disclosed. H

Edited by Pat to set image width to 850 pixels

 

Hi Pat,

tx Pat. Yep it has taken some time to get there. But now I am very familiar with Normandy railway and Evreux and surrounding area.

I found this clip in youtube: link

It has basically the same as BP 1953.02 but with better quality I think. Also the youtube clip is w/o the copyright markings at the bottom of the BP clip and maybe of addtl help for any glider look-out or confirmation at the end.

 

You guys have been very productive! I'll see if I can add anything of interest in the next day or two. It looks like there are very good stills with serial numbers and radio call codes, so with the target identified, we should be able to identify the crew and potentially attach faces to names.

Not sure if you noticed the cartridge the airman pulled out of the doors on Five Aces, formerly Smokey Joe. Had it gone through the bomb bay doors when the bomb bay was full, the aircraft would have exploded. What a difference a foot or two makes. i'll look up the crew if we know the mission.

Jan