B26 Marauder Sqadrons WW2. My Father was born in Gillingham, Kent and flew Marauders in a mixed Squadron out of North Africa originally

[Nigel Brenton]

I need to find out his Squadron number and I had a photo of them all sitting on and in front of a B26. He passed away some years ago and I have all his medals that I wear on my right side opposite mine on ANZAC Day. They bombed the oil reserves in the Ukraine

 

[EwenS]

The only British and Commonwealth squadrons flying the Marauder were
14 (8/42-9/44) anti-shipping role
39 (12/44-9/46)
12 SAAF (1/44-11/45)
21 SAAF (7/44-9/45)
24 SAAF (12/43-11/45)
25 SAAF (10/44-7/45)
30 SAAF (8/44-9/45)

Must admit I've never heard of operations as far as Ukraine from the Italian bases that these squadrons used. And most of Ukraine was back in Soviet hands by spring 1944 (remembering that today much of what is western Ukraine was part of Poland in WW2). You should be able to download the Operational Record Books of the British squadrons from The National Archives.. This is the map for Operation Bagration that started in June 1944. Note the jumping off point.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/BagrationMap2.jpg

There is a Marauder Assoc that might be able to help but it doesn't seem to have been active for a long time though.

B26 Marauder Association

www.39thsquadronmarauders.org.uk

 

[Snautzer01]

EwenS "Must admit I've never heard of operations as far as Ukraine from the Italian bases that these squadrons used"

I have not either. Territory wise a bit iffy.. Uncle Joe was not fond on allian airforces on his turf.

Care to share the picture of the B-26? That could help.

 

[bobolex]

Maybe the attacks on the oil fields of Ploesti (Romania) rather ?
Although I'm not aware of B-26 involved…

 

[EwenS]

Given that the Soviets successfully advanced into pre-war Romanian territory on 20 Aug 1944 and that the Romanians switched sides after a coup on the 23 Aug, some of the squadrons can be ruled out.

 

[Paul Clouting]

The only British and Commonwealth squadrons flying the Marauder were
14 (8/42-9/44) anti-shipping role
39 (12/44-9/46)
12 SAAF (1/44-11/45)
21 SAAF (7/44-9/45)
24 SAAF (12/43-11/45)
25 SAAF (10/44-7/45)
30 SAAF (8/44-9/45)

Must admit I've never heard of operations as far as Ukraine from the Italian bases that these squadrons used. And most of Ukraine was back in Soviet hands by spring 1944 (remembering that today much of what is western Ukraine was part of Poland in WW2). You should be able to download the Operational Record Books of the British squadrons from The National Archives.. This is the map for Operation Bagration that started in June 1944. Note the jumping off point.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/BagrationMap2.jpg

There is a Marauder Assoc that might be able to help but it doesn't seem to have been active for a long time though.

B26 Marauder Association

www.39thsquadronmarauders.org.uk

Out of the SQN's listed, only 14 SQN flew any operations out of North African bases.
All the other SQN's operated out of bases in Italy.
14 SQN flew most of their missions round the Mediterranean.
39 SQN mostly attacked targets in Yugoslavia.
All the other SAAF SQN's were involved in operations mostly around the Italian mainland & some in Yugoslavia.
Some targets were attacked in Austria, but no targets were attacked in Ukraine (or Romania) by any of the B-26 Marauder SQN's.
Unfortunately to progress this further would require more information, ideally the Squadron or Squadrons he flew with, and/or his service number.

 

[fubar57]

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