Air Assaults in WWII
Air assaults played an integral role in the successful surrender of Japan during WWII. The success of the air assaults can be attributed to a number of sources. The superior quality of the United States air fleet, the superior training of the US forces, and the ability of the US forces to logically process information during missions as opposed to rote memorization can all be attributed to the surrender of the Allies’ enemies. One tool that greatly aided the United States’ success was the B-26 Marauder. The air assaults of WWII on both the Pacific and European theaters played an integral role in the United States’ success in the war.
The B-26 was requested to be built on March 11, 1939. The Army Air Corps issued Proposal No. 39-640 for the design of a new medium sized bomber. After this proposal was made, four major plane manufacturers vied for the privilege to build the plane. The proposal of the Glenn L. Martin Company of Middle River, Maryland, was assigned the company designation of Model 179. The Glenn L. Martin Company assigned 26-year-old aeronautical engineer Peyton M. Magruder as Project Engineer for the Model 179. Magruder and his team chose a low-drag profile fuselage with a circular cross section. Since the Army wanted a high maximum speed but had not specified any limitation on landing speed, the team selected a high-mounted wing with a wingspan of only 65 feet. The plane’s small area gave a wing loading of more than 50 pounds per square foot (Baugher 1-2).
The manufacturing of the new planes quickly encountered many problems. The B-26 Marauder experienced a challenging beginning with numerous accidents and controversy over its high landing speed and relatively short wings. The true cause of many training flight crashes was merely an improper weight distribution. On four occasions, groups met to decide if the development and production of the Marauder should continue. Once the obstacles that threatened halting of production were overcome, the B-26 Martin Marauder secured the nickname of “Widowmaker” during its test flights (Group 1-4).
The B-26 Marauder was one of many planes in the US fleet that aided the United States’ air assaults on both the Pacific and European theaters. The bombardiers who dropped the bombs were yet another superior source from which the United States could draw in its fight against Japan. Bombardiers were highly trained and skilled. Joe Zainey, a bombardier of the 20th bomber unit, underwent training to become a bombardier for two years. Mr. Zainey’s training began with seven to eight months of schooling before practice in the field ever occurred. Once the initial schooling was complete, Mr. Zainey trained at the US training grounds on the Marianas Islands. Bombardiers mastered their craft on both B-17 and B-24 planes. Typically, bombardiers dropped one hundred and sixty bombs throughout their training. Bombardiers’ accuracy stemmed from the use of the Norden Bombsight. With the bombsight, bombardiers like Mr. Zainey could do “hairline bombing,” which was “very precise.” The bombardiers swore an oath to protect the secret of the Norden Bombsight at all costs. The bombsight was a tool unique to the United States.
With approximately five thousand B-26 Martin Marauders manufactured by 1943, the first operational raids began. Originally, a B-26 Marauder’s crew consisted of five members, but a sixth and in certain cases, a seventh member were added. The Marauder served primarily in Europe, but it also saw action in the Pacific and Mediterranean. The United States primarily used the aircraft for pre-invasion attacks on railroads, roads, bridges, and communication towers in occupied Europe. Colonel Charles Woford, a pilot of a B-26 Martin Marauder, participated in bombing runs from France to Holland until the end of World War II.
Along with the B-26 Marauder, the United States utilized such planes as the B-29 Super Fortress in the South Pacific for bombing missions in Japan. Bombing missions were launched from Guam and other islands in the South Pacific to the coast of Japan. Before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, bomb raids to Japan focused primarily on crippling the industries that supported the Japanese army. The missions primarily targeted oil refineries and factories, specifically factories that manufactured parts for Japanese planes. Fire bombs dropped on Japan ravaged the coastline. For miles up and down the coast, the ground was a charred, barren wasteland. The bombing of Japan’s coast was done in shuttles. Bombardiers flew on a bomb mission every three days. As one bombing crew headed north to Japan, the members of the crew could see the planes heading south from Japan along the horizon. Joe Zainey explains the sight as “something you’d never forget.” Bombings included nighttime missions. The night missions lasted approximately eight hours round trip. During these night missions to Tokyo, members of the bombing crews found various ways to pass their time. “I used to sit there and look up at the stars while flying over the Pacific Ocean, and I’d curl up around my bombsight to get some sleep,” Mr. Zainey said.
Although the Japanese possessed faster aircraft, the strategies and logistics of the American forces led to success on both the European and Pacific theaters. In the Pacific, the logistics of “Island Hopping” were used in the attack against Japan. The US forces would capture groupings of islands in the Pacific to create refueling sites and sites from which to launch bombing missions. This strategy of island hopping allowed the US to be close enough to the enemy to inflict harm yet far enough from the enemy to ensure safety. The island hopping strategy led to successful bombing missions which averted a potential land invasion of Japan.
The logistics, brainpower, and heart of the United States service men enabled the surrender of Japan. The rise of new aircraft allowed the US a competitive advantage in logistics. Along with rigorous training, unique tools aided the bombardiers in successful missions. The B-26 aircraft sustained the lowest loss record of any combat aircraft during WWII, while the 20th bomber unit lost no B-29 aircraft to enemy fire. The brave men who piloted and served on the aircraft were extremely skilled in their craft. Without the courage and bravery of the pilots, co-pilots, bombardiers, and gunners, WWII may have ended differently.
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By: Mark Halstead and Emma Zainey