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Boyd V. Hall, B-26 Engineer/ Gunner, Altoona, PA, Written and Researched by Philip J Waite ©

The following is a written interview of the time I met with Boyd Hall. I took extensive notes and tried to cross reference them as much as possible to get exact dates, targets and information. The majority of the text is written in the first person and using paraphrase and quotes from Mr Hall, this is what is italicized.

Boyd V Hall grew up in Altoona, and talked about how great the city was when he was young. He spoke highly of his dad Wayne, and remarked that his dad was really his role model. He enjoyed watching the trains go through the city and did odd jobs at the railroad during his sophomore and junior year.

“My High School days were a lot different than today. Altoona was a railroad city, there were trains going through the city all the time, even before the war. It was a busy place. Once the war started freight, men and equipment was always traveling through the city. There were even times that trains would stop and no one was allowed near certain cars. I was privileged to work at the railroad during High School. It was a machinist training program, so I spent a lot of time at the railroad every day after school. I can still remember one of the guys who told me, they were trying to see what was under large tarps that covered three flat rail cars. Five guys were guarding it and he said as they snuck up one guys challenged them and that took care of that. They turned and ran down the alleys. Later the gossip said those rail cars were carrying parts of an experimental fighter plane.”

Boyd had two other brothers in service, Norman served in an armor unit with tanks and David was in artillery. He heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio and remembered the next day was madness in the city. Men of all ages were going to the recruiting office and enlisting to the point that they had to close early because they were swamped with recruits.

After I heard about Pearl Harbor being attacked I was in shock. Early reports were that 20 ships were sunk and the Japanese were invading Hawaii. It took several days to find out what really happened and I remember that people were mad! Monday morning there were lines of men waiting at the recruiting stations downtown and everybody was talking about going to war.

Boyd Hall left Altoona on a train and went through induction at New Cumberland Pa. There were about 85 other who were leaving and Altoona had a send off for men going to the service. His principal told him that everyone in Altoona was proud of him and his willingness to serve.

I had turned eighteen in my junior year and by December I received my draft notice three days before Pearl Harbor. I left Altoona with 85 others men on December 10, 1941. Altoona had a beg send off for us, some of the guys had just enlisted only two days earlier. Before I left school the principal met with the guys who were going and said all of Altoona was proud of us and our willingness to serve. This will change history he said. You know he was right, it changed my life.

During his time at New Cumberland, Boyd was given detailed physical and intellectual exams and made high marks and qualified for Aircraft Mechanics School in Mississippi. He received orders to report for Keesler Field in Biloxi. Mississippi and he was there from December 1941 to June 1942.

“When they approached me and told me I qualified for Mechanics school, I asked if they had the right Boyd Hall. I really didn’t expect to get into aircraft, but the more I thought about it I liked the challenge.”
Keesler Field. Biloxi, Mississippi

December 1941- June 1942

We traveled from New Cumberland to Biloxi by train. Segregated cars were something I never experienced before. The black car was only half full but the white cars were packed. He looking out windows as passed through cities, towns and fields and saw a number of American flags and patriotic signs various places. Everyone for some odd reason seemed so excited about the idea of going to war and revenging Pearl Harbor.

Boyd completed Basic Army Air Corps training and school, and heard some news of war. Early news was not real good. He remembered hearing stories of the Marines on Wake Island and their bravery as they fought the Japanese.

After completion at Biloxi he was sent by train with about 80 other men to Baltimore.

Middle River east of Baltimore Maryland

Glenn L. Martin Corporation had a large factory complex and produced several different planes, two of which were the B-26 and Martin Mariner a sea and air patrol.

I arrived in Baltimore and went by bus to the Glenn L. Martin plant at Middle River Md. We stayed at buildings not far from the plant so it was easy to travel back and forth. The food was great, guess because it wasn’t regular Army Air Corps food. We were treated well, but it was no fun and games. We had four weeks to learn everything about the mechanics and operational structures of the B 26. There were about 80 of us and we were all training to be engineers on the B 26s. They brought in a new class of men about every 5 weeks.

We spent time going over specs and looking at how the aircraft operated. We went to different areas of the factory and saw how everything went together. They trained us to troubleshoot and a lot of what we learned I actually used during missions. Security was tough; we were in uniform and had our Ids. Every employee had an ID badge and had to wear it all the time and was checked daily on arrival and exit. Following my training in Md, I was able to come home for ten days on a furlough before I had to report to Tampa, Florida.

Basic facts that Boyd shared about the B-26:
Service ceiling of 25,000 ft.
• Absolute ceiling of 26,200 ft.
• Cruise speed of 266 mph at 15,000 ft .
• Maximum speed of 315 mph at 15,000 ft .
• Ferry range of 2,200 mile uses 1,212 gallons of fuel.
• Range of 1,000 mile with a 3,000 lb bomb load using 962 gallons of fuel.
Maxine 4,000 ibs of bombs, but reduced range
Powered by two 1,850 hp (1,380 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-5 engines located one on each wing.

“The B 26 was not the most popular bomber of the Air Corps. In fact a lot of pilots really had trouble handing it. There were a couple of issues; first it took a long runway for takeoff. Then once in the air it took a lot of engine revs to keep it flying Last it land at a really fast speed. The first time we took off in England, our radioman said take off is easy. It’s the dam landing that kills you in these things. Funny I thought about that every time we were getting ready to land. I will survive the bomb run, only to die on the runway.”

“In the rush to gear up for the war, it was hastily entered into service and was flown by inexperienced pilots. It was nicknamed the Widow Maker, the Baltimore Whore, the Flying Prostitute (because it had no visible means of support), and One a Day in Tampa Bay, after 15 crashes in one 30-day period. With a landing speed of 140 mph (225 km/h), it was too much airplane for the novice to handle.”

“Before the B 26s were used in Europe they first saw action in the Pacific. Primarily in New Guinea and Midway, but made a poor showing. When I was in Maryland I was with several guys who were on Marauders in New Guinea. They told me that on one mission 6 took off and 3 returned and not one bombed the target accurately, he said on one plane 3 of the 30cals didn’t even fire. I wondered what did I get myself into. I should have joined the Marines and at least died on the ground.”

“Air Corp operated B-26B and Cs in tactical operations in North Africa. Marauders were used in the Tunisia campaign as long-range fighters to shoot down Me 323 and Ju 52 transports in droves far out over the Mediterranean. They seemed to do better in Africa and the Mediterranean. Maybe it was the distance; they didn’t have to cover as much ground in Africa as they did in the Pacific. The later models were also better armed with two 50 caliber machine guns in the top turret.

Boyd said he remembered reading a statement that Colonel Doolittle said about the B 26. Here is that statement. In Doolittle’s words.

“The B-26 was an unforgiving airplane and it was killing pilots because it never gave them a chance to make mistakes. General Arnold wanted me to check into the problem and recommend whether it should be continued to be built or not. I checked it over, flew it and liked it. There wasn’t anything about its flying characteristics that good piloting skills could overcome. I recommended that it be continued to be built and it was.”7

MacDill Field, Tampa Florida July 1942

Assigned to Gunnery School.

Assigned gunnery combat training on 30 and 50 caliber machine guns.

“We spent hours not just firing the weapons, but we learned how they worked and how to repair the guns on board the plane if they misfired or had minor issues. One of the things that was a real challenging aspect was to learn to identify enemy planes and British and American planes. It was one thing to identify different planes on paper and in films. It was a hell of a lot different when you were in the air and dealing with everything under the sun. There were more than once that I began to fire and realized it was a friendly or I was firing into another B 26s flight pattern. It looked easy and many guys though it was, but experience counted and the only way to gain real experience was in flight and in combat.”

Assigned to the 3rd Bomber command.. 21st Bombardier Group

“There was a number of planes that ended up crashing or landing in the water. The early models were very hard to fly. I knew of at least six that crashed into the Bay.“ One day in Tampa Bay” this was the statement that circulated the base. The goal of our training was to not be the plane that ended in the Bay.”

Throughout the war MacDill had thirty-four accidents that claimed fifty-six lives despite a favorable climate and air approaches free of obstructions. With the high number of accidents came certain modifications that were corrected and knowledge of issues with the plane to be addressed.

In 1943 MacDill was still used for medium bombardment training. The training was designed to take pilots, navigators, bombardiers, gunners, radio operators and engineers combine them into combat crews. The pace they were required to set was determined by the urgency of total war. Forging competent operational units demanded intense formation flying.

One of the men that Boyd get to know well and talked about a lot was Captain Robert Frye.

“Fearless Frye, the first real crew I trained with… flying with Frye is what we would say. There never was a dull moment. This guy was a daredevil , but an ace when it came to handling a B26. He could take off and land as smooth as driving a bike. He was able to fly a B 26 better than any other pilot I served with. Most guys had trouble landing because they came in so fast, Frye made it look easy.”

“We trained with different pilots and crews, I remember one of the training pilots was Jim Norton, he was a Second Lt and co piloted several training flights. He was killed in action several months later. Eventually we were assigned temporary crews and began to deploy to England. One experience during the training period was that we had an issue in flight with the vertical stabilizer. That’s part of the tail and helps control the plane in flight. We ended up making a crash landing on the runway and crawled out of the plane through the emergency hatch. We were scared to death the plane would catch fire and explode.”

“We went to a small offshoot base near Lakeland Florida. Drane Field. It is there we were attached to the 320th Bombardment Group from August of 1942 to November when we deployed to England. We were part of the Twelfth Air Force.”

“We did a lot of Skeet shooting to focus on targeting and gunnery practice, Boyd commented he really liked the gunnery practice because we shot crate after crate of ammo. The negative aspect was having to disassemble the 50cals and clean them. They were monstrously heavy and the CO was a stickler for inspection. Our team lost more than one liberty or weekend pass because the guns didn’t meet the CO’s requirements. I will say I learned those weapons inside and out.”

We did some swimming in the Bay and every so often we would slip up to Tarpon Springs and see them harvesting sponges and eat at a small Greek place on the water .Of course we visited some dance places in Tamps, but most of the time was work and training.

MacDill Field is located on a narrow peninsula jutting about two and one-half miles into Tampa Bay (1942). Photo courtesy United States Air Force.

Hangar area, with new hangers under construction (c. 1942). Photo courtesy United States Air Force.

Twenty-five B-26s parked on the ramp for inspection. The large numbers painted on the fuselages, called "buzz numbers," were intended to discourage reckless flying by enabling civilians calling in with complaints to identify the offending aircraft. "Those big numbers were 53 inches in height with stroke of 9 inches and the numbers from 2 through 0 were 26 inches in width. Space from the trailing edge of the wing to the waist windows was ample." Photo courtesy Leslie C. Hard.

Following MacDill Boyd Hall and his unit received orders to head to England.

“My unit traveled by train to Camp Kilmer NJ we were there one week. Basically preparing for overseas duty and completing any paperwork and getting our gear in order.. We only took overseas what was essential. Everything else got sent home or put in a warehouse. I was able to call my dad, but couldn’t tell him anything. We had orders not to discuss anything about our duty or our departure. However, he knew that something was up and told me to take care of myself. We had one final night in NYC and I won’t say much, other than we had a really good time and enjoyed spending money.”

“The next day we boarded a train and arrived at the docks into the city and boarded the Queen Elizabeth at night. Everything was top secret and security was high. We pulled out before the sun came up. We were boarded on the second deck and that ship was huge. The upper decks were fancy and even where we were bunked it was way better than any other. I told the guys I was with that sometime I will travel on this boat just for the hell of it.”

“The ship was faster than most ships so we had a Destroyer Escort that was with us from a while and for several days there was a LTA (a navy blimp that went ahead of us.) There were estimated 16,000 on board. A don’t know but it was sure crowded. One area was designated from woman and we had some RAF members returning back to England who were training in the states.”

“In only five days we arrived in Glasgow Scotland. We arrived at Ten o’clock in the morning and it was still dark, cold and damp. Scotland was quite a change from the US. Not only just the weather, food and the people, but also the general climate. There had been several German bombing runs over the city and attacks on the city of Clydebank west of the city. So there were a lot of people in Glasgow because of their houses in Clydebank were destroyed. People were on edge and overall scared. They were good to us and glad to see Yanks in the fight. It’s about time you decided to join us in defeating the damn Huns, a woman told me when we were in a Pub one night.”

Boyd had his photo taken in a kilt while in Scotland. He commented on how the Scots liked to joke and he wanted to show them he had a great a sense of humor as they did.

I tried to show my personal side and had a portrait taken of me wearing traditional Scottish garb. The Scots told me I wasn’t official because I kept my pants on under my kilt.

“We flew with a six man crew, Pilot, Co pilot. Navigator who also served as the bombardier and fired a 30cal, radioman, engineer who served as top gunner (two 50 caliber machine guns in turret) and a tail gunner. If you were lead bomber you had 7 man crew. The B 17 was a four engine bomber, we were a twin engine and travelled at max speed of about 370 mph and carry 5600 lbs. of bombs. The nickname that wives and girlfriends gave the Marauder was the “widow maker.’ A B26 Squadron was usually made up of 18 aircraft, however as the war went on our squadron had grown to about 20 on regular missions. Often we flew with several other squadrons. The Marauder is a great bomber and can take plenty of punishment.

July 1943- February 1945 missions total of 67 missions.

Boyd flew 65 combat missions two were recalled after takeoff. He discussed his combat missions, he did not remember each mission or every detail, but he recalled several that had impacted him.

A dear price paid early!

The first combat mission that Boyd Hall flew was what he called a “revenge mission.” the Marauder in which he was flying brought its crew back to safety although flak had knocked out one engine, damaged the other so badly that it trailed smoke all the way back, and shot away part of the hydraulic systems.

"My pilot, Lt. Col. Gove C. Cello, did a swell job of crash-landing the plane, " declared Sgt. Hall. Lt. Col. Gove C. Cello his plane was hit with 20 mm fire.. had to make a belly landing hydraulics were out and wheels could not come down.

By the first part of May we had practiced a number of low level attacks and on May 14th we launched our first mission. Ten planes took off to bomb a power plant in Ijmuiden, Holland. This was a port city during the war Germans heavily fortified the town. It housed their torpedo boats. We called them E boats. It was a low level attack that was very successful, 50 to 100 feet of the ground. All planes made it back safely except. These “javelin “formation were the low level ones.

A number of planes were hit, “it felt like the Germans knew we were coming. Picked up on radar.

Three days later on May 17 we made another attack.

Colonel Stillman made the statement that it was crazy to go and hit the same target as they hit 3 days earlier. We caught the Krauts napping once, but twice is pushing our luck.

This time eleven B 26s attacked, one turned back due to mechanical difficulties, the other ten were all lost. All shot down by German anti aircraft fire. We found out that 34 men died and the other 24 were captured by the Germans. The AA fire was tremendous. Germans used 88s and at times 120mm.

After the second mission the B 26s were removed from combat service for 2 months to train for a higher altitude than low level ones.

Norton Brothers:
Jim Norton had a twin brother Edward who was a pilot. They were southern boys from Conway South Carolina. They both had played football at Clemson, then joined the Army Air Corps a month before Pearl Harbor was attacked. During a raid over Ijmuiden, Netherlands on May 17, 1943, five of the eleven planes were shot down prior to getting to the target. Two planes were reported that they collided with each other during the raid. The Norton’s Marauder received heavy flak and hit the target, but crashed into the North Sea. Eventually Jim’s body washed ashore. His is buried in the Netherlands and his brother has a stone, but no body.

The AAF would never send two brothers into the same combat unit together again.

Tidbits from notes:

Frye had engine knocked out and had to return.. fighters over channel.

Captain Scott was lead plane was at the hangar that day.

Col Turner was co.. his plane hit with flak in the cockpit, he lost an eye hit in head with piece of flak.

“There were missions that we would miss the target. We would drop bombs, they would hit but we saw no secondary explosions. You always watched for the secondary’s, those explosions let you knew that you hit something that was worth hitting, fuel, ammunition or something combustible that caused a lot of damage. We would have these briefings before the mission and the pilots would be told the primary targets and even secondary and sub secondary targets if the primaries could be hit.”

Ninth Air Force

“One of our early bomb runs was in October and the target was several communication bunkers and radar stations in northern Holland.

We flew a lot of missions, there are some I remember well and others that simply are lost to my memory. November 11 is Armistice Day. The day WWII ended. That morning at chow we had a small remembrance service. I also recall that day because we flew a mission and that was the worst flak I ever saw. We were doing low level mission targeting Bremen Germany. It was considered a strategic target because it had about seven or eight important industrial targets in and around the city. Bremen had several ship yards, oil depot and several aircraft factories, it was covered with heavy AA positions and when you tried to bomb, they filled the air with flak. Literally, there were so many explosions and black smoke clouds the plane shook from the beginning to the end of the run. You simply waited for the one that would drop you.

We had two boxes of 36 Bombers each. You flew a box formation; it was designed to give you protection against enemy fighters and flak. The heavies did the same except their boxes had more planes. The tough part about the formation was that when you took off the early planes had to keep circling until all planes were in the air. So what happened was that the front box usually ran out of fuel before the latter ones. It was quite a hassle especially making sure to stay in your box the entire flight. Everything was based on the lead plane. Once we dropped into the bombing run you could not move out of position. No matter what you held onto the targeting course. When lead bomber dropped we all dropped after that. For me the worst missions were when we were the lead bomber.

“As you got close to a target maybe 20 miles out you would pick up a lot of flak German flak would explode around you as the whole plane shook. They would fill the air with flak in order to either knock you off course or hit you with shrapnel and send you spiraling.

“Sometimes the lead plane actually dropped early. That’s why usually an experienced combat pilot lead, because he was supposed to have more nerve and wouldn’t panic and drop early. One mission the damn lead bomber dropped early we were told by the flight op that we bombed the hell out of a beach area , a lot of water explosions , but not one bomb on target. All our bombardiers spent the next three days going target and sighting training.”

Our maximum bomb load was 4,000 lbs.

“There are some things that you always remember. In 1943, the guys in the tent next to mine had three of the five guys killed on a single mission. The B 26 they were on took a direct hit, the engineer and two of the gunners. The plane was hit by German fighter and took a number of rounds directly into the fuselage. I can recall the mood of the entire area as two days later their belongings were being taken out of the tent and transported stateside. It made you realize how all this could end at anytime for anyone of us.”

December 13 1943… attacked a German Fighter Base at Schipol, Holland

Attacked with maximum force
Three or four groups attacked together
54 in a group.. over 200 aircraft
Came in low and fast and dropped and pulled up. Precise targeting

“By December there were less German Fighters over the coast because B17s and the RAF were hitting targets deeper into Germany on the Rhine and Ruhr and the fighters got deployed to attack them. However when we tangled with German fighters it was always tough. They would come from all angles and all I would do in my turret was to try to fire in front of the fighter and allow him to come into my fire.”

“I remember the first time that a German fighter actually hit our plane with his fire. You could hear rounds hitting the wings and middle of the aircraft. He came back in on a second run and it was then our gunner was screaming because two of the rounds took a huge chunk of his leg. You lived and died with the guys you were with. When one guy got hit you tried to help him, but that also meant that somewhere in the plane a job wasn’t being done. I went back and tried to use a shirt to tie of his leg that was bleeding bad and had a huge chunk out of it. My arms and clothes were covered with blood, but it slowed the bleeding down and I pulled him into an area of the plane that was more into the center.”

In mid December we were reorganized and the new directive and target priorities were German fighter bases.

However for some reason every mission that last part of December we seemed to pull V -1 weapon targets.

“The problem with the V 1 targets were you had to come in really low because they were well placed and camouflaged and you had to be right on top of them to hit the target. German 20 mm and 88s were right in your face as you came in.” Sometimes we would fly so close to the ground I thought for sure we are going to hit something. I was flying with Col McFarland on a mission that I think was targeting V 1 launching ramps. We came in low over fields and raised up and as approached the tree line. As we did the props hit the top of some of the trees and a lot of stuff was flying from the props. I looked like we just sheered the tops of the tree line. Some of those low levels you were sucking seat for awhile.

December 20, 1943

“We flew numerous missions against the V1s. I remember in December of 1943 we had about 35 planes and got a lot of flak. The target was outside Calais in Northern France. We lost three planes one of which I watched it drop. I didn’t see it get hit but the co pilot came across the radio and said holy shit, John’s planes smoking. As I looked out the turret I could see smoke rolling from the underside of the cockpit and flames on the left wing. It dropped and started going down and after a bit I couldn’t see it anymore. From what the scuttlebutt was no one got out. We had three destroyed and at least five damaged. After the bomb run We escorted one of the damaged planes, smoke trailed from wings the entire way home. Luckily no German fighters were on the prowl.”

“A lot of missions run together in my mind. One time we had over 150 planes and we were in the air almost two hours and then received the abort code and turned back due to weather. Two planes collided on the return over the channel and both crews were killed during that mission. It wasn’t even combat that took them down. You just never knew when it was your time.” After a while you just get kind of numb. You never knew if you would come back intact or in pieces. I guess you just figure your gonna get it eventually.

“A few times we would visit the same target the next day. One times we hit the same site in Belgium and later in the war Germany. That day there were swarms of fighters that hit two different times during the mission. I spent a lot of time in the turret that day and I know we were credited with nailing at least one fighter and I am sure we got that tail of a second, even though he didn’t do down. He disappeared.”

January 29, 1944 we bombed the French coastal town of Ouistreham. Later that was one of the Dday targets and is where Sword beach was located. We took a lot of flak and Bill Glass who was an engineer and a gunner like me was on the lead plane. The lead plane was known as the Pathfinder, they went out ahead and when they were over the target they used an Oboe that signaled others to make the run. The Pathfinder plane had a large 4 foot antenna located in front of the gunner. His plane took a lot of damage and crash-landed on the runway. Bill was killed in the crash. Pathfinders had it the worst; they seemed to catch the most flak and often took the most damage.

This is the picture of Boyd between his two .50-caliber guns in the top turret. This turret was about half way back in the aircraft.

“It was March 26, 1944 We were the lead bomber for 480 B 26s the target was Marshalling yards in Holland. We caught flak from several ships as we dropped low and came in over water. We took several hits and plane shook and smoke was throughout the fuselage. We couldn’t see the target for all the smoke and cloud cover. We made a second pass and this time saw it. It just opened up right in front of us it was here that we got hit.

The plane took a large hit and veered to the right. Flames and smoke were on the port side and the left engine had been hit and knocked out. The plane itself was filled with smoke. I knew something wasn’t right, but couldn’t leave my turret. You never knew when German fighters would jump us and we needed the top turret gun. We still made it over the target and the plane shook the entire time. We dropped the bombs. We dropped to about 4000 feet and limped across the North Sea. We were prepared to abandon the plane. We kept looking for German fighters because we were trailing smoke.

Luckily not one enemy fighter was around; if they would have been we would have had it.We landed at the closest base it was a B 17 field at Farlingham.

We had been hit somewhere near landing gear and our wheels didn’t come down and were still folded as we hit.

We were all preparing to crash. You braced yourself and were told that as soon as we landed exit the plane as quick as you could due to the chance of fire. We landed in the field beside the runways and slid to a stop.When we first hit the plane bounced several times and unsecure items were flying around everywhere. I had braced myself in the upper turret figuring that it was the safest place.

We counted about 18 holes in the plane, and the entire left engine was destroyed along with the landing gear and several panels of the belly of the plane. Of all the damage to the plane and we walked away.

“Our plane made it that raid but I later found out that a number of guys I knew were on a plane that crashed into the North Sea due to flak and had no survivors.We were transferred to another plane as that one would be a number of weeks to repair. I think it was about ten days we didn’t have a mission.”

“Don’t think for a second it’s about being a hero or how tough you are. We were all scared to death, I really though either the plane would blow up or we’d crash and be killed. Every time you heard a creak or a noise you’d look and expect an explosion. Guys were praying, yelling, scared and still doing their jobs. There’s nothing heroic about thinking your gonna die. I envisioned my mom and dad and how they would take the news.”

“I will say that in the middle of it all our gunner had to take a leak. He was trying to use the relief tube and all of a sudden a round somehow hit the outside of the plane and everything that was in the toilet flew all over him and that part of the plane. I guess God does have a sense of humor.”

There were several times that Currie who was our radio operator would actually bring bricks with him on certain missions. He would write the words “Go to hell Hitler.” If we were low over a target and he had the chance he would chuck the brick out the an opening of the plane he’d yell heads up Krauts.

April 1944 the air base Boyd was station at was visited by General Eisenhower, he was the Supreme Allied Military Commander and the entire D-day invasion would be his call. It was the prelude to D-day. Eisenhower wanted to review target accessibility and meet the crews.

“Everything was cleaned up and made to look presentable. Food even seemed to taste better that day. We had fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes and homemade lemon meringue pies. The General came talked to us, ate then watched as we boarded and took off. We were told to look sharp and crisp on takeoff because he was watching.

Boyd and his crew saw a lot of action on D-day June 6, 1944. The B 26s were used to take out strategic targets such as selected coastal gun installations outside of Caen. They flew two missions and on the second one came back in the afternoon and took out a highway bridge in the Caen area.

“We were alerted about six pm on June 5th and ate a good meal and were briefed on the targets. We didn’t get a lot of information, other than it was the moment that everyone was waiting for. There were bombers, fighters, airborne, navy and invasion troops. Out first target were coastal gun batteries at Caen. We would bomb then right before the first invasion waves hit. They told us the guns at Caen could reach the beaches and reign hell on the invasion. There could be no mistake we had to knock them out. We were told we would take off at two am and were instructed to bring steel helmets and every crew member had to have a side arm. There was a John Wayne movie called the Longest Day. I think it came out in the mid 60s. For me June 6, 1944 was certainly the longest day of my life. We did two missions that day and by God’s grace all of us survived both of them.”There was something in the air that day, you just knew this was it. If we succeed the war could end by Christmas, if the invasion fails, who knows.

“One of the guys I served with George Hughes, he was a real character. The second mission he came back and said hey anybody have anything to eat. I told Gen Eisenhower I’d only bomb if he got me a Tuna sandwich with Swiss on rye. Ok no Tuna no bomb run, turn this train around. One other time he came back and said. “hey I got to piss, how bout landing so I don’t get it all over my pants.” He was our Bombardier and he was pretty good, he kept things lively. It was the little things like that you remember during the tough times.”

There are a few missions that stick out in my mind following D-day. On September 1st we bombed Brest France. The Germans had huge submarine pens made out of concrete and steel. We hit them with 60 planes and came in low and bombed the entrance docks and roof. Bombers had pierced the roof with large bombs a month earlier and we tried to drop our directly into where theses bombs had hit. I really don’t think we accomplished much; these bunkers were just so large and really reinforced. We were told that flak would not be an issue, but as we dropped low several flak positions opened up and several planes received some damage. It was this mission that we developed a fuel leak and Col Nye ordered me to transfer fuel. I was straddling the bomb bay and manually transferring fuel as the bomb bay doors open. We were coming in low to hit the Uboat docks and I could feel the spray off the water hitting me. I just held on, got it transferred and as I climbed up we dropped out bombs. That was one wet mission.

Boyd was describing the “tallboy” bombs. These were 12,000 lb bombs used by the Royal Air Force to penetrate reinforced bunkers and targets. Fifteen Lancaster’s attacked Brest on August 5th 1944 that landed six direct hits. These six openings in the reinforced rook were the Marauders targets.

Bomb bay of the B26, in the photo is four 1,000 lb bombs, the door were directly under the bombs.

On September 11th we bombed the city and German fortifications at Metz France. The targets were artillery bunkers and to soften up German defenses for General Patton and his Army. Received a lot of Flak and our plane rocked several times and took a chuck of our wing off. Didn’t hit our fuel or engine, but if was a rough bomb run and missed the original target, but we hit equipment and vehicles that were outside the city and saw several secondary explosions. We never saw the vehicles until machineguns opened up on one of our lead planes. Uncles Sam did get at least a little damage for his money, but Currie told us it will come out of our pay since we didn’t get the primary. That was a tough landing, the closer we got toward England the harder the plane was to handle. The more stress was on the wing due to the damage. I was really glad when we touched down.

We attacked the German city of Euskirchen, the target was the rail yards and hardened munitions bunkers. The mission as pretty basic and we laughed and stated the Krauts must be all used up. There hadn’t been any fighter attacks on the last two missions, but we encountered three fighters right as we went into the bomb run. I was into the turret right away as guys were yelling out where the fighters were. From my position I saw a fighter diving at “Bopp’s Boys” the plane beside ours. I was firing away and know I hit it because I saw it dip and start to smoke, but not before it got direct hits into that plane. The fighter was going down and I could see the smoke trail, but didn’t know what happened to it. The bomber beside us was hit bad in the cockpit and front of the plane and veered toward us and we reacted evasively and it missed us but went down somewhere outside the city. Never knew what happened and we watched but didn’t see any shoots. That was a tough flight home. No one said a lot, we actually lost two planes on that mission and had three damaged.

We were off for about 20 days of so and on October 13th we bombed a V 1 site in northern Holland. There were ten planes and we definitely took out the launch ramp, launching apparatus and the surrounding areas. The Germans were actually brining the rocket onto the ramp as we hit it. Definitely took out the target as each plane landed their ordinance and strafed the area. The first several bombers received small arms and machine gun fire, but the last plane reported no ground fire. It seems we took out all ground targets. Our plane led the assault and we had about 25 holes in the plane and our co pilot was hit in the foot. We were told after that raid the Germans didn’t send anymore toward England.

Our squadron received orders to return to Euskirchin, this time to hit the Railroad Bridge. We didn’t know it but we would fly two missions that day, command really wanted that bridge taken out. That morning when we got the word, we took a moment and remembered the cost of the last mission. I had a number of friends that I lost over the skies of Europe, each time it hurt. After a while you got used to not knowing guys a lot. That way if they didn’t come back it didn’t hurt as much. We each shared thoughts then toasted “Bopps Boys’ we were looking to even the score with any fighters or ground defenses. I’ll never forget what Col Glenn Nye said that day. “Germans aren’t finished yet, it’s time to help them into the next life, take care, stay focused and make them pay for our friends.”

The date was December 23, 1944 and for the first time in two weeks it was clear enough to fly. The Germans had attacked our lines and were driving us back. It was necessary we knockout this bridge and stop their supplies and reinforcements. Thirty planes took off and two turned back due to mechanical issues. The first strike was uneventful, there was considerable flak over the target, but we made it through without a hit. We returned to base, grabbed something to eat, used the bathroom and in about an hour the plane was fueled, checked and rearmed. First mission went to ease that was the word. We hit the bridge, but didn’t knock it out.

We took off and the second mission was a different story. We ran into four ME 109s, I began to fire about 1,000 yards out as it came in toward us. We made it past the fighters with little damage. One plane was hit and went down, but everyone got out and a few received damage and one ME 109 was shot down. As we came over the target this time flak was more effective and heavier. Our plane got hit mid section and I was the only one hit. Once we were cleared of the target and the fighter threat decreased I climbed down and one of the other guys helped me remove my pant leg and I had a chuck of my leg that was hit by flak. I still remember the burning pain.

Our radioman helped administer first aid and I was able to get back into the turret at least until we got out of combat area. Then I spent the rest of the trip leaning against the bulkhead. After we landed I ended up in sick bay for several days, it just so happened we didn’t get any missions for about a week or so.

There were different mission where unique things went on, some I remember, and some I don’t. Sometimes we would fly so close to the ground I thought for sure we are gonna hit something. I was flying with Col McFarland on a mission that I think was targeting V 1 launching ramps. We came in low over fields and raised up and as approached the tree line. As we did the props hit the top of some of the trees and a lot of stuff was flying from the props. I looked like we just sheered the tops of the tree line. Some of those low levels you were sucking seat for awhile.

The B 26 was great at hitting precise targets that are harder for higher altitude bombers like the 17s and the 24s to reach. Now and then you’d get small arms fire from buildings and we even got machine gun fire from church steeples. So we would strafe from the front and tail. It was hard for the top turret to strafe ground targets but I would try to keep an eye out from where fire was coming from.

I flew 67 mission in all the last one was February 1945 with the last raid over Nassau RR bridge over the Rhine River. The last mission we were going in low to hit the target. Little flak fire and as we dropped low over a town you could see cars, people and all kinds of targets of opportunity. At this point these towns were pure chaos, retreating Germans and civilians alike. We didn’t hit the town but after we bombed the bridge unloaded our guns on any military vehicles or German soldiers we saw. We didn’t believe in just shooting at civilian targets.

We didn’t fly any combat missions following February, but still flew reconnaissance. It was interesting to see the damage to cities, installations and the country side from ariel bombings and five years of war. The B 26 to me was like a guardian angel with wings, but maybe I am bias. I certainly would have rather been on a B26 than a B 17 or 24. Following VE day in May, I was just sitting waiting for my orders which finally came on May 14th. We boarded a Liberty ship and came home by way of a southern route with a stop in Argentina.

Sgt Hall would receive orders to travel to the United States and he came home by way of the S.S Argentina. You needed 125 points to earn a discharge from active duty and with his overseas time, combat missions and his decorations Boyd had well over the required number of points.

He returned home to Altoona and worked for the railroad from 1946 until he retired in 1979. This member of the Greatest Generation got married and raised a family and enjoyed the American Dream.
I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 silver and one bronze oak-left clusters, Purple Heart, World War Two Victory Medal with 4 campaign stars, Good Conduct Medal and Presidential Unit Citation. I am not hero, just a guy who did his job in a great aircraft.

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