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The B-26 and its crews In 1941, the B-26 was the hottest of the newly designed Army bombers with a speed of 250 mph. It was designed as a result of a Military Plane Design Competition in the summer of 1940. Officials of the Army Air Corps were so satisfied with this innovative plane that they immediately ordered 201 units from Martin Aircraft in Baltimore. The first plane was flown, after test flights, on November 20, 1941. When the Army took delivery, the first of the B-26's were sent to Langley Field, Virginia. After the dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the Army Air Corps was in the process of organizing squadrons for the Islands. The role of this squadron was so determined. This was the first of the units of planes sent from Langley Field. They were sent to Muroc Dry Lake (now known as Edwards Air Force Base) in the Mojave desert, in late fall of 1941. But the desert, after the winter's cold rains, was like muck and not satisfactory as an air base, so all the planes and the personnel of this 33rd Bomb Squadron which had gathered there were ordered to March Field near Riverside. This squadron was on a bombing training flight when the right tail wing of 40-1475 struck the mountain. It had left Muroc on a practice bombing mission, according to Air Corps records, but one fellow who was a crew member of another plane in the squadron wrote that they were also on alert over the Pacific coast, searching for Japanese submarines. This plane was equipped with the revolutionary gyroscopic Norden bombsight. At the time when the United States Air Force was organized as an independent military unit, John Steinbeck, a contemporary author, was commissioned by the United States government to write a book outlining the requirements of the applicants to the United States Air Force. In his book, "Bombs Away", Steinbeck writes, "The applicant for the Air Force must be capable of individual judgement, for the Air Force is not an organization of followers. Every member of the Air Force from the ground crew mechanic to the squadron commander must make thousands of decisions and constantly... Beyond physical fitness he must have other qualities. His manual coordination must be above average. He must possess a physical system which will respond to the rigid training of the Air Force to emerge a toughened disciplined soldier." Beyond these general requirements, each member of the bomber team is trained rigidly to perform his specific duty. He is trained to pilot his aircraft. He is trained as a co-pilot or engineer. He is trained to the position of gunner. He is trained to be a radioman. He is trained specifically to bombardier. Ground mechanics were also specifically trained for that duty. -- M.S., 1995
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