Us Official Photographs

B-26 Marauder hit by flak over France

This remarkable photo was made at the instant flame billowed out from a Martin B-26 Marauder of the U.S. Army 8th Air Force, the result of a direct hit by Nazi flak while the U.S. formation was some-where over France. The fire, which nearly envelopes one of the other planes in the formation, caused the destruction the bomber which crashed while burning. This particular Marauder formation had flown through one of the most intense flak barrages ever seen over Western Europe, to bomb their target effectively, a military objective in the Pas de Clais area.