Naval History by Country :
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Signatures on this item | |
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
Name | Info |
Captain Earl Slanker (deceased) *Signature Value : £40 | Joining the USAAF in October 1942, Earl was posted to Europe flying the new B-26F Marauder, assigned to the 386th Bomb Group based at Great Dunmow, in Essex. He flew combat operations in the build up to D-Day, later moving to Beaumont, France in October 1944. Promoted flight leader, Earl converted to the A-26 Invader in February 1945, completing 62 combat missions. He died on 28th March 2012. |
Colonel Ashley Woolridge (deceased) *Signature Value : £35 | Ashley Woolridge was involved in training and combat with the B-26 Marauder continuously for three years. Assigned to the 319th Bomb Group he arrived in North Africa at the time of the invasion there, beginning low-level combat missions in November 1942. Flying over 100 missions in the B-26, Woolridge became one of the leading exponents of the Marauder, and was responsible for devising the logistics of the 6-ship abreast take-off - a procedure that extended range by reducing join-up time. The technique was used extensively in North Africa, without accident. By November 1944, Woolridge was appointed Commanding Officer of the 320th Bomb Group, a position held until the wars end. His many decorations include two Croix de Guerre, one awarded by General de Gaulle, the other by General Pleven. Ashley Woolridge passed away on 3rd May 2004. |
Colonel Richard Dick Denison (deceased) *Signature Value : £35 | Navigator Dick Denison's first combat missions were flown during the D-Day invasion, flying C47s towing gliders into the Normandy bridgehead, and making casualty evacuations. He transferred to the 552nd Squadron, 386th Bomb Group flying the Martin B26 Marauder, before converting over to the Douglas A26 Invader. Dick completed a total of 40 combat missions during his tour. He died on 1st February 2018. |
Colonel Roland Scott (deceased) *Signature Value : £35 | Roland Scott joined the Service in 1933, trained as a pilot in 1941 and arrived in England in March 1943. Flying with the 450th Squadron 322nd Bomb Group, Scott was to lead a 12 ship formation on May 14th, 1943, to bomb the power plant at Ijunuiden, Holland - the first combat mission flown in Europe by the B-26 in World War Two. The orders were to go in at zero feet. Coming in over the Dutch coast they were met with ground fire, and several aircraft were hit. Scott somehow got through the intense wall of tracer and flak, and laid his bombs on the target, but a 20mm shell exploded in the cockpit, blinding him in one eye; however with the aid of his crew managed to get his B-26 back to his base. In spite of the loss of an eye Roland Scott checked out on a large number of World War Two American and British combat aircraft. Roland Scott passed away on 21st November 2002. |
General John Moench *Signature Value : £35 | After gaining his wings in 1943, John Moench was checked out on the B-26 Marauder, and arrived in England in early 1944 joining the 323rd Bomb Group, based at Earls Coln. His first combat mission was on May 7th, and by the end of the month he had racked up 13 missions. The following month he was made flight leader of a six ship formation, and by the wars end he had flown lead aircraft on 17 of his 62 B-26 Marauder missions. John Moenchs last mission with the 323rd was to bomb Erding Aerodrome, near Munich on April 25th, 1945. In spite of a determined attack by Me262s every aircraft got home without a single man lost or wounded - a testimony to the level of skill of the B-26 pilots by the wars end, and to the quality of the Marauder as a fine medium range combat aircraft. |
Major Carl Oates *Signature Value : £40 | Carl Oates joined the 386th Bomb Group at Great Dunmow, England in September 1944. Piloting first the B-26 and later the A-26, he flew 22 combat missions from England, and later from bases in France and Belgium. Carl was appointed Operations Officer of the 554th Squadron during the last six months of World War II. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Marauder | B-26 |
Everything we obtain for this site is shown on the site, we do not have any more photos, crew lists or further information on any of the ships. COPYRIGHT NOTICE. ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW, AND ARE OWNED BY CRANSTON FINE ARTS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO REPRODUCTION OR COPYING ALLOWED ON OTHER WEBSITES, BOOKS OR ARTICLES WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT. |
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