6370a

B-26C Marauder up VERY close.

FIGHTIN COCK was a late-production Block 20 Marauder. Block 20 aircraft had the longer wing inaugurated on Block 10 ships, but also introduced the power-assisted Martin-Bell M6 tail turret with a wider field of fire than the hand-held twin tail guns of the earlier models. This very blunt tail turret dramatically changed the rear profile from the earlier versions’ much sharper "stinger" shape. Also remarkable was the shorter-chord rudder introduced on this production block. The major internal change from earlier models was the provision for two extra fuel tanks in the aft bomb bay, but it’s not clear these were commonly used in the ETO and in any case can’t be seen from outside the aircraft.
The 322nd Bomb Group (Medium) flew combat in Europe from 14 May 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. It was (in)famous for its low-level attack on Ijmuiden, Holland, where 100% of the ten aircraft sent on the mission were lost.
You may have noticed the dramatic photo leading this article is FIGHTIN COCK from head-on. Notice the camouflage abraided away from the leading edges of the package gun nacelles. This was common on Marauders–maybe the subcontractor who built the gun covers didn’t know how to paint!
At the time the markings shown here are depicted, the unit was flying from AAF 485, Great Saling, Essex, United Kingdom, which had been named "Andrews Field" in honor of Lt Gen Frank Andrews, who had been killed in an air crash in Iceland on 3 May 1943. (Note that the better-known Andrews AFB [now idiotically named Joint Base Andrews], Washington, DC, was not renamed from Camp Springs Army Air Field until 7 February 1945.)
Starting in March 1944 the 322nd bombed railroad and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the opening of the Second Front (the invasion at Normandy). FIGHTIN COCK was engaged in these missions at the time she wore these markings. There is discussion related this ship being assigned to the 449th Bomb Squadron, but was in the 450th at the time of these markings.
On 12 August 1944 FIGHTIN COCK was hit by flak over France and had her electrical and hydraulic systems destroyed. Although the pilot was able to nurse her back to their home field in England and had the other crew to bail out, both he and his copilot were killed in the crash landing when the ship skidded off the runway into the control tower.