The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-02-14

farmer Sta11-meIHDCI VI sAC
rreensboro Daily News.
~ MARAuDER BASE IN ENG
TAND-Delayed) - The North
carolina men at this base will
"a I 9l agree on two things. First,
Iesui nothing would be finer than
:ndi 10 in Carolina" wearing the
T " M ribbon of this war. Sec
WI ~ that the B-26 is great air.
ol lono which has proven its worth
pau ao,obat over the most difficult
IL oring ground in the world-the
S peavily defended fortress of Eur
op er;o Gen. Samuel Edward An
ICON I'm of Greensboro, who heads
oel' bomber command under which
t'e e medium bombers operate,
ple esants graphic picture of the
pceIlent work being done by the
eeHSsrouders in this theatre of war:
M snotween July 16 and October q,
,d ns' UsAAF Marauders have
! .'~,, more than 1900 sorties over
nua"mv-occupied western Europe
Fl l.h loss of only 10 aircraft. OIL
. sl 10. two have been shot down
Nv enemy fighters, the remainder
~, flax. Our Marauders mean
p W have destroyed %, probab-
", destroyed 10 and damaged 23t
enemy fighters - proof enough
tbst given a good escort of friend
y, fobters they can take care of
themselves in combat.
~Flving over the very heavy
defenses Of Western Europe with
w range of both light and heavy
a.t our Marauders have absorb
3D. ID terrific punishment and have
made numerous single-englne
t,iabts back from their target. On
~ least two occasions, Marauders
ave lost the use of an engine be-
eore reaching the target but have
oone on TO bomb and return to
5ose continuing to take evasive
ac+ion while over enemy territory.
mis- record is first Of all mag
n;ficent tribute to our combat
crews and the training they have
receiyed, Second, it most en-
nhatically demonstrated that the
Marauder is a fine combat air.
plane"
hombers. Tar Heels have exper-
,enced many of the dangers and
ttrilIs Of aerial warfare. They
have been on raids when the flax
WAS 50 thick you could get out
and walk on it" They've felt the
,1urdv Marauders being rocked
Ike cradle from near misses OF
flax and have escaped injury when
caring enemy fighters darted
Trough the escorting screen of
lighters to fire 20 nm. shells into
tie fuselage, wings or cockpit.
They have stirred up a veritable
neehive of enemy fighters on some
missions and the Marauder gun
rers were kept busy splitting
.ethal lead from their so calibre
machine guns. They have admir-
ed the fighting spirit of pilots MI
escorting Spitfires, Thunderbolts,
Or Lightnnigs who take any risks
to protect the medium bombers. ,
They have seen the demolition !
bombs burst on the runways, dis
persal areas, oil storage tanks,
and hangers of enemy airfields;
they've watched power stations,
harbor installations and other
military detectives blown to hell |
during a Marauder attack. They've
been on raids that were as exclt-
ing as combined three-ring cir
Gus and roller coaster ride and !
they've been on others that were
comparatively as quiet as a Sun
tay stroll in the park.
Ali of these men have one
thought in mind-getting the war
ever as quickly as possible and
getting back home. Back to the
rhododendron- covered hills OF west
ern North Carolina; back to the
red hills and thriving industrial
towns of the Piedmont section;
back to the cotton and tobacco
farms and friendly communities
Of eastern Carolina. But until
that time comes, the transplanted
Tar Heels will stick to the tight
with the same tenacity that their
nickname indicates.