320th bomb group reunion

Flight Journal, Apr 2000 by O'Mahony, Charles

In October 1999, members of the 320th Bomb Group gathered in Myrtle Reach, South Carolina, for their annual reunion. During WW 11, the group flew the controversial Martin B-26 Marauder and, in April 1943, began combat operations from bases in Africa.

In the Mediterranean and later, in European theaters, the 320th fought in 11 major campaigns and spearheaded five invasions. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations and was the only combat unit ever to be awarded the Croix de Guerre by Gen. Charles de Gaulle.

A veteran of 59 missions, pilot George Kaufmann was hangar-flying with four of his original crewmen. They agreed that the ammunition dump at Ingolstadt, Germany,. was their most memorable target. "Intelligence said there was a big ammo dump in the forest, but I didn't have an aiming point for my Norden bombsight," bombardier Roger Dever recalled. "I had to fix the crosshairs on a corner of the trees and preset an error so the bombs would hit in the middle of the woods. Man, as soon as the first bombs hit, we felt a helluva jolt. We released our bombs from 12,000 feet, but real quick, there was smoke and debris going up past us. It made the tight formation on the break pretty hairy."

The 320th was in combat for 25 months, and they earned their nickname: "Boomerangs." With a loss rate of only 0.004 percent per sortie, they racked up the best record of any B-26 outfit.