54 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS
MARTIN
MARYLAND AND BALTIMOREMARYLAND AND BALTIMORE
(^19182018) MARTIN MARYLAND AND BALTIMORE
Right
Baltimore V FW880
of 500 Squadron,
operating from
Pescara, Italy, in the
autumn of 1944. Note
the impressive number
of bomb ‘tallies’ on
the nose. The unit was
deployed to Eastleigh,
Kenya, in October
1945 and there was
re-numbered 249
Squadron. On January
21, 1946 FW880 and
fellow FW554 collided
on the ground and both
were written off.
© ANDY HAY
http://www.fl yingart.co.uk
Right
A South African Air
Force Baltimore over
the Adriatic north of
Pescara, Italy, 1944. KEC
MARYLAND AND BALTIMOREMARYLAND AND BALTIMORE
1940 TO 1946
T
here were high hopes for the
Model 167W attack bomber
within the Glenn L Martin
Company of Baltimore, Maryland.
The United States Army Air Corps
wasn’t impressed but the French
government, desperate to re-arm,
ordered 215 examples. Speed was
of the essence and Martin invested
heavily in a large production line.
Deliveries began in October 1939
and were still taking place as France
surrendered to the German blitzkrieg
on June 22, 1940. The RAF absorbed
the order and named the new
bomber after the state in which it was
manufactured, Maryland. Throughout
the type’s brief career many called the
slim-line twin the ‘Glenn Martin’.
In total 305 Marylands were taken
on charge, 155 Mk.Is and 150 of the
more powerful Mk.IIs. Many were
transferred to the South African Air
Force, but the RAF put them to work
in North Africa and Malta. It was on
Malta that the Maryland rose to fame.
The resident 431 Flight was the first
unit to use the twin operationally,
from September 1939.
Marylands were phased out of RAF
service in 1942, mostly in favour
of its more developed brother, the
Maryland. The only British-based
operator was 544 Squadron at
Benson which used them for photo-
reconnaissance. This was almost
certainly the last RAF unit to fly
Marylands in a frontline role.
STUFF OF LEGEND
In the summer of 1940 Flt Lt Adrian
‘Warby’ Warburton joined 431
Flight at Luqa, Malta. The small unit
was tasked to provide reconnaissance
of the North African coast and
particularly Sicily and southern Italy.
Among the rag-tag of types on
charge was a handful of Marylands.
The gifted 22-year-old Warburton
found the American twin ideal
for the purpose; it had relatively
good unladen range (1,800 miles
[2,896km]), was quite agile (top speed
278mph [447km/h]) and had the
punch of four machine guns in the
wings.
So began a career in reconnaissance
that became the stuff of legend.
On October 30 Warburton used
the Maryland’s guns to good effect,
shooting down an Italian Cant
Z.506B Airone tri-motor floatplane.
Three days later Warburton was on
the receiving end; hit by an Italian
bullet he slumped unconscious.
Navigator, Sgt Frank Bastard, seized
the controls, until his pilot recovered
sufficiently to return to base.
On November 10 Warburton’s
Maryland was flying over the Italian
naval port of Taranto, in the ‘heel’ of
Italy, and was amazed at how many
capital ships were at anchor. The
following morning he returned to
the harbour, but the cameras weren’t
functioning. Warburton flew the
Maryland so low that his observer
claimed to be able to read the names
off the bows of the ships!
That evening the famous Taranto
raid took place, leaving the Italian fleet
in tatters. Warburton was back on
the 20th for a post-strike assessment.
Typically, he went in close again;
returning to Luqa with a radio aerial
wire from an Italian warship wrapped
around the Maryland’s tailwheel.
In the tense and crowded Maltese
skies, Warburton was the victim
of ‘friendly fire’. His Maryland,
AR735, was attacked erroneously by a
Hurricane while returning to Luqa on
February 13, 1942. The Martin was
written off while crash landing, but all
on board were unharmed.
The work of 431 Flight was such
that it was re-formed as 69 Squadron
on October 1, 1941. By that time the
Marylands were being supplanted
by Bristol Beaufighters, Hawker
Hurricanes and Supermarine
Spitfire IVs.
Warburton, by then a flight
lieutenant, was awarded a DFC
on February 11, 1941, the first
of an impressive array of medals.
The citation read: “This officer has
carried out numerous long-distance
reconnaissance flights and has taken
part in night air combats. In October
1940 he destroyed an aircraft [the
Z.506] and again, in December,