The Ninth Air Force had transferred to England in October 1943 and assumed the role of providing tactical air support for the Allied invasion of Europe. Flak-Bait and the 322nd became a part of the Ninth Air Force and began to strike tactical targets such as bridges, railroad yards and coastal artillery emplacements.

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Flak-Bait continued to live both a charmed and jinxed life as D-Day approached. Aircraft and crew reached their 100th mission on June 1, 1944. They flew two missions on June 6 in support of the invasion of Normandy. Farrell and all his crew survived their tour despite many close calls and returned to the United States in July 1944.

Lieutenant Graydon K. Eubank of San Antonio, Texas, then took command of Flak-Bait for a short time, but Lieutenant Henry Bozarth of Shreveport, La., soon took the left seat and remained there. As the Allied armies advanced into France, the 449th and Flak-Bait transferred to an airfield at Beauvais-Tille, France.

The veteran aircraft continued to live up to its reputation despite the crew change. Flak-Bait flew missions supporting the British forces slugging it out with German armor at Caen, in addition to the Americans fighting their way toward St. L — the battle that would prove vital to the Allied breakout from Normandy's hedgerow country.

With the Germans in headlong retreat, Flak-Bait aided Lt. Gen. George Patton's Third Army as it stormed across France in August and September. From October to December, the group once again bombed bridges, road junctions and ordnance depots in the assault on the Siegfried Line.

On December 16, 1944, the Germans struck back, sending 600,000 men into the Ardennes in an effort to capture Antwerp and choke off the Allies' supply conduit. The Battle of the Bulge, as it became known, raged until January 28, 1945. Flak-Bait played a role in that battle by attacking road and rail bridges used by the Germans during their attack and withdrawal. On its 180th mission, Flak-Bait took 700 hits from flak fragments. McDonal Darnell Jr., Bozarth's radio operator, remembered, 'Everybody was afraid of the damn thing, but she always got back for us.'

Advancing to an airfield at Le Culot, Belgium, on March 30, 1945, Flak-Bait completed its 200th mission in style — it led the entire 322nd Bomb Group to Magdeburg, Germany, and back on April 17, 1945. When Germany surrendered on May 8, Flak-Bait had survived 207 missions — more than any other American bomber in World War II. During those harrowing 725 hours of combat time it had returned twice on one engine, survived an engine fire, had its electrical system knocked out twice and lost its hydraulic system once.

No longer needed in Europe, Flak-Bait returned to the United States on December 7, 1946. Because of the aircraft's unique history, the U.S. Army Air Forces transferred the B-26 to museum status on December 21, 1946.

Today Flak-Bait's nose section is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., a fitting tribute to a much-maligned bomber that played a critical role in winning the war in Europe.

This article was written by David F. Crosby and originally published in the March 2006 issue of Aviation History magazine. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today!

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