May 17, 1943  AAF B-26 medium bombers in England became operational in the spring of 1943. Not having the long range of the B-17 and B-24, B-26s were used almost exclusively for missions to Holland, Belgium, and northwestern France where they bombed airfields, transportation, and lines of communication. Originally it was planned for B-26s to operate at minimum altitude but a mission against targets in Holland on May 17, resulted in a change of tactics. Eleven planes took off on the mission, one of which turned back. The remaining ten continued to their target and were shot down - not one returned to base. From that time, B-26s bombed from medium altitudes of 10,000' to 15,000' where they suffered relatively light losses from antiaircraft fire compared to heavy bombers.

With German fighter forces concentrating on the heavy bombers, AAF medium bombers seldom met appreciable aerial opposition. A B-26 dropping bombs on a German installation in France. The Museum's B-26 painted to represent the same aircraft in the above photo. Maj. Gen. Francis S. Brady, Commanding Officer of the B-26 unit which lost all ten planes on the May 17, 1943 mission, "Explaining" to Maj. Gen. Ira C. Eaker why none returned to England. They are looking at the same model of the target as the crews in the next photo. Lt. Col Stillman briefing the combat crews for an earlier B-26 mission flown May 14, 1943. They are studying a model of the target, the power plant at Ijmuiden, Holland.