Anyone know how she got her name ?
In North Lancashire where I grew up it was known as a ” Pint of mixed”
“Mild & Bitter” — Which in the UK is a drink consisting of a mixture of mild and bitter beers.
She was the first Allied bomber in the European Theater of Operations to complete 100 operational missions. This was accomplished by Mild and Bitter on an afternoon raid on a Nazi airfield at Evreux/Fauville, southwest of Rouen, France, on 9 May 1944. She was a B-26B-25, Serial Number 41-31819, of the 450th Squadron in the 322nd Bomb Group (M) of the 9th Air Force and had flown her first mission on 23 July 1943. She did all this on her original engines, amassing a total of 449 hours and 30 minutes on them, 310 hours and 40 minutes of that in combat! During this time she never aborted due to mechanical failure, and not one of her many crewmen was a casualty. She was taken off operations after her 100th mission and flown back to the States to conduct War Bond selling tours.
Below taken air to air on her 50th mission
And below some close up’s of her nose art after the personnel had signed her before retuning to the US.
Regards Duggy
By: Duggy - 1st November 2015 at 12:29
Thank you Steve, these little pieces of info help preserve history.
Regards Duggy
By: Mike meteor - 31st October 2015 at 22:27
Forgive the slight drift, but thanks for the nostalgic box art. I seem to recall that it was, by the standards of it’s day, a very nice kit.
By: RAFRochford - 31st October 2015 at 21:43
Oh, and here’s a Youtube clip of Mild and Bitter…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVo6G05UgNU
Regards;
Steve
PS: Apparently she was named by her Texan crew chief, William Stuart, after the B-26 had flown about forty missions. She was simply named after the popular pub drink.
By: RAFRochford - 31st October 2015 at 21:37
Here you go..
One of my favourite Roy Cross box art examples.
Regards;
Steve
By: Jim C - 31st October 2015 at 21:36
Funnily enough, this week I was visiting the converted railway carriage museum at Rayne Station in Essex which had a photo of ‘Mild and Bitter’. It was based at Andrewsfield, just a couple of miles away, and apparently was named in The Swan pub in Rayne.
By: TonyT - 31st October 2015 at 21:08
Can’t tell you anything about the aircraft, but I do remember building the Airfix Marauder back in the 1970’s and it was decalled as this example
Me too.
By: RAFRochford - 31st October 2015 at 18:28
I’m pretty certain that we had some veterans that had involvement with Mild and Bitter when we hosted a 322nd BG reunion at the Rebel Air Museum in 1992. I do still have a fair amount of notes so will delve into the archive and see if I can find you an answer. Having said that, the Essex pubs I frequented, including a few ex 322nd and 323rd haunts, the drink was called a Mild and Bitter.
Regards;
Steve
By: Mike meteor - 31st October 2015 at 18:16
Can’t tell you anything about the aircraft, but I do remember building the Airfix Marauder back in the 1970’s and it was decalled as this example.
By: Wyvernfan - 31st October 2015 at 16:22
What an amazing cockpit section that would make. Don’t suppose it survived did it?
Rob
Sign In
October 31, 2015 at 3:55 pm