Since I was a small boy I have read (amongst other things) in great detail about the battle of Midway in WWII, and for no apparent reason this evening I started googling about the raid by four land based B-26’s that were among the first to attack the Japanese fleet on June 4th, 1942.

I first read about this many years ago in a book by Martin Caiden, who wrote in an enjoyable and dramatic fashion, rather like Peter Capstick. In my opinion all of Martin Caiden’s stories were great reads, even if slightly apocryphal. (Like the one about American pilot Captain Derek Dickinson fighting an air duel with Bruno Mussolini)

In any event, this particular raid has always intrigued me since then, and I have always thought it is one of the truly great untold stories of WWII. I have absolutely no doubt that reading about pilots such as these were what planted the seeds in my young mind that led me to learn to fly as an adult.

I don’t know why this tragic story of sacrifice has never received more historical attention or coverage. 7 entire aircrews were lost in one desperate mission, but for some reason, even in the current internet age you really have to hunt for details about it.

I can’t tell the whole story here, but essentially these guys slung torpedoes under a plane that was never designed for such purposes, and attacked from low level in coordination with 6 TBM Avengers and no escort. Only one Avenger and two of the Marauders survived, and the most unbelievable (but true) part of the story is that after releasing the torpedo, the pilot of the trailing B-26, 24 year old 1st Lt. Jim Muri could think of no better evasive maneuver than to fly right down the length of the flight deck of the Japanese Carrier.

This is a screen shot of a painting by artist Roy Grinnell depicting that unbelievable moment in history.

Despite the extremely severe damage they made it back to Midway, but none of the planes ever flew again.

This photo of the pilot and crew was taken some time later. One member of the crew is not present because he was still in the hospital at the time.

Look it up when you have the time. It’s a fantastic story of a true if not tragic gentleman’s adventure, and I have no idea why it came to me this evening, but the link below reports that Jim Muri died yesterday (Sunday the 3rd) at the age of 93.

Rest in Peace.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/battle-of-midway-hero-jim-muri-dies-at/article_bdecae62-e0d2-58aa-a719-e3d9f804476c.html