The revolutionary design of the B-26, with its seemingly impossibly short and dangerous wingspan initially gained it a reputation as a 'widow maker'. However, improvements to the design and the development of effective combat tactics enabled these units to make the B-26 a very effective and safe combat aircraft which went on to play a major role in the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. Packed with first-hand accounts and rare previously unpublished photographs, this book examines how hastily trained crews proved the B-26 to be a highly reliable, effective medium bomber, establishing the Marauder as one of the truly great aircraft of World War II.