"Flak Bait" was a Martin B26 Marauder airplane that genuinely lived up to its nickname. Throughout its career, the aircraft survived a total of 207 missions, including five where it served as a decoy to draw enemy flak fire. That's nearly twice as many total missions as most other plans flew during the war. It also notably took part in the Battle of the Bulge and DDay at Normandy. On aggregate, Flak Bait holds the United States Air Forces record for the highest number of bombing missions conducted and survived during World War II.

But the most impressive thing about the twinengine bomber is the amount of flak it absorbed while still somehow staying in the sky.

As it conducted flights across Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the aircraft was shot over 1,000 times. Twice, the plane managed to return to base with only one engine. Although it had almost every part of its airframe replaced at one point or another, Flak Bait soared back to the skies for mission after mission...



Dark Docs brings you cinematic short military history documentaries featuring the greatest battles and most heroic stories of modern warfare, covering World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and special forces operations in between.

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