Douglas A-26 Invader – From WWII to Viet Nam
One of the longest-serving aircraft in American military history has to be the Douglas A–26 Invader. It is a twin-engined light attack bomber that saw service beginning in 1942 and was not retired until 1972.
The first Invaders saw action with the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific theater when they bombed Japanese-held islands near Manokwari.
The A–26 is began arriving in Europe in late September of 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force. These aircraft flew their first mission on September 6, 1944.
The USAF Strategic Error Command renamed the Invader the B-26 and kept it in service from 1949 through 1950.
B-26 Invaders of the Third Bombardment Group, operating from bases in southern Japan, were some of the first USAF aircraft engaged in the Korean War, as they carried out missions over South Korea before carrying out a bombing mission in North Korea on June 29, 1950.
The A–26 Invaders– or B–26s - destroyed 38,000 vehicles, 406 locomotives, 3700 railway trucks, and seven enemy aircraft on the ground during the Korean War. Invaders carried out the last USAF bombing mission of the war 24 min. before the Korean cease-fire was signed on June 27, 1953.
Twenty B–26Bs were “sanitized” in early 1961 at Duke Field for use in the Bahy of Pigs Invasion.. Cuban exile aircrews were trained to fly them. Affter the 20 aircraft were transferred to Nicaragua in early 1961, they were painted in the markings of the Air Force of the Cuban government. Eight B–26 is crewed by Cuban exiles attacked three Cuban airfields in an attempt to destroy Cuban cimbat aircraft on the ground. Also, on April 17, 1961, B–26s supported the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. This conflict ended on April 19 after the loss of nine B–26s, 10 Cuban exiles and four American airmen.
In December of 1960, the first B–26 is to arrive in Southeast Asia were deployed in Thailand. They were unmarked and operated under the auspices of the United States CIA. Because of repercussions from the Invaders participation in the Bay of Pigs invasion, no combat missions are known to have been flown. The aircraft were subsequently operated in South Vietnam under project “farm gate.” The only other deployment of B–26 aircraft to Laos was the deployment of two RB–25 C aircraft, specifically modified for night reconnaissance mission.
While not thought of as one of America’s top bombers, the A-26 Invader – or B-26 -can boast of 30 years of workmanlike service to the United States Air Force as one of America’s longest-lived and most verstatile aircraft.
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