Douglas A-26 and B-26 Invader
Overview
This book is a great addition to any Invader enthusiast's Library. This book is thorough and thoughtful and covers the Invader from its inception up through the last American use in Vietnam. It briefly covers some uses by foreign powers, civil aviation, and test bed projects. It does not dive as deeply into any one area as some other books, but instead covers the basics and highlights of most areas of use. As with any book, there are some errors which may hinder researchers, I have outlined those below.
Versions & Editions
I am only aware of one edition of this book, published in 2002 by Crowood Press. It comes in hardback and is 200 pages with some full color photos. The cover usually appears online with a purple top section, as shown below, but the physical book has a blue top.
Corrections
I will be going through the book in order by page. Many of the corrections are with the photo captions, and I will try to point these out specifically.
For ease of use, I have used the same section headers that the book uses.
Development & Production
Pg 29 - Bottom Photo - "Production got under way at Long Beach in the fall of 1943, though only seven aircraft were actually delivered that year. By mid-1944, however, the assembly line output had increased significantly. This view in August 1944 shows early A-26Bs being built on the line alongside Douglas-built B-17s. The early-style canopy hatch was not replaced on the Long Beach line until October 1944."
This is more of a clarification than an outright error. The Oct 1944 date was when the Gen 2 flip-up style replaced the Gen-1 flip up style. Many people don't realize that there were actually 3 variants of the canopy, so some readers assume that this date is the introduction of the Clamshell canopy, which is incorrect.
Pg 34 - Table - This book gives a total production count of 2,526 Invaders being built. However, Boeing[1] lists 2,503 Invaders built as part of their own historical snapshot. There is a discrepancy of 23 planes here. Going by USAF serial numbers, there are 2,487, although the book says that only 2,452 were delivered. It is known that Douglas built more planes than the Air Force accepted into Inventory, many of which were sold off to the civil market or scrapped. It is currently unclear whether or not Douglas' count of 2,503 is correct, or the books count of 2,526 is correct. I am currently going through all of the IARC cards in an attempt to reconcile this from primary sources.
Pg 38 - Photo - "To satisfy the requirements of the Fifth Air Force in the Pacific. the last production A-26Bs were delivered without lower turrets. replaced instead with additional 125gal (473Itr) fuel tanks....These aircraft could mass fourteen .50 calibre guns for strafing attacks and carried another two in turrets...."
The Pacific Invaders were not just the last built, they were different versions of the regular Invaders beginning with Production Block 51. The text also says that the plane carried two more guns in turrets, but the plane carried both guns in a single dorsal turret, the ventral turret had been deleted and a fuel tank installed in its place.
Pg 39 - Top Photo - "This view shows an interim step taken to improve cockpit visibility problems. The framing above the pilot has been removed and replaced by a piece of curved Plexiglas. However, the heavily-framed hatch remains in place. Beginning with fuselage number 84. these interim canopies were added to the assembly line."
This is not right. This is the Generation 2 canopy style. The Heavily Framed windows are Generation 1 Canopies and only the top section lifts up. In this photo you can clearly see that the navigator window has a curved section with 2 narrow bands and side window is also attached as one piece. This navigator window is an entirely different style from the earlier versions and provided much greater visibility.
Pg 41 - Table - "A-26B-50-DL - 109 - as A-26B-45-DL except internal wing guns added, eight-gun nose standard, provisions for under-wing rockets"
This is not correct. Photographic evidence shows that no Block 50 plane was fitted with an 8-gun nose. All of them wore 6-guns, a fact which is unknowingly pointed out in the text caption on Page 89 (Top Photo). All of the 319th Bomb Group planes were Block 50 models, and all of them wore 6-gun noses. The earliest photographic record of an 8-gun nose is serial number 44-34371, which is halfway through Block 55.
There are also several additional errors about when canopy revisions were introduced, all of which were deployed during the middle of a production block run, all of them in the preceding block from where it is indicated on the table.
Pg 49 - Table - "B-26J - Post 1962 designation of Navy JD-1".
The post-1962 designation of the JD-1 was the UB-26J. The Navy's JD-1D became the DB-26J, the Navy's JD-1X became the XB-26J, and the JD-1DX became the DXB-26J.
Description in Detail
Pg 60 - Caption - "This excerpt from an A-26 pilot's manual depicts the various installations possible with the all-purpose nose. Only three installations were used operationally: the bombardier nose, the eight-gun nose and the six-gun nose."
Technically only 3 of these noses shown here were used operationally, however, there was a 4th arrangement that was used in Korea that is not pictured here.
Pg 61 - Top Photo - "This view shows the crawlspace between the right side of the forward cockpit and the bombardier's position on the A-26C. The canvas cover on the right side of the compartment covers the pair of .50 calibre guns installed. Some A-26Cs had dual controls; for these aircraft the rudder pedals and control yoke could be removed to allow access to the nose. Bombardiers were not supposed to ride in the nose for take-off or landings
due to the unpredictable nose gear of the Invader."
It is true that Navigators were generally not permitted to ride in the nose during take-off and landing. And it is true that the secondary control yoke and pedals could be removed, but these could not be removed during flight as the text implies. The two column variants were TB-26 models and were reserved specifically for flight training and evaluations when in the 2-yoke mode and no one utilized the bombardier's nose during these training flights.
Pg 63 - Bottom Photo - "There was much variation in nose armament on the early A-26Bs. This version depicts a 37mm cannon installed on the left side of the nose, probably paired with four .50 calibre guns on the left side. The camouflage paint suggests this was one of first few production Invaders delivered at long Beach and probably retained for installation variations."
Although the caption surmises that this this one is a 37mm and .50 caliber variant, in truth it is a 37mm and 75mm variant. We know this by two reasons. 1st, the 2x .50s would be protruding past the end of the nose and would be visible in the photo, but they are not there. More importantly, there is a second photo from this set which shows the plane from the nose.
Pg 65 - Top Photo - "...Neither the 75mm nor the 37mm cannon were installed for combat A-26s."
This is really more of a clarification. The text makes it sound like the 75mm cannon were only installed on a test plane or two. However, all B-Model Blocks 1 & 5 were manufactured with the 75mm cannon installed. 35 planes in total left the factory with the 75mm nose as standard equipment, and these noses were not swappable. It was decided later that these planes would not be used in combat, but they could have been. It would be more accurate to say: "None of the installed 75mm cannons were used in combat."
The A-26 in World War II
Pg 75 - "The introduction of the Douglas A-26 to combat operations was not successful."
This is debatable. Much of the text on this page outlines the Pacific Theater evaluation in particular. Of that, most of the complaints of the crews of the 5th were about tactics employed and incompatibility with those tactics. The page mentions that the 3rd Bomb Group did not want the 75mm cannon was of no interest to the unit, but no 75mm cannons were sent with the planes. All four of the test planes were outfitted with 6x .50 caliber machine guns in the nose. There is also a mention that the Invader was unsuitable for attacks against Japanese shipping, but records from the 8th Bomb Squadron show that one of the test invaders did successfully hit and sink a Japanese "Sugar Charlie" cargo ship. The records from the 8th and the 13th tell of a test environment that did not have many targets available. So, from an objective standpoint - the targets that the Invader was presented with, it attacked and destroyed. That seems like a measure of success. The fact that the planes were not well-received by the crews is a separate, more subjective issue.
Pg 76 - "Twelve A-26Bs and six A-26Cs left the USA in late July and early August for assignment to the Ninth Air Force for a European combat demonstration."
This is not entirely accurate. The first planes were assigned to the 8th AF on 2 Aug 1945 and arrived 13 Aug 1945, no planes were assigned or sent in July. Also, the original mission planning did call for 12x B-models and 6x C-models, but data from the inventory cards shows that 13x B-Models and 3x C-models were actually sent. This is likely due to a shortage of C-models being available at the time.
Pg 76 - INSET - "The First A-26s Arrive in England"
The majority of the story related from Lt. Col. Hankey as recounted here has subsequently been disproven. See a detailed breakdown of this account on the Project Squadron page.
Pg 78 - "The general conclusion by the 386th Group's leaders was that the A-26 was not much of an improvement over the B-26. But in reviewing some of the comments it would appear that many group personnel assumed that the A-26 had been assigned as a replacement for the B-26 and not just for a combat demonstration. The withdrawal of the A-26 to the depots suggested that the aeroplane was found unsuitable for combat."
The general confusion by the staff and crew of the 386th seems to be genuine and accurate, however, the rest of this is not correct. The Project Squadron planes were not withdrawn to the depot. The Project Squadron planes were transferred and attached to the 416th Bomb Group to begin training the pilots of that unit on how to fly the Invader in preparation for their conversion. If the planes were unsuitable for combat, this would not have happened so quickly, but in truth, the 416th began receiving A-26s into their inventory by September 1945.
Pg 78 - "One senses, though, that the aeroplane was not as well received at the squadron level as was indicated by these reports."
There is no evidence to support this. The 668th Bomb Squadron monthly summary for October 1944 says this about the A-26: "On the first day of October, ground and air crews began indoctrination and training in the A-26 Invader. A Mobile Training Unit gave technical instruction, while several newly assigned A-26 pilots began checking our men out on the airplane. Airmen and maintenance crews both waxed enthusiastic over the new ship. Pilots were especially pleased with its single-engine performance. The only complaint registered was the fact that for close formation flying, the A-26 was inferior to the Havoc, since the engine nacelles of the Invader were so located as to cut down the pilot's visibility. All agreed, however, that the advantages of the new airplane far outweighed this one disadvantage."
Further reports by other units echo the sentiment that they were generally excited to have the new plane.
Pg 78 - "The transition to the A-26 in Europe was typically accomplished within a particular group while active combat operations continued. Once a group was slated to make the change, pilots were sent through a quick ground school and then given an introduction to the aircraft that usually consisted of a few take-offs and landings. The experience of the 386th BG in February 1945 was probably similar to that of others. The group, by then operating their B-26s from an airfield in France, was expected to continue combat missions while switching to the A-26. When missions were not being flown, ground crews were working hard to run acceptance checks on the A-26s as they arrived from the Ninth Air Force depots in England. Meanwhile, A-26s were making circuits in the traffic pattern with a check pilot and new crews. Pilots would wait on the field's perimeter track for their turn. After an aircraft landed, it would taxi to drop off one pilot and pick up another, and the process would continue. Once the group had the machines and crews checked, the first combat mission would be scheduled with the A-26."
The hustle and bustle of transition training is well visualized here, and it was conducted during combat operations. However, the pilots received far more training than this excerpt implies. The passage makes it seem like they basically threw the air crews into the fire with very little training, however, this is not the case. The crews received training on the plane that lasted, on average, about a month. The 668th Bomb Squadron's November 1944 monthly report states: "Intensive training continued on the A-26." Note that this training began on 1 Oct. Similar accounts were given by the members of the 3rd Bomb Group and the 319th Bomb Group. The "pilot checks" that are discussed in the passage are "check rides", which can be thought of as the airplane's version of a driver's test. The pilot must demonstrate for the examiner a safe and proficient operating procedure for the aircraft on a certain number of functions, including takeoff, formation flying, landing, and certain emergency procedures.
The 669th Bomb Squadron's entry for Oct 1944 echoes the same thing: "When our Squadron was assigned the planes on the 30th, a slight break in the weather and dawn-to-dusk flying enabled us to convert in the record time of 5 days. The Group was completely converted by the 5th of November - after 35 days of training." Assuming that Dawn-to-dusk is approximately 12 hours, then the pilots would be receiving between 50-60 hours of transitional training on the A-26 Invader.
Pg 83 - Top Photo - "Striking nose art as carried on Maggie's Drawers, an A-26B assigned to the 416th BG."
Maggie's Drawers was serial number 41-39360.
Pg 87 - Photo - "Although belonging to the 84th BS of the 47th BG. this A-26B carries the emblem of the 111th TRS on its nose."
This is incorrect. The plane's emblem is that of the 84th Bomb Squadron - a devil carrying a bomb on his shoulder. The 111th TRS insignia was a star inside of a circle with a playing card in the middle. Additionally, the 47th BG was located in Italy, and the 111th TRS was based in France and flew photo recon versions of the Mustang fighter, they never had any A-26s assigned to their unit and this plane's records also show that it was never assigned to the 111th TRS.
Pg 89 - Bottom Photo - "Severely damaged A-26C, possible at Great Dunmow in England. The story behind this machine is not known, but it was undoubtedly scrapped shortly afterwards."
This plane is a 409th Bomb Group plane based at A-55/Melun, France. It was damaged during an attack by a lone German night fighter in Dec 1944. I have not yet processed the 409th BG records, so I do not know the exact ID of this plane, but I am skeptical that it was scrapped. I have seen planes with far worse damage than this be repaired and returned to service.
Pg 90 - Photo - "Short Stuff. an unidentified A-26C in the Pacific or India near the end of the war."
"Short Stuff" has been identified as a 319th BG plane based at Okinawa, although the specific serial number of this plane is not yet known.
Pg 91 - Photo - "An early post-war view of parked Invaders, possibly pathfinders modified by Douglas as the war was ending. These aircraft are equipped with SHORAN units (note the antenna in place of the dorsal turret and radar units in the forward bomb bay. The first aircraft is s/n 44-35958. One of the aircraft in the second line bears the inscription 'Join the Regular Army'."
All of these planes are SHOARN equipped units, as the caption states. The SHORAN planes were all Pathfinders, and the first SHORAN Pathfinder Invaders were being tested in late 1944 in Europe.
Pg 93 - Photo - "Early in the post-war period, this view shows the sixth production A-26B, s/n 41-39105, in storage, most likely at Patterson Field, Ohio. The first few production aircraft featured hand-built nose sections with provision for the installation of a 75mm cannon. Note the under-wing provisions for external loads and that the wing flaps have been removed. Most of the early models were salvaged during the war, but this survived as a TB-26B and was transferred to the French L'Armee de L'Air in January 1960."
Most of the early models were not salvaged during the war. 2 were scraped following an accident, but all of the rest survived until at least 1946, with several in service until 1950.
Color Plate 1 - Bottom Photo - "Line-up of A-26Bs assigned to a training unit at Florence Field, South Carolina. in early 1945. Most of the training on the A-26 was conducted at Florence Field or Lake Charles. Louisiana."
While Florence and Lake Charles were prominent Invader training bases, it is inaccurate to say that "most of the training" happened here. The training base at Marianna, FL was also equally as large as either of the other two and saw a considerable number of pilots trained there. A smaller training base at Columbia AAF, SC also served to train pilots. Other smaller training bases included Moody AAF, GA, and Kellogg AAF, MI.
Color Plate 2 - Top Photo - "This OnMark Marksman was eventually purchased by the Garrett Corp. and modified to accept test engines in a nose mount. Based at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Arizona. N256H (sin 41-39221) was used by Garrett and. later. Allied Signal. from the 1970s until the early 1990s. After retirement. it was donated to a local school district for US!! as an instructional aid."
This is mostly correct, except that it wasn't used as an instructional aid. It was given to South Mountain High School in Phoenix and was used as a Gate Guard. This plane is local to me, and I visited it in 2021 and the plane still sits on the lawn today. It has been recently repainted, and the exterior is in good shape, but the interior is a wreck. The plane is fenced off and no one can get close to it.
Color Plate 3 - 2nd Photo - "An A-26C of the 386th Bomb Group at St. Trond, Belgium, in the spring of 1945. The cowlings were painted with insignia blue paint, the only colour available in sufficient amount, to reduce the
glare coming off the natural metal finish."
This is a commonly stated misconception. ALL unfinished aluminum Invaders left the factory with an Olive Drab Paint on the inboard sides of the nacelle and the top part of the nose to reduce glare. This is a standard part of the Douglas Finishing Instructions at the factory and photos of planes at the factory show this finish already applied, thus, there would be no need to add anti-glare coating in the field. Additionally, if paint is scarce, there's no need to add anti-glare coating on surfaces that do not provide glare to the pilot (such as the outboard cowlings). The blue paint seems to have been applied only to one squadron of the 386th to distinguish it visually from the others. Even if the paint was applied to the whole group, the reason was not for anti-glare.
Korean War Service
Pg 113 - Top Photo - "This 730th BS B-26B, s/n 44-34698 and carrying the name Miss Used. sits on the ramp at Miho in April 1951 after narrowly escaping disaster. A 20mm cannon shell hit the nose beneath the weapons bay and passed through the aircraft without exploding. At this point it shows sixty missions to its credit. The aircraft was lost on the night of 8 August 1952. with the last report from the crew indicating that they were bailing out."
Pg 119 - Top Photo - "An aircraft named Chadwick was a long tradition within the 3rd BG dating back to the early days of World War II. In early 1952 the B-26B flown by the group commander It Col Robert Fortney was The Seventh Chadwick. This was later written off after a low-level aerobatic demonstration."
These two pages are related. The 7th Chadwick was not written off after a low-level demonstration. 44-34698, following damage sustained while in the 730th BS, was transferred to the repair depot at Miho AB. From there, it was repaired and assigned to the 3rd Bomb Group. It became the 7th Chadwick. (You can watch my video about all of the Chadwick aircraft here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8I5ooo7vY). The 7th Chadwick was shot down on 8 Aug 1952 with all 3 crewmembers reported MIA.
A-26 and B-26 in Foreign Service
Pg 124 - "By April 1945 a substantial part of the order was awaiting delivery, but the RAF decided that with the war ending there was no need for the aircraft. The block of 138 A-26C were instead diverted to the US Navy as JD-ls."
For context, the book uses the word "block" several times when talking about the RAF Invaders, which initially led me to believe that the RAF planes were one contiguous set of serial numbers. This is not the case. From the IARC cards I can see that the planes designated for the RAF and the Navy were not all sequential numbers. All of the planes that I have spot-checked show entries of "Tulsa Mod", which is where they were modified for RAF specifications. Then they were sent to "5ATSC Storage" to await delivery to the RAF. From there they went to the Navy. The planes include serial numbers like; 44-35462, 44-35470, 44-354878, 44-35486, 44-35494, etc. The pattern appears to be every 8th plane, but I have not yet determined where the sequence begins and ends.
The CIA, the USAF and South-East Asia: Encore
Pgs 136 & 137 - "The Blue Goose and Steel Tiger"
This story relayed within the inset text box seems to be accurate and correct, but it is curious that no mention is given of "Blue Goose"'s sister ship, N67623 (Ex-USAF 44-35698). There were two identical ships built out for the CIA's use.
Pg 140 - Photo - "B-26K s/n 64-17677 at Clark AB in November 1965. The B-26Ks were redesignated as A-26As in early 1966 when the 603rd Air Commando Squadron deployed to Thailand for covert operations over Laos. This aircraft
was transferred to South Vietnam in November 1969 as an instructional airframe and may still exist."
The B-26Ks were designated as A-26A in the Spring of 1966, most of them being changed in May. The entire 603rd Special Operations Squadron was not deployed to Thailand, only 8 planes sent over as "Detachment One" in an operation dubbed "Big Eagle". Those planes arrived in Jun 1966. The aircraft pictured, 64-17677, was blown up on the ground in March 1975 to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Pg 143 - Photo - "A number of B-26s remained in service into the early 1960s, including this one, sIn 44-34665, shown at Tyndall AFB, Florida, in November 1961. Structural failures caused all B-26s, except the new B-26Ks, to be
withdrawn from service in early 1964."
This is inaccurate. The Aerospace Vehicle Report for 1967 shows that a dozen Invaders were still active until 31 May, when all but 1 of them were retried. The last Invader, 44-34610, remained in service until 1970.
Pg 144 - Top photo - "Through the late 1960s and early 1970s there remained a number of 8-26s stored at Davis-Monthan AF8, Arizona. Most eventually went to a similar state and were scrapped. This A-26A, 64-17678, was officially reclaimed in February 1973."
This is inaccurate. 64-17678 was authorized to be reclaimed in Feb 1973, but the plane itself was sold to Allied Aircraft on 9 Apr 1976. Allied had it on the lot for a while, but by 1978 all of the A-26As purchased by Allied were scrapped.
Pg 146 - "In December 1966 Detachment One was thus reformed as the 609th ACS and assigned to the new 56th Air Commando Wing in Thailand. The new wing had several squadrons equipped with a variety of T-28s, A-Is, C-123s
and U-l0s, as well as the A-26As. The Invaders remained based at NKP."
Yes, there were additional planes sent to NKP in December 1966. However, Detachment 1 was not reformed into the 609th. In January 1967, the 5 surviving planes of Detachment 1, along with the new arrivals, were formally assigned to the 606th Air Commando Squadron. The 609th Air Commando Squadron was not formed until August 1967.
The Civil A-26 and B-26
Pg 162 - "The Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, based at Ithica, New York, operated a pair of B-26s modified for aerodynamics research. Both aircraft, N9146I-1 (s/n 44-34165) and N9147H (44-34653), were equipped as variable stability test beds in 1951 and 1963, respectively, and used for airborne research on control force and stability tests."
Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory was called Calspan for short. They operated 3 airframes, not two. The two described here were brightly colored red planes with white markings. The 3rd plane was black with gold accents. It was civil registry N237Y (ex-USAF 41-39516). The third plane operated out of Buffalo, NY in 1986.
Production Lists
Pg 174 - "18500/18502" , "18504/18506" & "18508/18510"
There's two small errors in this table. At the line for 18500 it lists 3 aircraft; 18500, 18501, and 18502. However, the corresponding serial number column lists 4 planes; 43-22352, 43-22353, 43-22354, & 43-22355. Two lines down, the Douglas Serial numbers show 18504-18506, 3 aircraft. 43-22355 should be the first in this series. 355, 356, 357. The 43-22358 listed here is erroneous. It should be the first plane under serial number 18508, and you will notice that it is indeed listed again. The table corrects itself after that point, no further errors exist.