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Douglas A/B-26 Invader Operational history II - Operators |
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HOME | PREFACE | Development / Spec's | Production list | Operational history | Pilots notes | Known airframes | Executive | Private military | Combat shots | Air tankers | Cockpits/Cabins | Crews | Multimedia | Drgs/Illust's | Cgi's | Various | References | Comments | Contact me | Credits | About Me
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Operators
Biafra acquired and used (at least) two provisionally armed A-26s during
Nigerian Civil War. Former French Air Force (of the CEV test centre) B-26R, USAAF serial 41-39531, put up for sale, 11 July
1966. Registered to Pan Eurasian Trading Company, Luxembourg, 2 August 1966 (N64Y?) as "an investment", never operated; "resold
to a Mr Ernes A. Koenig - a German-American residing in Luxembourg. It seems very likely that Mr Koenig acted as an agent
for Eastern Nigeria, and one source claims that the real buyer was a 'French company, which paid good money for the aircraft'.
It has been claimed that the Biafrans (who had purchasing agents in France) ended up paying as much as $320,000 for it, which
certainly made the aircraft a good investment for somebody. Although there is no direct evidence for contacts between Mr Koenig
and the Eastern Nigerians at this stage, it should be mentioned that he was later also involved in the sale of ex-Luftwaffe
C-47s to Biafra." In late October, Koenig had the Invader placed on the US register as
N12756, the airframe stored at Courtrai-Wevelgelhem in Belgium. Taken out of storage and prepped for delivery to Africa in
early June 1967. Ferried to Lisbon by Belgian pilot in mid-June. Departed Lisbon 26 June, flown by former French CEV pilot
and ex-Polish squadron co-pilot, arriving at Biafran capital Enugu on 29 June 1967. Known as "The Shark" with a crudely-applied
shark's mouth and a single nose-mounted machine gun, it was abandoned at Enugu on 4 October 1967 in a damaged condition. A second former French Invader, RB-26P, USAAF 44-34312, registered
F-BMJR, one of five sold to aerial survey company Société Carta by the Armée de l'Air in 1966, and last seen at Creil near
Paris in June 1967, was flown to Biafra in August 1967 by two American pilots. "It was sold to Biafra through the French arms
dealer Pierre Laureys, who had also been involved in the sale of the first Invader." (Some reports claim that an Invader carrying
the bogus registration N1888T was delivered to Biafra. There might be possibly some connection with this RB-26P.) It was painted in a similar camouflage scheme to the first B-26, but
with no shark's mouth. It commenced operations using locally produced ordinance until damaged in accident 2 December 1967
and grounded. Abandoned at Port Harcourt in damaged condition due to a lack of spares. Captured by Nigerian forces 18 May
1968, it was blown up or damaged sufficiently by BAF commandos on 19 May 1968 to prevent operation. Neither Invader received a BAF serial.Hagedorn, Dan and Hellström, Leif (1994). "Foreign Invaders - The
Douglas Invader in foreign military and US clandestine service. Earl Shilton, Leicester, England:
Midland Publishing Limited, 75, ISBN 1-85780-013-3.. ...............................................................................
The Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB) was the largest Invader operator next
to the United States and France. However, none of the FAB's Invaders ever fired a shot or dropped a bomb during actual combat.
Brazil declared war on the Axis powers on August 22, 1942. A Brazilian
Expeditionary Force participated in combat in the Italian campaign in 1944-45. As an American ally in the war in Europe against
Germany and Italy, Brazil had received a lot of US arms and equipment under Lend-Lease. In addition, Brazil had gotten lots
of arms supplies from the USA in subsequent postwar American Republics Projects. In the early 1950s, the bomber squadrons of the FAB were equipped with
a mix of Douglas A-20K Havocs, Lockeed PV-1 Venturas and PV-2 Harpoons, Boeing B-17G Fortresses, plus a large number of North
American B-25 Mitchells. As the last of the A-20s, Venturas, and Harpoons began to reach the end of their service lives, the
FAB decided that it needed an interim attack aircraft that would fill in the gap until state-of-the-art jet attack aircraft
could be acquired. The B-26 Invader seemed to be an ideal choice. A batch of B-26Bs and B-26Cs was offered to Brazil by the United States
in 1956. Selected aircraft were taken out of storage at Davis-Monthan AFB and were overhauled by the Fairchild facilities
at St. Augustine, Florida and Hagerstown, Maryland. The first examples were delivered to Brazil in September of 1957, the
last arriving in February of 1958. 14 B-26Cs and 14 B-26Bs were initially delivered, and were assigned
FAB serials between 5145 and 5172. The B-26s were issued to the 5o Grupo de Aviacao at Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, replacing
that unit's B-25 Mitchells. The group had two operating units, the 1o/5o Gav and the 2o/5o Gav. The group's initial mission
was primarily training. This training role lasted until 1963, when 1o/5o Gav centralized all the B-26s, becoming a dedicated
attack unit, while 2o/5o re-equipped with Beech H18S trainers. 1o/5o moved to Recife in 1971, and operated there until it
was disbanded in 1973. 1o Esquadrao do 10o Grupo de Aviacao (1o/10o Gav) flew nine B-26s from 1971 onward. In 1966, wing spar cracks had started to show up in some of the FAB's
Invaders. In an attempt to prolong their service lives, in 1968, several FAB Invaders were flown back to Tucson, Arizona for
an upgrading by the Hamilton Aircraft Company. Most of the changes involved IRAN (Inspect and Repair as Necessary) of avionics,
communications equipment, and weapons systems. 15 aircraft were refurbished. In addition, three new aircraft (FAB serials
5173/5175) were acquired by Hamilton from surplus stocks as attrition replacements. Unfortunately, one of the FAB B-26 was
so badly corroded that it had to be struck off in Arizona and replaced by another. In addition, a civilian B-26 was impounded by the Brazilian government
in June of 1966 due to its involvement in illegal smuggling activities. It sat derelict at Brasilia until 1970, when the FAB
finally took it on charge and used it as a transport aircraft under the FAB serial number of 5176. In spite of the Hamilton rebuild program, wing spar cracks began to
reappear in the wings of many FAB B-26s in 1972, which led to the decision to retire the B-26 from FAB service rather than
to attempt to keep them in the air for much longer. The withdrawal took place in stages, beginning in 1973 and lasting until
December of 1975. The aircraft were replaced by EMBRAER-built Macchi MB-326GB light attack aircraft. Most were scrapped, but
a couple of FAB B-26s have been preserved in Brazilian museums, and one was sold back to the USA in 1984.
...............................................................................
As a signatory to the postwar US-inspired Mutual Defense Assistance
Pact (MDAP), Chile became elegible for American military aid. As part of this military aid package, B-26 Invaders were acquired
to replace the Fuerza Aerea del Chile's (FACh) fleet of aging B-25 Mitchells. The first ten Invaders were handed over to Chile in November of 1954.
They had all been drawn from surplus stocks stored at McClellan AFB. Although they all bore USAF serial numbers from A-26B
production blocks, they were in fact transparent-nosed B-26Cs, since they had all were converted from B-26B to B-26C standards
before delivery. They bore the FACh serials 812 to 821 and were assigned to Grupo 8 based at Antofagasta. These planes were
especially welcome in Chile because the B-25s were by this time very much "tired iron" and were becoming severe maintenance
and spares problems. Twelve more B-26Cs plus a pair of B-26Bs were delivered to Chile between
September 1956 and March 1957, followed by nine B-26Cs and three B-26Bs in March of 1958, bringing the total received by Chile
to 36. By 1962, attrition had reduced the FACh Invader fleet to 22 B-26Cs
and 2 B-26Bs. By this time, the usual problems with wing spar failures had begun to manifest themselves, and several FACh
Invaders went through a wing spar upgrading and refurbishment process at Albrook AFB in the US Panama Canal Zone. Chile was supplied with two more B-26Bs in 1963, followed by four more
in 1965. This brought the total number of Invaders delivered to Chile to 40. Perhaps three more were supplied as replacements
after this date, although this cannot be confirmed. During the 1960s, some of the FACh B-26Cs were locally converted to
a semi-hard six and sometimes eight-gun nose configuration and locally designated B-26D. In 1965, the FACh's B-26s flew some limited border patrol activities
during a period of increased tension with neighboring Argentina over border disputes. Fortunately, this crisis passed without
any military action actually taking place. Fatigue and attrition gradually took their toll, and only 16 B-26s
were still operational by the middle of 1968. Strength was down to only ten by the early 1970s. Grupo 8 may have flown some
sorties during the September 11, 1973 military coup against President Salvador Allende, but there is no evidence that they
actually delivered any ordnance. The last operational FACh B-26 was scrapped in 1979. However, several
Invaders survive in Chile as gate guards or in museums. ................................................................................
The South American nation of Colombia has for a long time maintined
a rivalry with its neighbor Venezuela, with border disputes, trade frictions, and territorial differences causing relations
to be on occasion tense and acrimonious. In 1951, Colombia had signed a Military Assistance Agreement with the USA, making
the country elegible for receipt of military aid. That same year, alarmed at the Venezuelan acquisition of surplus British
and American warplanes, the government of Colombia requested that the US provide nine B-26s to re-equip the bomber force of
the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana. However, the US government was reluctant to contribute to the development of yet another arms
race in Latin America, and the Colombian request for B-26s was politely turned down. However, in 1953 there was a change in policy and MDAP officials decided
to equip all participating Latin American air forces with B-26s. However, deliveries of B-26s to Colombia still represented
a special challenge, since the US government did not want to alarm Venezuela. Consequently it was agreed rather artificially
that the mission of the FAC B-26 bomber force would be exclusively anti-submarine warfare and maritime reconnaissance rather
than ground attack or bombing. Under this rather thin pretext, the delivery of B-26s to Colombia was approved. The first B-26s were delivered to the FAC at its Villavicencio base
in late 1954. The final aircraft were delivered in late November of 1957, bringing the total to nineteen. They were serialed
FAC 2501 through 2519. The B-26s were initially delivered with both turrets in place, but
there was no provision for any training of aerial gunners, and most aircraft later had their ventral turrets removed. Colombia was racked with chronic internal strife throughout most of
the 1940s and 1950s. Beginning in 1948, there was a state of undeclared civil war known as la violencia. La violencia spread
throughout the country, especially in the Andes and the llanos (plains), sparing only the southernmost portion of Nari? and
parts of the Caribbean coastal area. By mid-1952 as much as one-third of of national territory was estimated to have been
controlled by various forces opposed to the government. It was an extremely complex phenomenon, characterized by both partisan
political rivalry and sheer rural banditry. La violencia claimed over 200,000 lives during the next eighteen years, with the
bloodiest period occurring between 1948 and 1958. FAC B-26s were heavily involved in counterinsurgency operations between
1955 and 1958, and several aircraft were lost during combat. Many aging FAC B-26s developed the usual wing spar cracks and
went through the wing spar repair program at Albrook AFB in the Canal Zone in 1964-65. By this time, attrition had reduced
the fleet to only eight. In 1968, the FAC decided to deactivate its bomber force in favor of
transports, and most FAC B-26s stood down in 1968. A couple were kept airworthy until 1972 as courier aircraft. A couple of
FAC B-26s are preserved in museums. ................................................................................
On June 30, 1960, the Congo became independent of Belgium, officially
being renamed the Republic of the Congo. Since the Belgians had done very little to prepare the country for independence,
utter chaos immediately broke out. Within a month after independence, tribal warfare had broken out, the army had mutinied,
and the province of Katanga had declared its independence under the leadership of Moise Tshombe. It was followed in August
by the secession of Kasai Province. The government of the Congo appealed to the United Nations for help,
and some peacekeeping troops soon began to arrive in the country. Unfortunately, both the United States and the Soviet Union
made the Congo situation an extension of the Cold War, and a series of elaborate plottings and maneuverings took place. The crisis was further complicated by a personal struggle between President
Joseph Kasavubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. President Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba as premier on September 5, and Lumumba
sought to block this action through parliamentary action. Because of the impasse, Lumumba's chief of staff Joseph-Desire Mobutu
staged a military coup on September 14. On his own authority (but with United States backing), Mobutu installed an interim
government which replaced the parliament for six months in 1960-61. Patrice Lumumba was captured and murdered by Katangan
secessionists in January of 1961 The Katangese succession was finally defeated by January 1963, and
Moise Tshombe went into exile. However, it was soon replaced by another even more serious rebellion which first began in the
Kwilu province in January of 1964 but quickly spread elsewhere. The rebellion was initially sparked by Pierre Mulele, formerly
Minister of Education and Fine Arts. Mulele had traveled widely in Eastern Europe, and had received training in guerilla warfare
in China. The central figure behind the eastern rebellion was Gaston Soumialot, who, in January 1964, was sent to Burundi
by the Conseil National de Liberation (CNL), a left-wing political movement based in the former French Congo, with the mission
of organizing the rebellion. Soumialot was able to recruit thousands of dedicated supporters in eastern Kivu, along the border
with Burundi. The rebellion was fueled by a general popular dissatisfaction with the brutality, corruption, and incompetence
of the central Congolese government. Many of the rebels clung to ancient animist religious patterns, and many of them generally
believed that "magic water" dispensed by witch doctors could make a warrior immune to government bullets, transforming the
warrior into a "Simba" (Swahili for Lion). Consequently, the Congolese rebellion came to be known under the name of Simba.
The Simba rebellion quickly gained ground. In north Katanga, Baudoinville
(later Virungu, now Moba) fell on July 19; Kindu, in Maniema, was taken on July 24; and in early August the Soumialot forces,
now calling themselves the National Liberation Army (Arm? Nationale de Lib?ation--ANL), captured the Lumumbist stronghold
of Stanleyville. Equipped with armaments left by the routed Congolese National Army units, the Simbas pushed on north and
west of Stanleyville, eventually penetrating as far west as Lisala on the Congo River. By September 5, with the proclamation
of a revolutionary government in Stanleyville, almost half of the Congo and seven local capitals out of twenty-one were in
rebel hands. However, as the rebel movement spread, discipline became more difficult to maintain, and acts of violence and
terror increased. Thousands of Congolese were massacred, including government officials, political leaders of opposition parties,
provincial and local police, school teachers, and others believed to have been Westernized. In its rivalry with the Soviet Union, the United States had committed
itself to the support of the central Congolese government, and the CIA began to organize a small air force to support the
Congolese ground forces in their war against the Simba rebellion. At first, a few T-6 trainers were obtained, armed with gun
pods and rocket launchers. Since the Congolese government had no trained pilots to fly these planes, they were flown by ex-Cuban
exiles who had been with the Bay of Pigs operation of 1961. The T-6s were soon replaced by more modern and more capable T-28s.
Despite the CIA assistance to the central government, the Simba rebellion
rapidly spread further and further. In a move of desperation, in June of 1964 the Congolese government recalled Moise Tshombe
from exile and made him Prime Minister (replacing Adoula) in an attempt to provide some sort of a unifying force. The US government
agreed to help Tshombe raise a force of mercenaries to fight against the Simba rebellion, and decided to expand its air strike
unit. The B-26 was thought to be an ideal aircraft for this sort of operation,
but by this time virtually all of the B-26Bs and Cs had been grounded due to fatigue problems. In addition, only one B-26K
conversion had been completed by On Mark. As an interim measure, four Invaders previously having served in Vietnam with Farm
Gate but now languishing in the boneyards at Clark Field were diverted to the CIA for Congo service. The first three B-26Ks were diverted to the CIA, being delivered by
On Mark to Florida on August 13, 1964 and left the next day for Africa. The Cuban exile pilots began to train on them immediately.
The first combat mission was flown on August 21. The refurbished B-26Bs from Clark were sent shortly thereafter. However,
it seems that only two of them actually ever got to the Congo, and both of these planes were deemed to be unsafe to fly by
their Cuban crews. They stayed on the ground most of the time and were used as sources of spare parts for the B-26Ks. In order to recruit and pay ground crews to service the B-26Ks, the
CIA set up a front organization known as Anstalt Wigmo, based in Lichtenstein. The Wigmo organization also performed some
major modifications on the B-26Ks, including the strengthing of the wing spars and the installation of extra-large carburetor
air intakes over the engine nacelles to improve performance in the hot climate of the Congo. The B-26K aircraft (along with
the T-28s) were officially part of the Congolese air force, but the Congolese had little or no influence on their use. All
of the B-26Ks that went to the Congo remained officially on USAF charge, and their record cards listed them as having been
in storage at Hill AFB all the time that they were in the Congo. The missions were scheduled by CIA case officers under the guidance
of the American embassy. During operational missions, no internal weapons load was carried by the B-26Ks, and a long-range
fuel tank was permanently installed in the bomb bay. The B-26Ks were quite effective in their attacks, imposing heavy casualties
among the Simba rebels. The Simbas had no antiaircraft guns or aircraft to oppose these attacks, and the effectiveness of
the B-26Ks and the T-28s was aided by the general incompetence and indiscipline of the Simba forces As he set about the task of quashing the rebellions, Tshombe could
rely on the Katangan gendarmes, recalled from exile in Angola, and a few hundred battlehardened white mercenaries. The former
were immediately integrated into the Congolese National Army, with the latter providing the much-needed leadership for the
conduct of military operations against rebel forces. Supported by air strikes, these units spearheaded attacks against rebel
strongholds. As the white mercenaries took the offensive and, with their technical superiority and discipline, began to recapture
rebel strongholds, the fighting grew progressively more brutal, and numerous atrocities were committed by all of those involved.
Mercenary elements played a decisive role in retaking Lisala on September 15, Boende on October 24, and Kindu on November
6. By then, the revolutionary government in Stanleyville had decided to hold local European residents hostage, in the hope
of using them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the central authorities. Their action resulted in the joint Belgian-American
parachute rescue operation (code-named Dragon Rouge, or Red Dragon) on Stanleyville, on November 24, scheduled to coincide
with the arrival of Congolese National Army and mercenary units in the vicinity of the provincial capital. The capture of
Stanleyville dealt a devastating blow to the eastern rebellion. The two key rebel leaders, Gbenye and Soumialot, went into
exile in Cairo. Demoralization quickly set in among the Simbas, and by the end of the year, the eastern rebellion was reduced
to isolated pockets of resistance. Two more B-26Ks were delivered to the Congo in January of 1965. By
the end of 1965, the Simba rebellion was essentially over, although some mopping-up actions continued for over a year afterward.
The CIA withdrew all of its B-26Ks in late 1966 and early 1967. All of them were later to serve in Southeast Asia after being
refitted at McClellan AFB. The B-26Bs that had made it to the Congo were scrapped at Leopoldville (by now renamed Kinshasa).
There were no B-26s left in the Congo by the time of the mercenary revolt of July 5, 1967. Despite his success in quelling the Simba revolt, Moise Tshombe did
not last very long as prime minister. He got involved in a power struggle with President Joseph Kasavubu, which lead to a
constitutional deadlock. Joseph-Desire Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko), a military officer who had seized power earlier in
the 1960s and who had exericized control from the background, seized power once again in a coup on November 25, 1965, and
became supreme head of state. The new regime received considerable initial approval from other African states and from the
United States He has dominated the life of the nation ever since. In October of 1971, the country was renamed the Republic of Zaire.
.................................................................................
Since March of 1952, the Carribean island of Cuba had been under the
control of Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar. Batista's influence over Cuba dated back to 1933. In an uprising known as the "Revolt
of the Sergeants," on September 4, 1933 Batista and a group of followers took over the Cuban government. The coup overthrew
the liberal government of Gerardo Machado, and marked the beginning of the army's influence as an organized force in the running
of the government. On January 14, 1934, Batista forced provisional president Ram? Grau San Mart? to resign, and he appointed
Carlos Mendieta to the presidency. Within five days, the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government. For the next decade Batista ran the country from the background, pulling
the strings of a succession of puppet presidents. On March 10, 1952, almost twenty years after the Revolt of the Sergeants,
Batista took over the government once more, this time against elected Cuban president Carlos Pr? Socorras. The coup took place
three months before the upcoming elections that he was sure to lose. Batista suspended the constitution and dissolved the
congress. He held a sham election in 1954, with him as the only candidate, and was elected president of Cuba. Once president, Batista entered into relationships with mobsters such
as Meyer Lansky, which opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana, and he reorganized the Cuban state so that he and
his political appointees could harvest the nation's riches. Under Batista, Cuba became extremely profitable for American business
and organized crime. Havana became the "Latin Las Vegas," a playground of choice for wealthy gamblers, and Batista's family
and cronies regularly skimmed profits from the casinos. In exchange for bribes, Batista granted lucrative contracts to dozens
of US corporations for massive construction projects. Opposition was swiftly and violently crushed. In 1952, Cuba signed a military pact with the USA, which involved an
extensive program of American assistance to the Cuban military. Under US Mutual Defense Assistance Program Grant Aid deliveries,
the Fuerza Aerea del Ejercito de Cuba (FAEC) received 16 transparent-nosed B-26Cs in 1956, followed by two replacement aircraft
in 1957. Two pilots came to the USA in 1956 to received B-26 advanced training so that they could act as instructors. The
B-26s were stationed at Campo Columbia, located near Havana. They were serialed in the range between 901 to 935, with even
numbers being skipped, perhaps to give people the impression that the FAEC had more Invaders than it really did. The first B-26 accident took place on March 19, 1957, when Lt. Sardi?s
lost an engine on takeoff and crashed. US-sponsored Mobile Training Teams were scheduled to come to Cuba and assist in training.
However, revolts and insurrections inside the Cuban military repeatedly interrupted these plans. Nevertheless, the Mission
did manage to complete a training program in August of 1957 for 23 pilots. On September 5, 1957, the FAEC took part in the
suppression of a Cuban Navy revolt at Cayo Loco Naval Station in Cienfuegos, located on the southern coast of the island.
Only two of the B-26s actually took part in the action, one flown by Capt Zuniga, the other by Capt Pinera. Capt Zuniga had
one of his engines put out of action by ground fire. One of the B-26 pilots and some of the fighter pilots refused to take
part in the attacks and were subsequently imprisoned. Fidel Castro Ruz, a tall, bearded attorney in his thirties who had
been in exile in Mexico following a failed attack on the Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago on July 26, 1953, landed in Oriente
Province in Cuba on Christmas Day 1956 with a band of 81 fellow revolutionaries. Although most of them were quickly captured
or killed, Castro and a few others evaded Batista's soldiers and set up headquarters in the jungled hills of the Sierra Maestra
range. By 1958 his force had grown to about 2,000 guerrillas, for the most part young and middle-class. Castro's brother Raul,
and Ernesto (Ch· Guevara, an Argentine physician, were his top lieutenants. Businessmen and landowners who opposed the Batista
regime gave financial support to the rebels. The United States, meanwhile, cut off arms shipments to Batista's army. Growing
criticism of the US role in supporting the corrupt and repressive Batista regime led to a suspension of further arms deliveries
to Cuba in November of 1957. The FAEC had lost two of its B-26s in accidents prior to the beginning
of the Castro insurgency. Actual FAEC B-26 operations against the rebels began in early 1958, with most of the attacks being
individual sorties carried out against targets of opportunity. Operational utilization was inhibited by the almost total lack
of cooperation between Cuban army units on the ground and the air force, which made intelligence on the location of rebel
positions and units so old as to be essentially useless by the time an air attack mission could be staged. The B-26 crews
were unable to stop the rebel supply lines along the northern coast. The Cuban military was used more as a personal force
loyal to President Batista rather than to the country as a whole, and Batista's political cronies often replaced professional
officers in both the Army and the FAEC. Corruption and ineptitude spread rapidly through the ranks. As the situation got worse,
the FAEC could not respond effectively because of the lack of spares and the shortage of ordnance. Contrary to some reports,
the B-26 unit was never actually grounded and only one pilot defected to Miami--Lt. Crespo who flew his B-26 to Miami in December
of 1958. Following the Castro victory in January of 1959, the surviving FAEC
aircraft were organized into the Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Air Force, or FAR). This included a motley collection
of F-47Ds, Hawker Sea Furies, Lockheed T-33As, C-54s, C-46s, and C-47s, plus the surviving B-26s. Most of the former FAEC
aircrews which had flown these planes had already fled the country, fearing reprisals from the victorious Castro forces. One
of the first acts of the new government was to arrest and jail the B-26 unit's pilots who had remained in Cuba. They were
placed on trial, but were found not guilty. Annoyed at their acquittal, the government ordered them retried and this time
they were found guilty and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to fill in the gap, a few former FAEC transport pilots
as well as some civilian airline pilots were hastily recruited to operate these planes, plus a few opportunists with more
enthusiasm than useful experience. Usually only three or four B-26s could be made airworthy at any one time. One FAR B-26
crashed at Camaguey in 1959 when an inexperienced pilot lost control on takeoff. It soon became obvious to Washington that the Cuban revolution was
taking a definitely Communist turn, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began a series of clandestine operations designed
to overthrow Castro's regime before it could consolidate its power. These culminated in the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion
of April 1961, carried out by a brigade of Cuban expatriates and supported by an air force made up of aircraft acquired in
secret out of USAF surplus stocks. At the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961, the FAR could
muster only six airworthy B-26s. Five of them were based at San Antonio de los Banos airfield south of Havana. The other one
was based at Santiago de Cuba, along with several grounded examples. Castro had the foresight very early in his rule to disperse
his air force, more because he did not trust his air crews than for any strategic reason. During the initial rebel air strike
on April 15, 1961, the B-26 based at Santiago was destroyed, and two FAR B-26s were disabled at San Antonio de los Banos.
On April 17, a FAR B-26 attacked invasion support vessels and was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. On April 18, a FAR B-26
overflew some of Castro's own troops and was shot own by friendly fire. This last sortie was the last known instance of a
FAR B-26 being flown. There is a B-26 on display in an open-air museum at Playa Giron, painted
as FAR 933. However, it is likely that this aircraft is actually a war prize returned to Cuba from Angola, and painted to
commemorate the defeat of the Bay of Pigs invasion force.
...........................................................................................................
The Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic had since 1930 been
under the control of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, who ruled the country like a medieval fiefdom. He was so vain that he
actually had the capital of Santo Domingo named after himself. He maintained a highly effective secret police force that ruthlessly
eliminated any political opponents. He relied on the military for his primary support, rewarding them with generous pay and
perquisites. He controlled the officer corps through fear, patronage, and the frequent rotation of assignments. During the 1950s, the Fuerza Aerea Dominicana (Dominican Air Force)
of the Dominican Republic operated a large number of military aircraft. The Dominican Republic had, in fact, an air force
far larger than any true defense need would require. In 1958, the FAD requested permission from the US government to buy
12 B-26Bs. The US State Department was reluctant to fund the sale under the Military Assistance Sales program, but did agree
to permit the Dominican Republic to approach civilian brokers who were at that time buying up lots of surplus USAF and ANG
Invaders. In January 1959, Florida Aerocessories Inc of Miami, Florida applied for an export license to deliver 12 B-26B "demilitarized
trainer" aircraft to the FAD. The next month, the request was increased to 14 or 16 aircraft. However, by that time US-Dominican
relations had begun to deteriorate, and the State Department began to be suspicious about why the Dominican Republic needed
so many former bombers as "trainers", and the deal ultimately fell through. Undeterred, dictator Rafael Trujillo arranged for a deal with Manhattan
Industries, Inc for five Invaders. Denied an export license yet again, the broker quickly arranged for the sale of these same
aircraft to a Chilean aerial mapping firm. While supposedly being delivered to Chile, all five of the B-26s made "forced landings"
in the Dominican Republic and were interned there as "undocumented warplanes". Under this subterfuge, the five planes were
quickly added to the inventory of the FAD. The former USAF serial numbers of these Dominican Republic B-26s are
unknown, but all were solid-nosed B-26Bs. All had non-standard noses carrying a variety of 0.50-inch guns, depending on availability.
None had turrets, and they did not have provisions for rocket rails or wing guns. FAD serials were 3202 through 3206. In later years, the Trujillo government became increasingly isolated.
Trujillo had an intense personal hatred of the Venezuelan president Romulo Betancourt, and had even financed an abortive assassination
attempt against him. The backlash from the attempt on Betancourt's life was an Organization of American States (OAS) imposition
of economic sanctions and the severing of dipolomatic relations. The United States government had long tolerated Trujillo
as a bastion of staunch anti-Communism in the Caribbean, but public opinion in in the late 1950s in the US had begun to turn
against the dictatorship. By August of 1960, relations had turned sufficiently sour that the US embassy in Ciudad Trujillo
was downgraded to consular level. At about the same time, covert operations were initiated aimed at Trujillo's ouster. On
May 30, 1961, Trujillo was assassinated, supposedly by a CIA-sponsored plot. Utilization of the B-26 aircraft dropped dramatically following the
assassination of President Trujillo and the fall of his regime. By January of 1963, only four FAD Invaders still survived,
with three being operational and the fourth serving as a spares source. An additional B-26 was acquired from unknown sources
between 1963 and 1965. After a period of instability which lasted over a year, Juan Bosch
Gavino was elected as president on December 20, 1962. However, the Bosch government and it program of land reform aroused
opposition from conservative landholders and military officers. The Bosch government was overthrown by a military coup on
September 25, 1963. The coup installed a civilian junta headed initially by Emilio de los Santos and later by Donald Reid
Cabral. The junta was never able to convince a majority of the population that it was legitimate, and widespread dissatisfaction
with Reid and his government and lingering loyalties to the Bosch government produced a revolution in April of 1965. The revolution was spearheaded by former supporters of Bosch along
with some junior military officers. The reformists (known as Constitutionalists, a reference to their support of Bosch's 1963
constitution) seized the National Palace and installed Rafael Molina Urena as provisional president. Conservative military
forces, led by General Elias Wessin y Wessin struck back on April 25 and full civil war broke out. On April 28, United States forces intervened in the Dominican civil
war. President Lyndon Johnson had acted because he believed that the Constitutionalists were dominated by Communists. Nearly
20,000 US troops were landed to secure Santo Domingo. After a period of instability, new elections were held. In a fractious
campaign between Bosch and former Trujillo associate Joaquin Balaguer, Balaguer was elected president on July 1, 1966. Balaguer
remained president until 1978. The B-26s were inactive during the civil war of 1965. With restructuring
of the FAD in the mid- to late-1960s, the surviving Invaders were offered for sale beginning in 1967. However no takers were
found, and the FAD Invaders were eventually scrapped.
.........................................................................................................
Beginning in January of 1951, the French Armee de l'Air acquired Invaders
from the USA to fight in its colonial wars, first in Indochina and then later in Algeria. Next to the US Armed Forces, France
was the largest user of the Douglas Invader, operating at one time or another over 200 of these aircraft. In the 19th century, France established colonial domination over much
of Indochina. Politically, the territory of Vietnam was administered by French nationals, with the assistance of Vietnamese
locals at low-level, low-paying jobs. State monopolies on the production and sale of alcohol, opium, and salt were imposed.
Huge tracts of land in southern Vietnam were turned over to French settlers and their Vietnamese collaborators. The resulting
plantation system of agriculture transformed southern Vietnam into a rice exporting area. In September of 1940, Japanese forces occupied much of Indochina, but
allowed the French (France had surrendered to Germany in June of 1940 and the Vichy government in Paris was now a de-facto
ally of Germany) to continue their colonial administration of the area. A coalition of Communist and nationalist groups was
established in China to fight against Japanese occupation of Vietnam and IndoChina. The organization was officially known
as Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (League for the Independence of Vietnam), but usually known as Viet Minh. The leader of
the Viet Minh was Nguyen Tat Thanh, who was better known as Ho Chi Minh. During the war, the Viet Minh provided the only significant
organized resistance in Vietnam to the Japanese occupation. The Viet Minh worked with the OSS (Office of Strategic Services),
a US intelligence agency, in helping to recover downed American aircrews. In addition, the OSS helped the Viet Minh to build
up a small guerilla force. In March 1945, Japan ousted the Vichy French and assumed direct rule
over Vietnam. The Viet Minh duly stepped up their anti-Japanese activities. By the time Japan surrendered to the United States
in August 1945, the Viet Minh represented the strongest political force in Vietnam. After the departure of the Japanese, the
Viet Minh leader, Ho Chi Minh publically declared Vietnam independent on September 2, 1945. Ho attempted to negotiate the
end of colonial rule but without success. Assisted by the British and the Nationalist Chinese, the French began to return
to re-assume colonial control of Indochina. The French army shelled Haiphong harbor in November of 1946, and by December of
1946 open warfare was taking place between the French and the Viet Minh. On December 19, 1946, the War of Resistance against
the French forces burst out. The French seized control of several cities, and the resistance forces had to withdraw from those
key cities and conduct the guerrilla warfare against the French Expeditionary Army. The French Armee de l'Air was in a rather weak state at that time,
with the only combat aircraft available being a few Spitfires plus some transport aircraft that could be converted into makeshift
bombers in an emergency. These were supplemented by some Bell P-63 Kingcobras delivered in 1949. At first, the United States attempted to stay clear of the Indochina
war, even expressing some sympathy for the Viet Minh cause because their anticolonialist stance. Ho's 1945 declaration of
independence had, in fact, closely followed the format of America's 1776 Declaration of Independence. However, following the
Communist takeover of China in 1949, President Truman's attitude toward the Indochina war changed. On May 8, 1950, it was
anounced that the USA would provide aid to the French forces fighting in Indochina. Initially, the French were to supposed to get F-51D Mustangs, but the
outbreak of war in Korea forced the United States to substitute Grumman F6F Hellcats instead. However, what was really needed
was a force of piston-engined medium bombers. Despite the pressing needs of the Korean War, the US government decided that
it could spare a squadron of Invaders for use by the French in Indochina. In November of 1950, French crews began training on Invaders belonging
to USAF units stationed in France. The following month, they moved to Indo-China and were supplied with 17 B-26B and eight
B-26C Invaders drawn from USAF surplus stocks and refurbished in Japan before delivery to Indochina. The first combat sortie was flown on February 1, 1951. By October 1,
1951, the French Invaders had dropped 1767 tons of bombs and 218 napalm containers. One of the problems was that that many
of the B-26Bs had as many as 18 machine guns and consumed ammunition at a prodigious rate. By early 1954, the French air units
in Indochina were seriously overextended, and the war against the Viet Minh was nowhere close to being won. With the end of
the Korean War, the US government decided to supply additional aircraft to support the French effort in Indochina. This brought
the Armee de l'Air B-26 squadrons up to a strength of 25 aircraft each. These additional aircraft were not officially transferred
to the Armee de l'Air but remained on USAF charge. In addition, USAF mechanics were sent to Indochina to help maintain the
Invaders. During the battle for Dien Bien Phu, which lasted from March to May
of 1954, seven Invaders were lost in action. Four of them were shot down over the besieged garrison itself, with a fifth crashing
in Laos due to damage received over Dien Bien Phu. Dien Bien Phu fell to the Viet Minh on May 8, and 14,000 French troops
surrendered. The loss of Dien Bien Phu had a disastrous effect on French morale. Most of the air crews had to be grounded
after the end of the battle due to fatigue. The decision was made to negotiate a settlement with the Viet Minh. The Geneva
Accords were signed on July 21, 1954, followed by an armistice on August 1 which formally ended the war. France surrendered
all claims in Indochina and relinquished control in Vietnam north of the 17th parallel to a new Communist government headed
by Ho Chi Minh. The country was partitioned into two separate states of North and South Vietnam. According to the terms of
the Geneva Accords, Vietnam would hold national elections in 1956 to reunify the country, and the boundary at the 17th parallel
would vanish with the elections. During the fighting, a total of 113 B-26Bs, B-26Cs, and RB-26Cs had
been supplied to French forces in Indo-China, enough to equip three bomber groups (Groupe de Bombardement 1/19 *Gascogne*,
GB 1/25 *Tunisie* and GB 1/91 *Bourgogne*, plus one reconnaissance flight (Escadrille de Reconnaissance Photographique ERP.2/19
*Armagnac*). The B-26 units had flown 33,000 hours in 15,000 missions, delivering 18,500 tons of ordnance. During the Indochina
War, 25 Invaders were lost either in combat on in flying accidents. Armee de l'Air Invaders operating in Indochina were usually
in natural metal finish (sometimes with black nacelles) or in overall black. The Armee de l'Air did not issue new serial numbers
to the Invaders, and they continued to carry their USAF serials. They often also kept their USAF "buzz numbers" on the rear
fuselage, consisting of the letters "BC" followed by the last three digits of the serial. Before they left Indochina, the French B-26 units were disbanded and
their aircraft were returned to the USA. Not a single one of these aircraft was purchased by the Armee de l'Air for use in
France. In the early 1950s, a total of seven surplus Invaders was purchased
by the French government for use in various test and training programs. The first of these arrived in July of 1951. Seven
more were acquired in 1953. The North African nation of Algeria had been annexed by France in 1834.
Shortly thereafter, France began to colonize Algeria in earnest, and European settlers poured into the country. To encourage
settlement, the French confiscated or purchased lands at low prices from Muslim owners. Algeria became an overseas department
of France, controlled for all practical purposes by the European minority, the colons (colonists). All colons shared a passionate
belief in Alg?ie Fran?ise-a French Algeria. The Muslim population of Algeria remained a disadvantaged majority, subject to
many restrictions. By French law they could not hold public meetings, carry firearms, or leave their homes or villages without
permission. Legally, they were French subjects, but to become French citizens, with full rights, they had to renounce their
faith. Algerian nationalism began to surface immediately after the First World
War. There were some attempts to set up an Algerian national assembly, but these were scuttled by stubborn resistance to reform
on the part of the colons. After the Second World War, the Algerian Organic Statute (1947) set up Algeria's first parliamentary
assembly, with an equal number of European and Muslim delegates, but this satisfied neither natives nor colons and proved
ineffective. In March of 1954, a revolutionary committee known as the Front de Liberation
Nationale, or FLN was founded in Egypt. It had the goal of total independence for Algeria. In November of 1954, armed guerilla
action began with coordinated attacks on public buildings, military and police posts, roads, bridges, and communications installations.
The initial uprising failed, and the French Army quickly pushed the
rebels back. However, popular support for the FLN gradually grew. The uprising spread rapidly and soon forced the French to
send in more troops. A series of bloody reprisals and counter-reprisals followed. Indiscriminate murders and kidnappings of
Europeans and Muslims who did not actively support the FLN took place on a regular basis, and colon and French army units
raided Muslim villages and numerous massacres of civilians took place. It was decided that a couple of squadrons of B-26 Invaders were needed
for the Algerian war, pending the availability of Vantour jet bombers then under development in France. In July 1956, an initial
batch of 36 Invaders were allocated to MDAP project 6B541, followed by 12 more in August, and two more in September. The Invaders were drawn from surplus stocks and overhauled in the USA
before being ferried to France. The first Invader arrived at Oran in Algeria in August of 1956. Two bomber squadrons, Groupe
de Bombardement 1/91 Gascogne and GB 2/91 Guyenne were set up at Oran to receive them. The two bomber squadrons became operational
in early 1957. Most of the French B-26s retained their dorsal gun barbettes (which were fully armed), but only a few of the
planes had the ventral barbette in place (without guns). During the first year of combat in Algeria, the Invaders were used
for level bombing as well as for dive bombing and strafing. When dive bombing or strafing, they usually operated under the
direction of a forward air controller, which marked the target with white phosphorus. In addition, B-26s sometimes operated
patrols over "free fire" zones, which were areas from which all civilians had previously been evacuated and where anything
moving was assumed to be hostile. By early 1958, the French armed forces had largely obtained the upper
hand over the FLN. Collective punishment was meted out to entire villages suspected of harboring guerillas. Whole groups were
deported to refugee camps. An electrified fence was installed along the Tunisian and Moroccan borders to cut off the FLN supply
lines. However, despite their military successes the French were unable to achieve any sort of political settlement to the
war. The armed suppression of the Algerian insurrection was increasingly being criticized internationally as a "dirty colonialist
war", and France's NATO allies were worried its commitment of so many forces to an unpopular war. In May of 1958, irritated at what they saw as vacillation, the colons
and French army officers in Algeria conspired to overthrow the French government in Paris. The insurrection spread rapidly
and threatened to bring civil war to France. A Committee of Public Safety was set up, which demanded the return to power of
General Charles de Gaulle. The General was returned to power in June of 1958 to serve as premier, and the French National
Assembly gave him the power to rule by decree for six months and to supervise the drafting of an new constitution. The Fifth
Republic was approved by a referendum on September 28, 1958, and on December 21, 1958 General de Gaulle was elected as President.
The General has as one of his important goals the defeat of the FLN and the maintenance of a French Algeria. On July of 1959, the Armee de l'Air acquired an additional 26 Invaders
from the USA. These planes had originally been authorized for reclamation at the Chateauroux Air Depot in central France.
It is not clear whether the Invaders were provided under MAP. Since the war in Algeria was a politically-sensitive matter,
it is probable that this transfer was actually done "off the record", with the French being told simply to walk into Chateauroux
and help themselves to what ever they could find. One of the more interesting missions of the Invader during the Algerian
war was that of night fighter. In 1961, ECN.1/71 was equipped with eight Invaders that were specially modified as night fighters
to intercept aircraft that were attempting to supply FLN guerillas from bases in Tunisia. These aircraft were B-26Cs with
glass noses replaced by a British AI Mk. X radar taken from surplus Gloster Meteor NF.11s. They were armed with a twin 0.50-inch
machine gun package underneath each wing. In addition, there were two Matra type 122 rocket pods, each containing nineteen
SNEB air-to-air rockets. They were unofficially known as B-26N. However, by the time that the B-26Ns became operational, supply
aircraft coming in from the Tunisian side of the border were increasingly rare, and only a few interceptions were made. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, the French forces were generally
victorious in most of their battles with the FLN. President de Gaulle initially had the support and backing of the military,
since he had given orders for the French armed forces to pursue the Algerian campaign to full victory. However, by 1959 President
de Gaulle found himself looking at a seemingly endless conflict in Algeria that promised to consume a ever-increasing toll
in lives and treasure, and was becoming increasingly willing to negotiate with the FLN for the creation of a semi-independent
Algeria to bring the conflict to an end. He announced his intention to allow Algerians to choose between independence and
continued association with France. This made the military in Algeria extremely unhappy, and many officers
who had initially backed de Gaulle's return to power now turned bitterly against him. An unsuccessful revolt against de Gaulle
was staged in early 1960. Four generals carried out a coup in April of 1961 in Algeria and made plans to send a squadron of
paratroopers to seize Paris and depose President de Gaulle. However, the Air Force and Navy remained loyal to de Gaulle, and
all military operations by the B-26-equipped units were temporarily suspended. The coup collapsed within a few days, but some
of the rebellious officers set up the Organisation Armee Secrete (OAS) to continue the struggle for a French Algeria. The
OAS carried out a brutal campaign of terrorism against both the FLN and the French authorities in Algeria. The operations of the B-26 combat units in Algeria were essentially
halted by the military coup against President de Gaulle. A ceasefire was finally signed on March 18, 1962. The last operational
use of the Invader in Algeria was actually against remnants of the OAS, being a flyover of the OAS stronghold at Bab el Oued
in Algiers before it was stormed and taken by regular army units. Algeria voted overwhelmingly for independence in July of 1962, the
country officially being named the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria and the B-26-equipped units left for France
shortly thereafter. Most of the French colons had left Algeria by the end of 1962. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
