Douglas A-24 Banshee 41-15780 United States Army Air Corps

These are 1/72 scale decals for Douglas A-24 Banshee 41-15780, assigned to the 304th Bombardment Squadron, 84th Bombardment Group, United States Army Air Corps.

The A-24 Banshee was the Army Air Corps' version of the famous Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber — the same aircraft that would sink four Japanese fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway — modified for land-based operations by removing the arrestor hook and making other detail changes. The 84th Bombardment Group was an early USAAC dive bombing unit, training with the A-24 in the period leading up to and immediately following America's entry into World War II.

The A-24's combat record in Army service was a difficult one — early encounters with Japanese fighters in the Philippines and Java in early 1942 revealed that the Banshee, like its Navy counterpart, was highly vulnerable without fighter escort. Nevertheless, the A-24 served in training and secondary roles throughout the war, and the 84th BG's early operations with the type represent an important and often overlooked chapter in the development of USAAC dive bombing doctrine.

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