![]() ![]() Referring to themselves as "Blue Rock Clay Pigeons," the 91st attacked the enemy harbor and airbase at Bali and damaged or sunk numerous ships around Java. After the Japanese shot down two A-24s and damaged three so badly they could no longer fly, the 91st received orders to evacuate Java in early March, ending a brief but valiant effort. Without fighter protection, the 91st flew heroically against Japan's best aircraft, but their A-24s had worn-out engines, no armor plating, and no self sealing fuel tanks. 17, 1942, but accidents and need of repairs left only seven aircraft ready for combat. Departing for Java with just 15 repaired A-24s, they arrived on Feb. The pilots in Australia separated into the 16th, 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons and prepared to defend Java, but only the 91st had aircraft ready to fly there. Put into the 1st Provisional Air Corps Regiment, these men fought the Japanese on the ground, and the survivors were subjected to the Bataan Death March. However, by this time the Japanese had almost conquered the Philippines, where the 27th's enlisted men remained trapped. Australian mechanics machined the necessary solenoids or fixed firing handles for the forward guns, strengthened the rear gun mounts, and replaced worn out tires with truck tires. ![]() In addition, they lacked the trigger motors and solenoids need to fire the forward guns, and their rear gun mounts broke easily. ![]() Used heavily during the Louisiana maneuvers, many had been crated for shipment with worn out tires in and mud still caked on their wheels. The 27th Bombardment Group's A-24s arrived in Brisbane, Australia, in poor condition. Most of the 27th's pilots were flown back to Australia to fly the A-24s back to the Philippines, where the enlisted mechanics waited to service them. However, the Japanese attacked before the airplanes arrived, and the A-24s were diverted to Australia for assembly. First assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group (Light) at Hunter Field, Ga., A-24s participated in the Louisiana maneuvers during September 1941.Īs war with Japan seemed imminent in the fall of 1941, the Army rushed the personnel of the 27th to the Philippine Islands to bolster American defenses, and 52 of their crated A-24s followed on another ship. Designated the A-24, it came without the tail hook used for carrier landings, and a pneumatic line replaced the solid tail wheel on some of them. Army to acquire its own dive bombers, and in 1941 the Army Air Corps ordered the Douglas Dauntless, which was already in production for the U.S. German success with dive bombers in Poland and France convinced the U.S. ![]()
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