Douglas A-24 Banshee

The Douglas A-24 Banshee was the US Army Air Forces version of the Navy's SBD Dauntless dive bomber. Built by Douglas Aircraft, it was essentially a land-based SBD with the tail arrester hook removed and a pneumatic tailwheel fitted. The Army adopted dive bombing tactics after observing their effectiveness in Europe, and the A-24 first saw action in the Pacific during the defense of the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea in 1942.

There the lightly armed, relatively slow aircraft proved vulnerable to Japanese fighters, and it was soon relegated to training, target-towing, and second-line duties. About 950 were built across the A-24, A-24A, and A-24B series. While its combat career was brief, the type shared the proven Dauntless design that the Navy used to devastating effect at Midway.