Vincennes Posted July 30, 2016 Share #1 Posted July 30, 2016 Recently I acquired 17 photos belonging to a soldier who was apparently a ground crew member for WW2 A-26's. I also got his draft registration and classification forms. His name was Clarence Sanders from Arizona. He enlisted on May 25, 1944. The aircraft in the photos all have checkerboard tails. Does anyone know what squadron these belonged to? Here are a couple of the photos. Notice that in the Flight Line photo there are 5 A-26's and a B-25 at the end of the line. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted July 31, 2016 Share #2 Posted July 31, 2016 Could be a stateside squadron or one of the following in the ETO: 9th AF 386th BG- 552, 553, 554, 555th BS 391st BG- 572, 573, 574, 575th BS 409th BG- 640, 641, 642, 643rd BS 410th BG- 644, 645, 646, 647th BS 416th BG- 668, 669, 670, 671st BS 12th AF 47th BG- 84, 85, 86, 97th BS PTO: 17th AF 319th BG- 437, 438, 439, 440th BS 10th AF 12th BG- 81, 82, 83rd BS Information from wikipedia.org and some reference materials. I will have to take a look at some of my Squadron/Signal A-26 Invader In Action books for images, etc. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted August 4, 2016 Share #3 Posted August 4, 2016 The best that I can come up with so far is the USAF post WWII 363rd TRW based at Shaw, AFB during the 1950s. Check out the following link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/363d_Intelligence,_Surveillance_and_Reconnaissance_Wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincennes Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share #4 Posted August 4, 2016 northcoastaero,Based on you lead I found the wiki page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/363d_Expeditionary_Operations_Group IT says: "The 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was reactivated on 29 July 1946 at Brooks Army Air Field, Texas. Equipped initially with two squadrons (161st & 162d Reconnaissance Squadron) flying Lockheed FP-80A Shooting Stars for daylight (161st RS) and Douglas FA-26C Invaders (162d RS) for night reconnaissance." It even shows a picture of an A-26 with a checkerboard tail. So I think this is the best fit. Since Sanders enlisted in May, 1944 he could have still been in the service in July, 1946. Thanks, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvaderHistoricalFoundatio Posted February 18, 2019 Share #5 Posted February 18, 2019 Northcoastaero is correct. The 363rd was the only unit to use checkerboard tails during WW2. Vincennes, I'm establishing a museum to the A-26 Invader. If you are willing to share your pictures, I would love to host them as part of the collection, giving proper credit of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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