The Army Chooses a Dive Bomber German success with dive bombers
in Poland and France convinced the U.S. 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. Navy.
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. First assigned to the 27th Bombardment
Group (Light) at Hunter Field, Ga., A-24s participated in the
Louisiana maneuvers during September 1941. Shipped to the
Southwest Pacific As 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. However, the Japanese
attacked before the airplanes arrived, and the A-24s were
diverted to Australia for assembly. Most of the 27th's pilots
were flown back to Australia to fly the A-24s back to the
Philippines, where the enlisted mechan