ted to show the direction of the enemy. A simpler alternative consisted of straw or reeds laid out in an arrow shape and set on fire. In most cases, however, the Viet Cong broke off the attack as soon as the air support arrived.
Invariably the tactic was to drop some napalm first. This gave the pilot a better ground reference and rockets, bombs and guns could then be used as required. Working at night, under flares and using suction gyros, with poorly lit cockpits and either bad weather or light reflecting off water filled rice paddies, was guaranteed to give the pilot a severe case of vertigo, and only extensive training made such missions possible. But they were still seen as the most rewarding missions, since they challenged the skill of the crews and also because the results were immediately obvious. The provision for a navigator in the B 26 was a decided advantage at night. The antiquated cockpit lighting system of the Invader often made it necessary for the navigator to use a flashlight, however, in order to find the armament switches. The obsolete instrumentation also provided some additional hazards, as a report observed: 'The navigator assists at night by giving the pilot a friendly tap on the shoulder when approaching minimum altitudes.'
'Ops Duty officer tonight,' Roy Dalton wrote in his diary for the night of 4 5 November 1962. 'Things quiet until about 2015. One C 47 and B 26 were scrambled to the Delta...Got them off OK. Then at 2300 scrambled another 26. Bennett and Tully took this one. First 26 got back about 2400. At 0130 got word that the flareship had lost contact with the 26 and saw fire on the ground. Called Lt Col Doyle [the Farm Gate commander] and scrambled another 47 and 26. At sun up JOC [Joint Operations Center] sent two VNAF AD 6s and we sent another 47 to act as radio relay. Had been up for 24 hours so went to tent to sleep. Doyle went to area in L 28. Got up about 0900 and heard that one of the ADs was also down and that the 26 had been located. Went to the line about noon. The AD pilot had been killed and also Bennett, Tully and the VNAF on board. Bennett was my room mate. In a four man hut Charlie and I have lost two room mates. Doyle had a meeting about 2000. They, of course will never know exactly what happened. Shot down or just flat flew into the ground. That's easy at night on napalm runs. The VC had gotten to the A/C and taken everything available. The bodies were recovered.'
This was the third USAF strike aircraft lost in Vietnam, the previous ones being two T 28s shot down in August and October. In addition, a B 26 was damaged when the undercarriage collapsed during a landing in July 1962, and another Invader lost an engine to ground fire on 13 November. Several other aircraft also received superficial damage from small arms fire.
The serviceability of the B 26 initially left a few things to be desired. During the second half of 1962, only an average of 54.5 per cent of the Invaders were serviceable at any given time. This was by far the lowest figure for any contemporary USAF aircraft in Vietnam. In comparison, the T 28s managed an average of 80.3 per cent serviceability.
In providing information for this chapter, Roy Dalton commented: 'I was surprised when I reread the diary to note the difficulties we had with the aircraft and armament systems. Keep in mind that these were aircraft that had probably been used in WW II and certainly in Korea. They were old and had had little modification...However, every man associated with the operation was dedicated to make it work. Therefore we had few qualms about flying aircraft that might not be 100%. Had we not done so, operating under the conditions with which we were faced, we would not have been effective.' The below list details the malfunctions encountered by him during a three month period in 1962:
16 Aug Six bombs stuck in bomb bay
20 Aug Bombs in bomb bay failed to release
22 Aug Could get only 50" manifold pressure on no. 1 engine
No.2 engine backfired if throttle was moved rapidly
Gear handle came up only when manual detent butto