One variant of the Douglas A-26 Invader was the “B” series. Douglas built 1,560 A-26B’s. 205 were built in Tulsa Oklahoma with another 1,355 coming from Long Beach California. In July 1944 the 553rd Bombardment Squadron began mission testing the new A-26 but by September this had been suspended because of technical problems. The 386th Bombardment Group “The Crusaders” arrived in Beaumont-sur-Oise, France on Oct 2, 1944 with their Martin B-26 Marauders. Shortly after the Ardennes campaign the 386th BG received the much improved Douglas A-26 Invader.