ORIGIN: The original "Snooper" concept was the result of a project started in 1942 by Colonel Stuart Wright working with the Radiation Laboratory of the National Defense Research Council. The idea was to arm B-24 Liberators with special radar sighting equipment. Hap Arnold assigned 10 of them, in August 1943, to the South Pacific theater along with Colonel Wright. They became the 394th Squadron of the 5th Bomber Group, the "Bomber Barons", based at Carney Field, Guadalcanal. BEGINNINGS: Starting August 27, 1943 nearly nightly missions were flown primarily against the "Tokyo Express". This was a nightly procession of Japanese ships which sailed down the "Slot" attempting to reinforce and re-supply enemy garissons from Bougainville to Guadalcanal itself. These missions amounted to flying for up to 11 hours at 12 to 15 hundred feet all the time searching for enemy shipping throughout the area shipping lanes. On the night of September 28, 1943 five "Snoopers" attacked an 11 ship enemy convoy. The attack took place near Cape Alexander. An enemy destroyer was sunk and the rest of the convoy was forced to turn tail. While there was great success there were also problems. Since the "Snoopers" flew at night it meant they were not available to fly regular daylight missions which reduced the effective size of daylight missions. To alleviate these problems the "Snoopers" were reformed into a brand new squadron, the 868th. It was activated in January 1944 and operated independently within the 13th AAF. By this time they had already sunk 34,000 tons of enemy shipping.
	The "Munda Belle" a black painted member of the "Snoopers".
	EQUIPMENT: The planes flown by the 868th were often called SB-24s and sometimes LABs (Low Altitude Bomber). They were equipped with SRC-717-B search and navigation radar, AN/APQ-5 LABS bombing radar, SCR-729 IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) and an AN/ARN-1 radio altimeter. The ball turret contained the antenna for the SC-717-B radar.
	STATIONS: Munda-----------January 1 1944 Los Negros------March 20 1944 Noemfoor--------August 29 1944 Morotai---------March 22 1945 Leyte-----------July 3 1945 Okinawa---------July 29 1945
	HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS: Plane for plane the "Snoopers" were sinking and damaging more shipping at night than the heavies were during the day. During an early raid on Rabaul a "Snooper" is credited with disabling the heavy cruiser Haguro, the flagship of the forces stationed there. From January through April 1944, when they moved to Los Negroes, they bagged another 12,000 tons of Japanese shipping sunk, 1,800 probably sunk, and 11,000 damaged. They participated in the destruction of Truk in April 1944. In August 1944 they conducted nightly 1100 mile two-plane attacks from Los Negroes to the Palaus. The following is quoted from "From Fiji Through The Philippines With The Thirteenth Air Force" by Lt. Col. Benjamin E. Lippincott, Newsfoto Publishing Co. (1948): "Ten B-24 "Snoopers" of the 868th Bomb Squadron struck Soerabaja, Java, on 7 May, flying a total distance of 2660 statute miles, in 17 hours and 40 minutes, one of the longest flights ever made by B-24 aircraft in combat formation. Seven "Snoopers" shattered their own record soon after by flying a strike against Batavia, Java, 3 June 1945; they flew in formation from Palawan to Batavia and return to cover a distance of 3000 statute miles, in 18 hours and 40 minutes. A measure of success was achieved in both strikes against Java; in each case, the Japanese were taken by surprise and shipping in the harbors was left either sunk or damaged." From October 1944 through V-J Day, the "Snoopers" accounted for 119 ships totaling more than 62,000 tons sunk, 31 ships totaling 38,000 tons probably sunk, and 322 ships totaling 110,000 tons damaged. This included a 600 foot, 13,000 ton aircraft carrier, probably sunk in March 1945. Starting August 7, 1945 the "Snoopers" were flying strikes from Yontan Airfield, Okinawa. They flew as far as Genzan in Korea and Japan's Kyushu Island. On August 7, 1945 the last "Snooper" to be lost in action also became the only American plane downed on Korean soil. She was the Lady Luck II and was piloted by Lt. E. B. Mills.
	INSIGNIA:
	CITATIONS: Distinguished Unit Citation: Java, 7 May 1945 The Soerabaja Harbor attack commendation in MS Word format. The Batavia attack commendation in MS Word format. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

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