[2] The Vengeance was uniquely designed to dive vertically without lift from the wing pulling the aircraft off target.

This resulted in the aircraft cruising in a nose-up attitude, giving a poor forward view for the pilot, particularly during landing.

The fall of France in June 1940 stopped these plans, but at the same time the British Purchasing Commission, impressed by the performance of the German Junkers Ju 87, "Stuka" was shopping for a dive bomber for the Royal Air Force, and as it was the only aircraft available, placed an order for 200 V-72s (named Vengeance by Vultee) on 3 July 1940, with orders for a further 100 being placed in December.

[2] Additional aircraft were ordered for Britain in June 1941 under the Lend-Lease scheme, with those given the US Army Air Corps designation 'A-31'.

After the U.S. entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a number of V-72 and A-31 aircraft were repossessed for use by the USAAF.

[5] As the USAAF became interested in dive bombing, it decided to order production of an improved version of the Vengeance, designated the A-35, for both its own use and for supply to its allies under Lend-Lease.

[citation needed] Operational experience with other dive bomber aircraft of the period, such as the Blackburn Skua, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, Aichi D3A "Val", Douglas Dauntless, Breda Ba.65 and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, indicated that the Vengeance would be vulnerable to enemy fighters.

"[9][page needed] Peter Smith, author of Jungle Dive Bombers at War, wrote that, "Their pilots had difficulty in getting them off the ground with a full load.

"[11] By the time that Britain had received large numbers of Vengeances, its opinion on the usefulness of specialised dive bombers had changed.

As the Battle of Britain and operations over North Africa had shown the dive bomber to be vulnerable to fighter attack, the Vengeance was rejected for use over Western Europe or in the Mediterranean.

It was decided to use the Vengeance in the Burma theatre to carry out dive-bombing operations in close support of British and Indian troops in the jungles.

[14] After Burma service, a detachment from 110 Squadron RAF was sent to Takoradi in West Africa via the Middle East, a number of aircraft breaking down en route.

Between September and December 1944, 11 Vultees took part in air-spraying trials against malarial mosquitoes, using under wing spray dispensers.

Many of these surplus aircraft, including most Vengeance Mk IVs, were delivered to the UK and modified as target tugs, being used in that role both by the RAF and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

[6] While the first Vengeance was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in May 1942, the aircraft did not arrive in substantial numbers until April 1943.

[20] The view of the Vengeance's limitations is disputed by Peter Smith in Jungle Dive Bombers at War, "The precision and skill of the dive-bombing method...and its clear superiority over most other means of air attack when it came to destroying small and well-hidden targets in difficult country, was proven over and over again in the Asian jungle campaigns.

Yet the men who achieved these excellent results, for such economy of effort and comparatively small loss, were but a handful of pilots who have been forgotten in the overwhelming mass of the heavy-and medium bomber fleets that were pounding both Europe and Asia by 1945.

Smith wrote, "...the jungle-clad hills and islands of forgotten or unknown lands would become the major stage for the ultimate expression of the dive-bombers' skill.

[21] The Free French Air Force received 67 A-35As and -Bs in 1943, being used to equip three bomb groups in North Africa.

[22] While the U.S. received 243 V-72s and A-31s diverted from the RAF orders together with large numbers of A-35s specifically built for it, these saw no combat, being used as initial equipment for light bomber squadrons that re-equipped with twin-engine aircraft before deploying overseas, and as trainers or target tugs.

[24] From April 1944, a number of Vengeance Mk IV series Is were made available to the 8th Air Force and assigned to target-towing flights and Combat Crew Replacement Center stations.

[25] One complete Vengeance IA that did not see squadron service, serial number A27-99 (EZ999), is displayed at the Camden Museum of Aviation at Narellan, New South Wales, Australia.