◆ SpookStack

only two combat aircraft, one at San Antonio and one at Santiago (plus a transport at San Antonio, a Cubana C-47 at Santiago, and several smaller aircraft). Castro stated that the attack on Libertad was a net loss to the invaders, since there were no operable aircraft on that base and at least one 9f the attacking planes was hit. Moreover, he claimed that unserviceable air- craft had been dispersed about Libertad and the other fields. Review of the pre- and post-strike U-2 photog- raphy lends some credence to Castro's claim about the dispersal of unserviceable aircraft, but the photography clearly indicated which aircraft were being used for decoy purposes. 50/ The two combat aircraft that Castro claimed were destroyed in the course of the D-2 attack probably were dual-controlled B-26's -- accordins to one of the FAR pilots, Jacques Lagas, the only dual controlled B-26's available to the Fuerzas Aerea Revolucionaria. Loss of these particular aircraft help to explain why, despite the high number that were" spotted on the Castro air- fields, so few B-26's actually participated in the combat; even on those occasions on 18-19 April, when - 216 -