Aircrews of the 426th Night Fighter Squadron at their first operational base at Chengtu, China, 1944.    From Chengtu, their mission was to protect B-29 Superfortresses using Chinese Air Bases as staging bases from India on Operation Matterhorn Missions to Japan.      After the B-29s moved to the Central Pacific, the Black Widows were used for night intruder and ground attack missions during daylight hours.
United States Army Air Forces
1944
United States Army Air Forces via Northrop P-61 Black Widow--The Complete History and Combat Record, Garry R. Pape, John M. Campbell and Donna Campbell, Motorbooks International, 1991.