Douglas A-20 'Havoc'

The Douglas A-20 'Havoc' (company designation DB-7) was an American attack, light bomber, intruder and night fighter aircraft of World War II. It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Naval Aviation (AVMF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. Soviet units received more than one in three (2,908 aircraft) of the DB-7s ultimately built. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards.

In the autumn of the 1937, the United States Army Air Corps(USAAC) issued its own specification for an attack aircraft. The Douglas team, headed by Heinemann, took the Model 7A design, upgraded with 1,100 hp (820 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines, and submitted the design as the Model 7B. The Model 7B was maneuverable and fast, but did not attract any US orders. However, it did attract the attention of a French Purchasing Commission visiting the United States. In 1938, the USAAC showed enough interest after a design review, that it ordered an operational prototype to be constructed under contract. The first flyable model took to the air on October 26th, 1938, and displayed extremely promising potential for such a design. The aircraft was fast on its twin engines and responsive to the controls with very few negative aspects to her overall design.
Back to Top
Because the Neutrality Act of 1935 at the time forbade the sale of arms, including aircraft, to any nation at war, the sales order to the French had to be circumvented. While the French discreetly participated in the flight trials, so as not to attract criticism from American isolationists, under direction of the White House on 19 January 1939 was to release the DB-7 for assessment in contradiction of its own regulations. Even after a crash during trials it did not stop the French who were still impressed enough to order 100 production aircraft, with the order increased to 270 when the war began. Sixteen of those had been ordered by Belgium for its Aviation Militaire. The French order called for substantial modifications, resulting in the DB-7 (for Douglas Bomber 7) variant. Compared to the Model 7B the newer DB-7 had a taller but narrower fuselage. With the narrower, deeper fuselage design with 1,000 hp (746 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G radials, French-built guns, and metric instruments, they were delivered to the French Purchasing Commission at Santa Monica starting in October, with deliveries made by ship to Casablanca to be assembled and flown to France.
Back to Top
Testing for a twin engined high level bomber to fill the USAAC requirements had not gone well. The Martin design had been rejected, and the North American NA-40 had been destroyed in the crash of 11 April. In June 1939 the USAAC returned to the DB-7 and re-evaluated its potential for use in the American military. The USAAC then placed an order for 63 A-20s, similar in design to the RAF's DB-7B. Douglas received their first American order for the A-20 two months before the prototype DB-7 made its first flight. Though the initial requirement of the Army Air Corps specified a high-altitude capable airframe in the attack bomber role, after the first A-20 was produced, the USAAC came back with a minor change to the requirement, deleting the need for a dedicated high-altitude bomber and instead centering on a design capable of handling operations in a low-to-medium altitude zone. As such, the design was revisited and had its turbo-superchargers removed as they posed no performance benefits at lower operating levels. Eventually of all the designs, the A-20G would become the largest production run of the A-20 series, numbering some 2,850 total aircraft. The A-20G followed on the heels of the A-20C production model and was a dedicated ground attack platform as opposed to the light bomber designation carried by preceding models.
Back to Top
In Service
RAF

When the Germans attacked France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the 64 available French DB-7s were deployed against the advancing Germans.The remainder of the order which was to have been delivered to France was instead taken up by the UK via the British Purchasing Commission. It first entered service with RAF Bomber Command in 1941, equipping No. 88 Squadron. Their first operational use was not until February 1942 against enemy shipping. On 4 July 1942 United States Army Air Force (USAAF) bomber crews, flying 12 RAF Boston aircraft (6 with American airmen and 6 with British airmen), took part in operations in Europe for the first time attacking the Hazebrouck marshaling yards in Belgium. They replaced the Bristol Blenheims of No. 2 Group RAF for daylight operations against occupied Europe until replaced in turn by de Havilland Mosquitos. Among other combat missions, they took part in the attacks on the German warships KGM Scharnhorst, KGM Gneisenau and KGM Prinz Eugen during their dash through the English Channel ('Operation Cerberus') and the raid on Dieppe ('Operation Jubilee'). During the course of the war, 24 RAF squadrons operated the A-20 who referred to the 'Boston' as 'Havoc' was the name given to the night fighter version. Altogether, the RAF acquired 1,166 A-20 Boston series aircraft.
Back to Top
USAAF

The first USAAF A-20 group to participate in large-scale combat in the North African theatre was the 47th Bombardment Group. The 47th BG flew its first combat mission from Youks-les-Bains, Algeria on December 13, 1942. A-20s provided valuable tactical support to US and British ground forces, especially during and after the Kasserine Pass defeat. Following the German surrender in Tunisia in May of 1943, the 47th subsequently moved to Malta, Sicily, Italy, Corsica, France, and then back to Italy where in January 1945 it began to exchange its A-20s for A-26 'Invaders'. In Europe, three A-20 Bombardment Groups, the 409th, 410th, and 416th were assigned to the 9th Air Force. The A-20G-equipped 416th Bombardment Group began operations in March of 1944 as part of the 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) of the Ninth Air Force. In April and May of 1944, the similarly-equipped 409th and 410th Bombardment Groups joined the 416th. Due to heavy German ground fire, losses during low-level attacks against fixed targets were prohibitively high and had to be stopped. The A-20G-equipped groups followed the advancing Allied forces into France, but by the end of 1944 the 409th and 416th BGs had converted to A-26 Invaders. The 410th began flying night missions during the winter of 1944-45, but by the time of V-E Day this unit had also been re-equipped with the A-26 Invaders.
Back to Top
Pacific

The 58th Bombardment Squadron received A-20As in late 1941, and was stationed at Hickham Field in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Two of its aircraft were destroyed on the ground during the attack. The first operational unit to fly the A-20 in actual battle was the 89th Bombardment Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group which began operations from Port Moresby in New Guinea on August 31, 1942. The A-20's heavy firepower, maneuverability, speed and bombload made it an ideal weapon for pinpoint strikes against aircraft, hangers, and supply dumps. In formation, their heavy forward firepower could overwhelm shipboard anti-aircraft defenses and at low level the A-20s could skip their bombs into the sides of transports and destroyers with deadly effect. By mid-April of 1944, three full four-squadron A-20 groups of the 5th Air Force were active in the island hopping campaign that led to the invasion of Luzon on January 7, 1945. By September of 1944, there were some 370 Havocs on duty with the Fifth Air Force in the South West Pacific Area. The 3rd, 312th and 417th Bomb Groups were issued with A-20's in the Pacific with some A-20's converted as interim night-fighters to become the P-70. P-70 'Havocs' were sent in bulk to the 18th Fighter Group and saw action in support of ground forces over Guadalcanal, Bougainville and the Solomons. P-70's were eventually replaced by the newer and more capable Northrop P-61 'Black Widows' beginning service in 1944.

RAAF

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) were supplied with 22 A-20's for use in the South West Pacific theatre who listed these aircraft as DB-7B and also referred to as a 'Boston' where eventually 69 Havocs were acquired from 1942 to 1944. Due to the speed of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch East Indies Air Force did not receive it in time and thus part of this order was stranded in Australia in the so-called "lost convoy", and the first 31 Bostons were assembled at Richmond Airbase in New South Wales and flown by the 22 Squadron of the RAAF during the campaign against Buna, Gona, and Lae, New Guinea. The rest of this order were sent to the Soviet Union.

Soviet Air Force(VVS)

Through Lend-Lease, Soviet forces received more than two-thirds of version A-20B planes manufactured and a significant portion of versions G and H. The A-20 was the most numerous foreign aircraft in the Soviet bomber inventory. They were designated B-3 in Soviet service, and entered combat on the Southwestern front in May 1942 with the 794th Bomber Air Regiment (BAP). When joined by the 57th and 745th BAPs, they formed the 221st Bomber Air Division. Beginning in September 1942, a Soviet UTK-1 turret with a 12.7-mm UBT gun replaced the .30-caliber guns in the open rear cockpit. A-20s replaced the standard Pe-2 light bombers in 12 Red Army (VVS-RK) air regiments. Cameras were introduced in July 1942 for reconnaissance by A-20Bs of the Baltic Fleets 15th RAP and by the Black Sea's Fleets 30th RAP in November. Two torpedoes test launched from a DB-7C in March 1943 showed that a Boston could handle those weapons better than the II-4s then used by Soviet crews, so 36 A-20Bs were modified for torpedo attacks. The A-20 was used in large numbers as a ground attack aircraft during the battle of Stalingrad, and served as a modified torpedo bomber in the Black Sea and the Baltic during the withdrawl of the German Army along the Baltic coast in late 1944 to the end of the war. When the war with Germany neared its end on May 1, 1945, 127 A-20B, 105 Boston III/A, 147 A-20G-1, 115 A-20G-10, 376 A-20G-20, and 65 A-20J/K remained with the Red Army. Navy units also had 43 A-20Gs with the North Sea Fleet, another 43 with the Baltic Fleet, and 70 with the Black Sea Fleet. War against Japan in August 1945 involved A-20s of the Red Navys 36th MTAP, 49th MTAP, and 50th MRAP regiments. The Soviet Air Force had more A-20s than the USAAF and by the end of the war, 3,414 A-20s had been delivered to the USSR, 2,771 of which were used by the Soviet Air Force. Possibly the last A-20 shot down was during the Korean Conflict where the 36th MTAP was still flying A-20s from Port Arthur where on September 4, 1950, one was shot down by F4U-4Bs from the USS Valley Forge.

Very few aircraft attracted a wider range of designations than the Douglas DB-7/ A-20 Havoc/ P-70 Nighthawk/ Havoc night fighter/ Boston bomber. When DB-7 series production finally ended on 20 September 1944, a total of 7,098 had been built by Douglas and a further 380 by Boeing.