Home

American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

Search our site for other combat planes. A- 1 Eaton A- 4 Skyhawk A- 6 & A- 7 Air Weapons AV- 8 to A- 10 A- 20 Havoc A- 22 Martin Maryland A- 23 Martin Baltimore A- 24 Douglas A- 26 Douglas Invader Attack Planes B- 2A, F-111, F-117 Stealth B- 17 Flying Fortress B- 24 Liberator B- 25 North American B- 26 Marauder B- 29 Superfortress B- 32 Dominator B- 35 Flying Wing B- 36 B- 47 Stratojet B- 50 Boeing B- 52 Stratofortress B- 57 Canberra B- 58 Hustler Biplanes Biplanes, Army Pursuits Bombers, B- 70 to Stealth Bombers, First Big Curtiss Falcon CO- 1 DH- 4 De Havilland F3D- Douglas Skyknight F3H- McDonnell Demon F4D- 1 Skyray F4F Grumman Wildcats F- 4U Corsair F6F Grumman F7F Grumman F7U Vought F9F G. Cougar F9F G. Panther F- 16 Fighting Falcon F- 84 F- 86 Sabre F- 89 to F-94 F- 100 to F-108 First Fighters Flying Boats GAX Iraq to Afghanistan Martin Bombers Missile Era Fighters Navy Fighers Navy Flying Boats O- 2 Douglas P- 35 Seversky P- 36 to 42 Curtiss P- 38 Lightning P- 39 Airacobra P- 40 Line P- 47 Thunderbolt P- 51 Mustang Fighter P- 61 Black Widow P- 63 Kingcobra P- 79 to P-81 P- 82 Twin Mustang SB2C Helldiver TBF-TBM Avenger Thomas-Morse Torpedo Planes V- 11 Vultee XB -28 XP -48 / 77

A-20 Havoc

Page 3 DOUGLAS A-20C

The A-20C has the distinction of being the first plane ordered by a “Lend-Lease” contract, dated April 28, 1941. Similar to the DB-7B, but for ejection exhaust stacks and more fuel, it was named Boston IIIA, and had R-2600-23 Cyclones, seven .30-caliber guns, 415 pounds of armor, and 2,076 pounds of bombs. Beginning with the A-20C-5 model, a torpedo could be attached below the fuselage.

Concurrently with the A-20B, Douglas built 808 A-20C-DOs at Santa Monica until January 1943, and Boeing made 140, the last A-20C-BO delivered on March 31, 1942. Most A-20Cs were taken by the AAF or shipped to Russia. RAF deliveries resumed with an effort to fly 200 of the lend-lease Boston IIIA (A-20C) models across the Atlantic, and 182 made it to the United Kingdom. Another 11 A-20C-10s from AAF stocks replenished RAF units in Africa. DOUGLAS A-20G-5

The A-20D and A-20E models were A-20A variants that never actually materialized.* The XA-20F was an A-20A with a 37-mm fixed nose gun and two General Electric remote-control twin .50-caliber turrets installed to develop a new gunnery system. Successful flight tests in September 1941 encouraged the system’s adoption for the projected A-26.

After America came into the war, the A-20 found itself in action all over the world, and the name “Havoc” was given to all Army Air Force A-20s. An A-20A squadron was hit in the Pearl Harbor attack. Except for those sent overseas, most A-20As were replaced by later models and converted into target-towing RA-20As.

DOUGLAS A-20G-1

The A-20A had not enough range to fly to the distant theaters of action, so the first Army crews trained on Havocs were shipped overseas without their aircraft; the 3rd Bomb Group (L) leaving for Australia in February 1942, and the 15th Bomb Squadron for England in May. Six crews from the 15th used borrowed DB-7Bs to join six RAF crews in a July 4th attack on German airfields in the Netherlands that was publicized (incorrectly) as the first American attack on German forces.

Three Havocs were lost and three damaged in what was essentially a propaganda operation to make up for previous American inactivity in Europe. After this squadron moved to North Africa, Air Force Havocs did not strike from England again until March 1944, but British and Soviet pilots used them in great numbers.

When the 3rd Group’s 40 A-20As arrived in Australia, nine were given to an RAAF squadron in June 1942. The others were modified for ground strafing by adding four .50-caliber nose guns. The 89th squadron did not take them into combat in New Guinea until August 31, 1942, the three other 3rd Group squadrons having previously substituted A-24 and B-25C bombers for attacks on Japanese forces.

American invasion of North Africa brought the A-20Bs of the 47th Bomb Group into combat on December 14, after using ferry tanks to cross the Atlantic. They were joined by the A-20Bs that equipped half of the 68th Observation Group, and by the Bostons of the 15th Squadron. DOUGLAS A-20G-20

Some of these A-20Bs working in Africa had also been modified with solid “gun noses,” and this fixed gun arrangement was chosen for the A-20G attack-bomber ordered June 1, 1942, and first delivered in February 1943 from Santa Monica with more firepower, armor and fuel. Powered by the R-2600-23, it carried four 500-pound bombs in the bay, or a 2,000-pound torpedo under the fuselage.

The first 250 (A-20G-1) had four 20-mm and two .50-caliber nose guns, while the remaining 2,600 Gs used six .50-caliber bow guns, with 350 rounds per gun. A hand- operated .50-caliber gun in the rear seat of the first 750 (to A-20G-15) was replaced by two .50s in a power-operated Martin turret in the A-20G-20 of August 1943. Beginning with this model, the .30-caliber belly gun was replaced by a .50-caliber weapon operated by a third crew mem- ber, four more 500-lb. bombs could be added under the wings for short ranges, or an additional belly tank added for ferry flights.

Wright R-2600-29 Cyclones of 1,700-hp were fitted to the three-place A-20H whose solid noses with six .50-caliber guns distinguished 412 delivered in 1944. The first four-place A-20J was an A-20G-25 with a transparent bombardier’s nose enclosure and two .50-caliber nose guns, and 450 were produced in parallel with later A-20G models. Last of the series was the 413 A-20Ks with the bombardier nose; similar to the Js except for R-2600-29 engines.

When Havoc production ended September 20, 1944, 7,098 had been built by Douglas, and 380 under license by Boeing, while AAF inventories were at a peak of over 1,700 A-20s. Havocs then equipped seven USAF groups in action: the 3rd, 312th, and 417th with the Fifth Air Force in the Pacific, and the 47th with the Twelfth Air Force in Italy, while the 409th, 410th and 416th with the Ninth Air Force in Britain bombed ahead of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

[ B- 24 / Home ] [Back] [Continue to next page]

Want information on other Combat Planes? Search the rest of our site.