Douglas Boston, Havoc, A-20 Bomber/Attack Aircraft

Douglas Boston/Havoc/A-20 Light Bomber

The Boston/Havoc was the RAF designation for the US A-20 medium bomber. The Boston/Havoc was a shoulder wing aircraft, compact and powerful. Numerous were sold and lend-leased to Britain and the USSR. The performance was good enough to encourage night fighter developments. It was used extensively in the night intruder role (shown above in American colours) over France, Denmark, Holland and Germany until replaced by the Mosquito. The night intruder role developed in response to growing losses of British bombers to German night fighters. The intruders would position themselves around known night fighter bases and wait for aircraft to return. Then they would intercept them while on approach. If this didn't work the Boston/Havoc pilot could always interrupt base operations by bombing it. Some were converted into personnel transport aircraft, albeit well armed ones. The Boston/Havoc was built in large numbers (7385) until 1944.

Technical Details
The A-20G/Boston flew as an attack/night intruder in 1941 with a crew of three (pilot, navigator, rear gunner). It was powered by 1180kW Wright R-2600-23 engines to a maximum speed of 340 mph (548 km/h). The ceiling was 25,500 ft (7800m) and range was 1087 mi (1750km). Armament was heavy, consisted of five 0.303 machine guns, four 20mm cannons in the nose, and 4,000 lb (1814kg) of bombs (equal to that of a B-24 Liberator). The pilot controlled the forward firing guns and bombs.

The Boston Mk.III medium bomber flew first in 1942 with a crew of four (pilot, navigator, bomb aimer and rear gunner). It was powered by two 1600hp Wright GR-2600-A5B engines to a maximum speed of 304 mph (490km/h). It reached a ceiling of 24,200 ft (7400m) and had a range of 1,025 mi (1650km). It came armed with eight 0.50 inch machine guns (more than a Lancaster bomber) and could carry 2000 lb (905kg) of bombs.

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