Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and 40 Boston bombers in 1942 – can serials be identified?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Dan

Pages sent

Cheers
Stig

[Zoran Petek]

Hello,
Here are some that reached USSR.

41-19115 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942. A-20C Havoc, diverted from British order. Many had Boston IIIA data plates, hence Soviet names B3 aka B-3 aka Boston.
41-19132 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942. Diverted from British order.
41-19134 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19138 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19153 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942. Still in use late 44.
41-19154 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19256 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19278 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19280 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19290 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19291 UA-20C for training. 244 BAD, 17 VA, 3rd Ukrainian front late 1944.
41-19320 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19324 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19326 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19346 UA-20C for training. 244 BAD, 17 VA, 3rd Ukrainian front late 1944.
41-19349 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942.
41-19592 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942. Boeing A-20C-BO Havoc, diverted from British order.
41-19623 UA-20C for training, modified from Boeing A-20C-BO Havoc. 244 BAD, 17 VA, 3rd Ukrainian front. Lost late 1944.
41-19627 UA-20C for training. 244 BAD, 17 VA, 3rd Ukrainian front late 1944.

Regards
Zoran

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Zoran Petek

Hello,
Here are some that reached USSR.

41-19115 861 BAP, 244 BAD, Voronezh front 1.VIII.1942. A-20C Havoc, diverted from British order. Many had Boston IIIA data plates, hence Soviet names B3 aka B-3 aka Boston.

Thank you for an interesting list, Zoran.

Several hundred Bostons originally intended for Britain, and carrying Boston Mark III or Mark IIIA data plates, were sent to the USSR. These were exported directly from the U.S. to the Soviet Union, so they do not appear in British records, or at least in any records that are presently known. The British serials which were provisionally assigned to these aircraft, mainly from the BZ block, were 'not taken up', as the contemporary phrase went.

Kind regards,

Dan

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

Dan

Pages sent

Stig,

Pages gratefully received

You will see that in my reply to Alex, just above, I made the best guess I could concerning the identity of the 40 Bostons, after looking at the images that you sent me. I stress that my conclusion is provisional.

Cheers,

Dan

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

Hi Dan,
Details from "85 Years of South African Air Force ". Pages 245 -251.

Hello Alex,

Thank you for typing up this information, it is most helpful to have it here within the thread, for future reference.

I took a moment to read through the Boston section of Air Arsenal North America again, and found that Phil Butler matched 35 British HK serials from the July 1942 batch to U.S. serials, as follows:

“The RAF also received further Bostons in the Middle East, by the transfer or approximately 40 A-20Cs intended for delivery to Russia via the ‘South Russia’ route through Abadan. These were transferred (with Stalin’s agreement) during the build up to the Battle of El Alamein. These aircraft were allotted numbers in the HK batch given lo the RAF HQ in Cairo for ‘local acquisitions’ and included HK869 to HK903, HK912, HK918, HK921 to HK924, HK934 and HK935. Ironically, many of these were from the Defense Aid contract that had matched the original allocation of BZ serial numbers. These aircraft equipped Nos 12 and 24 Squadrons, SAAF, in the Desert Air Force. HK870 to HK872 were ex 41-119108, -111916 and -110127, HK874 to HK903 were ex 41-119236, -119242, -119245, -119247, -119268 to -119271, -119306, -119307, -119316, -119318, -119325, -119326, -119289, -119329, -119344, -119345, -119355, -119366, -119386, -119391, -119398, -119406, -119419, - 119135, -119437 and -119475. HK912, 918, 934, and 935 were ex 41-119286, -119146, -119206 and -119394.

The similar batch HK960 to HK972 includes the examples 42-33208, -33215, -33216, -33224, -33232, -33270, -33280, -33290, -33293, -33303 and -33313 (plus one unidentified) which were transferred from USAAF stocks in the Middle East, rather than from the USSR.”

Looking at the information in Winston Brent’s book, some of the following six aircraft could be among the five additional aircraft that are needed to make up the July 1942 total of 40 transferred aircraft:

HK869 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 12 SAAF – overshot landing at Hal Far 17.08.43
HK873 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 12 SAAF – tyre bust on take-off, swung, dbr Hal Far 23.07.43
HK921 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 24 SAAF – NFD (no further details)
HK922 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 24 SAAF – NFD (no further details)
HK923 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 24 SAAF – NFD (no further details)
HK924 – no U.S. serial assigned by Butler – 12 SAAF – NFD (no further details)

I am not fully convinced by the matches made by Phil Butler, who was perhaps making the best job he could of the vague information on the relevant AM78 cards. Provisionally, my conclusion is that all 40 Bostons, the 37 A-20Cs and the three DB-7Bs, were assigned HK serials. However, it is clear that many of them flew with U.S. serials and single SAAF Squadron code letters for an extended period of time, so definitively matching the U.S. and SAAF serials of these aircraft may be very difficult indeed.

Kind regards,

Dan