Turret Gunner A20
03-05-2005, 12:30 PM
May 1991, Vol. 74, No. 5
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By John L. Frisbee, Contributing Editor
Forgotten Firsts
Eighth Air Force heavy bomber crews were not the first USAAF airmen to bomb targets in Europe, nor was a heavy bomber crewman the first in the Eighth to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
It may surprise some readers that Eighth Air Force Bomber Command did not begin operations against occupied Europe with B-17s or B-24s. The very first bomber unit to arrive in the UK and to see action, several weeks before the heavies, was the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light), which had trained in twin-engine Douglas A-20s, designed as attack planes to support ground troops, not for strategic air warfare.
There were A-20s in the Royal Air Force before the 15th Bomb Squadron arrived in May 1942. Beginning in 1940, several hundred had been transferred to the RAF, some under Lend-Lease arrangements. Close support of armies on the Continent lay some distance in the future; the first RAF A-20s, called Havocs, were modified as night fighters. Others, known as Bostons. were used as low-level bombers.
It was expected that the AAF squadron would operate as a night fighter unit with RAF "Turbinlight" Havocs, planes equipped with powerful search-lights to illuminate enemy aircraft for the fighters. Plans change. Before the 15th arrived, the RAF had given up "Turbinlight" tactics.
Lacking operational experience, 15th Bomb Squadron crews, who had arrived without their A-20s, prepared for bombing operations under the guidance of RAF 226 Squadron at Swanton Morley That squadron had been flying against targets in France and the Low Countries for several months. The Boston's small, 1,200-pound bomb load demanded very accurate delivery; hence missions were conducted at minimum altitude, where ground fire tended to be lethal.
By the end of June, 226 Squadron leaders judged most of the 15th's crews ready for the war. On June 29, 1942, Capt. Charles Kegelman and his crew--2d Lt. Randall Dorton, TSgt. Robert Golay, and Sgt. Bennie Cunningham--flew the first combat sortie by a USAAF bomber crew in the European theater as part of a 12-plane formation of 226 Squadron Bostons.
MORE: http://www.afa.org/magazine/valor/0591valor.asp
http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/Image3.gif
By John L. Frisbee, Contributing Editor
Forgotten Firsts
Eighth Air Force heavy bomber crews were not the first USAAF airmen to bomb targets in Europe, nor was a heavy bomber crewman the first in the Eighth to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
It may surprise some readers that Eighth Air Force Bomber Command did not begin operations against occupied Europe with B-17s or B-24s. The very first bomber unit to arrive in the UK and to see action, several weeks before the heavies, was the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light), which had trained in twin-engine Douglas A-20s, designed as attack planes to support ground troops, not for strategic air warfare.
There were A-20s in the Royal Air Force before the 15th Bomb Squadron arrived in May 1942. Beginning in 1940, several hundred had been transferred to the RAF, some under Lend-Lease arrangements. Close support of armies on the Continent lay some distance in the future; the first RAF A-20s, called Havocs, were modified as night fighters. Others, known as Bostons. were used as low-level bombers.
It was expected that the AAF squadron would operate as a night fighter unit with RAF "Turbinlight" Havocs, planes equipped with powerful search-lights to illuminate enemy aircraft for the fighters. Plans change. Before the 15th arrived, the RAF had given up "Turbinlight" tactics.
Lacking operational experience, 15th Bomb Squadron crews, who had arrived without their A-20s, prepared for bombing operations under the guidance of RAF 226 Squadron at Swanton Morley That squadron had been flying against targets in France and the Low Countries for several months. The Boston's small, 1,200-pound bomb load demanded very accurate delivery; hence missions were conducted at minimum altitude, where ground fire tended to be lethal.
By the end of June, 226 Squadron leaders judged most of the 15th's crews ready for the war. On June 29, 1942, Capt. Charles Kegelman and his crew--2d Lt. Randall Dorton, TSgt. Robert Golay, and Sgt. Bennie Cunningham--flew the first combat sortie by a USAAF bomber crew in the European theater as part of a 12-plane formation of 226 Squadron Bostons.
MORE: http://www.afa.org/magazine/valor/0591valor.asp