Misplaced Pages

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123-688: Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ordered by France for their air force before the USAAC decided it would also meet their requirements. French DB-7s were the first to see combat; after the fall of France , the bomber served with the Royal Air Force under the service name Boston . From 1941, night fighter and intruder versions were given the service name Havoc . In 1942 USAAF A-20s saw combat in North Africa. It served with several Allied air forces, principally

246-699: A German aircraft, carrying a staff officer with the Luftwaffe plans for an offensive through central Belgium to the North Sea, force-landed near Maasmechelen (Mechelen) in Belgium. The documents were captured but Allied intelligence doubted that they were genuine. In the full moon period in April 1940, another Allied alert was called for a possible attack on the Low Countries or Holland, an offensive through

369-632: A German attack in the centre of the French front. After the transfer from the strategic reserve of the Seventh Army to the 1st Army Group, seven divisions remained behind the Second and Ninth armies and more could be moved from behind the Maginot Line. All but one division were either side of the junction of the two armies, GQG being more concerned about a possible German attack past the north end of

492-515: A German force consisting of 43 divisions (32 of them reserves) and no tanks. The French advanced until they met the thin and undermanned Siegfried Line . On 17 September, Gamelin gave the order to withdraw French troops to their starting positions; the last of them left Germany on 17 September, the day of the Soviet invasion of Poland . Following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called

615-778: A German invasion of the Netherlands but not Belgium, by changing the deployment area to be reached by the Seventh Army; the Escaut plan would only be followed if the Germans forestalled the French move into Belgium. In the winter of 1939–40, the Belgian consul-general in Cologne had anticipated the angle of advance that Manstein was planning. Through intelligence reports, the Belgians deduced that German forces were concentrating along

738-479: A bomber-reconnaissance aircraft powered by a pair of 450 hp (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9-cylinder radial engines mounted on a shoulder wing . It was estimated to be capable of 250 mph (400 km/h) with a 680 lb (310 kg) bomb load. Reports of aircraft performance from the Spanish Civil War indicated that this design would be seriously underpowered, and it

861-512: A concentration of forces in a position impossible to adequately resupply, along routes that could be cut easily by the French. If the Allies did not react as expected, the German offensive could end in catastrophe. Their objections were ignored and Halder argued that, as Germany's strategic position seemed hopeless anyway, even the slightest chance of decisive victory should be grasped. Shortly before

984-499: A crew of three - a pilot, bombardier and a gunner. The wing was mounted lower than on the Model 7B, while the engines, 1,000 hp (750 kW) R-1830-SC3-Gs, were mounted in nacelles slung under the wings. Normal bombload was 1,410 lb (640 kg), or 1,800 lb (800 kg) in overload conditions, with a defensive armament of single 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns in dorsal and ventral mounts and four fixed forward-firing guns in

1107-452: A definite advantage in the design of flying controls ... extremely pleasant to fly and manoeuvre." Ex-pilots often consider it their favorite aircraft of the war due to the ability to toss it around like a fighter. The Douglas bomber/night fighter was found to be extremely adaptable and found a role in every combat theater of the war, and excelled as a true "pilot's aeroplane". When DB-7 series production finally ended on 20 September 1944,

1230-580: A determined stand on the Somme and Aisne rivers but were defeated by the German combination of air superiority and armoured mobility. Italy entered the war on the German side on 10 June 1940 and began the Italian invasion of France . German armies outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, occupying Paris unopposed on 14 June. After the flight of the French government and the collapse of

1353-542: A heavy tank like the French Char B1 ; French tanks were better designs, more numerous, with superior armour and armament but slower and with inferior mechanical reliability than the German designs. Although the German Army was outnumbered in artillery and tanks, it possessed some advantages over its opponents. The newer German Panzers had a crew of five: commander, gunner, loader, driver, and mechanic. Having

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1476-529: A long war in the west. Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed at the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and prevent Allied air power from threatening the industrial area of the Ruhr . It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. There was no mention in the directive of a consecutive attack to conquer the whole of France, although

1599-463: A mass firepower effect in attack or defence. The French numerical advantage in heavy weapons and equipment, which was often deployed in "penny-packets" (dispersed as individual support weapons) was offset. Most French tanks also lacked radio and orders between infantry units were typically passed by telephone or verbally. The German communications system permitted a degree of communication between air and ground forces. Attached to Panzer divisions were

1722-785: A move towards Breda in the Netherlands; if the Allies prevented a German occupation of Holland, the ten divisions of the Dutch army would join the Allied armies, control of the North Sea would be enhanced and the Germans would be denied bases for attacks on Britain. By May 1940, the 1st Army Group was responsible for the defence of France from the Channel coast south to the Maginot Line. The Seventh Army ( Général d'armée Henri Giraud ), BEF (General Lord Gort ), First Army ( Général d'armée Georges Maurice Jean Blanchard ) and Ninth Army ( Général d'armée André Corap ) were ready to advance to

1845-482: A quick tempo and exploit opportunities faster than the Allies. Panzer divisions could conduct reconnaissance, advance to contact or defend and attack vital positions and weak spots. Captured ground would be occupied by infantry and artillery as pivot points for further attacks. Although many German tanks were outgunned by their opponents, they could lure Allied tanks onto the divisional anti-tank guns. The avoidance of tank-versus-tank engagements conserved German tanks for

1968-599: A reserve in the hands of HQs above corps, about 700 88 mm (3.46 in) and 180 37 mm (1.46 in) guns manned by Luftwaffe ground units and 816 20 mm (0.79 in) guns manned by the army. MAC 1934 The MAC 1934 is a machine gun of French origin. It is effectively the aircraft variant of the Reibel machine gun . In 1934, the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault ( Châtellerault weapons manufacturing company, often shortened to MAC ) completed

2091-485: A scandal in the press. Despite the crash, the French were impressed enough to place an order for 100 production aircraft on 15 February 1939, following this up with an order for 170 more in October 1939. As a result of the French order, Heinemann carried out another major redesign of the aircraft. While the design's wings were largely unchanged, the revised design had a new deeper but narrower fuselage , which accommodated

2214-656: A significant order from the USAAC: 999 aircraft (although two-thirds of these were exported to the USSR). With the lessons of the Pacific in mind USAAF ordered A-20G in June 1942. A major shipment of DB-73s originally destined for France was retained by the US government and converted to A-20C/G attack configuration. The USAAF received 356, most of which were operated by the 5th Air Force in

2337-465: A small number of the best-equipped and " elite divisions were offset by many second and third rate divisions". Army Group A, commanded by Gerd von Rundstedt, comprised 45 + 1 ⁄ 2 divisions, including seven Panzer and was to execute the main movement effort through the Allied defences in the Ardennes. The manoeuvre carried out by the Germans is sometimes referred to as a "Sichelschnitt" ,

2460-456: A torpedo run) they could skip their bombs into the sides of transports and destroyers with deadly effect. In addition, the captains of small Japanese escorts (destroyers, for example) assumed the approaching aircraft were making torpedo runs and turned their vessels bow-on to the aircraft in defense, making the strafing far more devastating to the unarmored escorts and often leaving them even more vulnerable to follow-up "skip-bombing" runs. After

2583-487: A total of 7,098 had been built by Douglas and a further 380 by Boeing . Douglas redesigned its Santa Monica plant to create a mechanized production line to produce A-20 Havocs. The assembly line was over a mile long (6,100 feet), but by looping back and forth, fitted into a building that was only 700 feet long. Man-hours were reduced by 50% for some operations while production tripled. The French order called for substantial modifications to meet French standards, resulting in

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2706-417: A trained individual for each task allowed a logical division of labour. French tanks had smaller crews; the commander had to load the main gun, distracting him from observation and tactical deployment. The Germans enjoyed an advantage through the theory of Auftragstaktik (mission command) by which officers, NCOs and men were expected to use their initiative and had control over supporting arms, rather than

2829-796: A tranche of more than 200 aircraft: the A-20 for high-altitude daylight bombing and the A-20A for low- and medium-altitude missions. It was intended that the high-altitude variant would be fitted with turbosupercharged Wright R-2600-7 engines; after a prototype suffered technical problems, the USAAC changed its order and an initial shipment of 123 A-20As (with less-powerful R-2600-3 engines) and 20 A-20s (R-2600-11) entered service in early 1941. A further 59 aircraft from this first order were received as P-70 night fighters, with two-stage supercharged R-2600-11 engines. The A-20B, another high-altitude bomber variant – lacking heavy armor and self-sealing fuel tanks – received

2952-809: The Heer (German Army), 1,000,000 of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), 180,000 of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and 100,000 of the Waffen-SS (military arm of the Nazi Party). When consideration is made for those in Poland, Denmark and Norway, the Army had 3,000,000 men available for the offensive starting on 10 May 1940. These manpower reserves were formed into 157 divisions. Of these, 135 were earmarked for

3075-470: The 9th Air Force and became operational in 1944. They started using the same low-level tactics that had been so successful in the Pacific, but due to heavy German flak, losses were too high and the tactics were changed to medium-level raids. After supporting advancing Allied forces into France until the end of 1944, all units switched to the Douglas A-26 Invader . Reconnaissance Havocs joined

3198-732: The Albert Canal and increased the readiness of the army; Gamelin and Grand Quartier Général (GQG) began to consider the possibility of advancing further than the Escaut. By November, GQG had decided that a defence along the Dyle Line was feasible, despite the doubts of General Alphonse Georges , commander of the North-Eastern Front, about reaching the Dyle before the Germans. The British had been lukewarm about an advance into Belgium, but Gamelin persuaded them; on 9 November,

3321-776: The Allies failed to fulfil their military obligations to Poland, later called the Western betrayal by the Poles. The possibility of Soviet assistance to Poland had ended with the Munich Agreement of 1938, after which the Soviet Union and Germany eventually negotiated the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which included an agreement to partition Poland. The Allies settled on a long-war strategy in which they would complete

3444-994: The Armée de l'Air. 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 . In the course of the war, 24 squadrons operated the Boston in Britain, the Mediterranean and North Africa. The French had originally intended to use the DB-7 as a short-range tactical attack aircraft, but its range was too short for the RAF to be able to use them as light bombers against German targets in Europe. The RAF

3567-601: The DB-7 (Douglas Bomber 7) variant. It had a narrower, deeper fuselage , 1,000 hp (750 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G radials, French-built guns, and metric instruments. Midway through the delivery phase, engines were switched to 1,100 hp (820 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G. The French designation was DB-7 B-3 (the B-3 signifying "three-seat bomber"). DB-7s began to be delivered from Douglas's El Segundo, California production line on 31 October 1939, and

3690-573: The Dyle river to Antwerp, which was 70–80 km (43–50 mi) shorter than the alternatives. A second possibility was a line from the French border to Condé , Tournai , along the Escaut ( Scheldt ) to Ghent and thence to Zeebrugge on the North Sea coast, possibly further along the Scheldt (Escaut) to Antwerp, which became the Escaut plan/Plan E. The third possibility was along field defences of

3813-472: The Fliegerleittruppen ( Tactical Air Control Party troops) in wheeled vehicles. There were too few Sd.Kfz. 251 command vehicles for all of the army but the theory allowed the army in some circumstances to call Luftwaffe units to support an attack . Fliegerkorps VIII , equipped with Junkers Ju 87 dive-bombers ( Stukas ), was to support the dash to the Channel if Army Group A broke through

Douglas A-20 Havoc - Misplaced Pages Continue

3936-691: The French Army , German commanders met with French officials on 18 June to negotiate an end to hostilities. On 22 June 1940, the Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed by France and Germany. The neutral Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain replaced the Third Republic and German military occupation began along the French North Sea and Atlantic coasts and their hinterlands. The Italian invasion of France over

4059-800: The New Guinea campaign , the A-20s squadrons moved to the Philippines. In 1944, three full four-squadron A-20 groups were active in the campaign that led to the invasion of Luzon . After the Philippines were secured, A-20s attacked Japanese targets in Formosa. The first night-fighter squadron to use P-70s in combat was based at Henderson Field to intercept high-flying Japanese night raiders. The 418th and 421st Night Fighter Squadrons briefly flew P-70s in New Guinea. The P-70s scored only two kills during

4182-474: The North American NA-40 , Stearman X-100 , Martin 167F , and an unbuilt design from Bell Aircraft , the Model 9. The Air Corps invited all five companies to build prototypes at their own expense and to submit sealed bids for production of their aircraft. The prototype Model 7B made its first flight on 26 October 1938. The model attracted the attention of a French Purchasing Commission visiting

4305-615: The Panzerwaffe should be concentrated at Sedan. This concentration of armour would advance to the west to the English Channel , without waiting for the main body of infantry divisions. This might lead to a strategic collapse of the enemy, avoiding the relatively high number of casualties normally caused by a Kesselschlacht (cauldron battle). Such a risky independent use of armour had been widely discussed in Germany before

4428-757: The Phoney War (the French Drôle de guerre , joke war or the German Sitzkrieg , sitting war) set in between the belligerents. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would acquiesce in the conquest of Poland and quickly make peace. On 6 October, in a speech to the Reichstag he made a peace offer to the Western powers. On 9 October 1939, Hitler issued Führer-Directive Number 6 ( Führer-Anweisung N°6 ). Hitler recognised

4551-573: The South West Pacific theater . When the war started 27th Bombardment Group (minus its A-20As) was in the process of being sent to the Philippines where it was to have been re-established as an A-20 unit, but the first operational unit in actual combat was the 89th Bombardment Squadron which began operations in New Guinea on August 31, 1942. In early 1944, 312th and 417th Bombardment Groups were sent to New Guinea, equipped with A-20Gs. Most sorties were flown at low altitudes, as Japanese flak

4674-596: The United Kingdom and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion. At dawn on 1 September 1939, the German invasion of Poland began. France and the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September, after an ultimatum for German forces immediately to withdraw their forces from Poland was not answered. Australia and New Zealand also declared war on 3 September, South Africa on 6 September and Canada on 10 September. While British and French commitments to Poland were met politically,

4797-720: 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 . A total of 7,478 aircraft were built, of which more than a third served with Soviet units. It was also used by the air forces of Australia , South Africa , France , and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards. In most British Commonwealth air forces,

4920-417: The Western Campaign ( German : Westfeldzug ), the French Campaign ( Frankreichfeldzug , campagne de France ) and the Fall of France , during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries ( Belgium , Luxembourg and the Netherlands ) and France . The invasion plan for the Low Countries and France was called Case Yellow ( German , Fall Gelb ). Fall Rot ( Case Red )

5043-413: The 300,000 of the French Army. All of the British Expeditionary Force was motorised. Most of the German logistical transport consisted of horse-drawn vehicles. Only 50 per cent of the German divisions available in 1940 were fit for operations, often being worse equipped than the German army of 1914 or their equivalents in the British and French Armies. In the spring of 1940, the German Army was semi-modern;

Douglas A-20 Havoc - Misplaced Pages Continue

5166-473: The 9th Air Force in 1944. Its 155th Photographic Squadron (Night) was issued F-3As for night photographic operations. Three A-20s are in flying condition as of 2022. All are G-variants and registered in the US. The last of the 7,478 A-20s built (a K-variant) was completed in September 1944. The type was replaced in some air forces before the war's end, by types including the Douglas A-26 (USAAF), Bristol Beaufighter (RAAF), and de Havilland Mosquito (RAF). Perhaps

5289-401: The A-20As having 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) supercharged R-2600-3 or -11 engines). These had a larger vertical tail to cope with the increased power of the Wright engines, had a longer nose to give more room for the bombardier/navigator, and carried more fuel. R-2600 powered aircraft also proved popular for export, with France ordering 100 DB-7As powered by the R-2600 but with the short nose of

5412-489: The A-20B variant manufactured and a significant portion of G and H variants. The A-20 was the most numerous foreign aircraft in the Soviet bomber inventory. The Soviet Air Force had more A-20s than the USAAF . They were delivered via the ALSIB (Alaska-Siberia) air ferry route. The aircraft had its baptism of fire at the end of June 1942. The Soviets were dissatisfied with the four .30-calibre Browning machine guns, capable of 600 rounds per gun per minute, and replaced them with

5535-514: The A-20s moved to bases in Italy, Corsica , France, and then back to Italy in January 1945. Four P-70 night fighter squadrons were sent to North Africa in 1943. When they arrived they operated Bristol Beaufighter night fighters. Later the 427th Night Fighter Squadron was deployed to Italy, but the squadron exchanged its P-70s for Northrop P-61 Black Widows and so no night fighter squadron used their P-70s in combat in Europe. Meanwhile, in England, three A-20 equipped Bombardment Groups were assigned to

5658-400: The Alps took a small amount of ground and after the armistice , Italy occupied a small area in the south-east. The Vichy regime retained the zone libre (free zone) in the south. Following the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, in Case Anton , the Germans and Italians took control of the zone until France was liberated by the Allies in 1944. During the 1930s,

5781-443: The Ardennes and kept a Ju 87 and a fighter group on call. On average, they could arrive to support armoured units within 45–75 minutes of orders being issued. The German army conducted combined arms operations of mobile offensive formations, with well-trained artillery, infantry, engineer and tank formations, integrated into Panzer divisions. The elements were united by wireless communication, which enabled them to work together at

5904-400: The Army should attack early, ready or not, hoping that Allied unreadiness might bring about an easy victory. Hitler proposed an invasion on 25 October 1939 but accepted that the date was probably unrealistic. On 29 October, Halder presented Aufmarschanweisung N°2, Fall Gelb , with a secondary attack on the Netherlands. On 5 November, Hitler informed Walther von Brauchitsch that he intended

6027-410: The Belgian and Luxembourg frontiers. In March 1940, Swiss intelligence detected six or seven Panzer divisions on the German-Luxembourg-Belgian border and more motorised divisions were detected in the area. French intelligence were informed through aerial reconnaissance that the Germans were constructing pontoon bridges about halfway over the Our River on the Luxembourg–German border. On 30 April,

6150-452: The Beveland Peninsula (now the Walcheren – Zuid-Beveland –Noord-Beveland peninsula ) in the Holland Hypothesis . On 12 March 1940, Gamelin discounted dissenting opinion at GQG and decided that the Seventh Army would advance as far as Breda, to link with the Dutch. Georges was told that the role of the Seventh Army on the left flank of the Dyle manoeuvre would be linked to it and Georges notified Billotte that if it were ordered to cross into

6273-409: The DB-7 in October 1939, and 480 long-nosed DB-73s, equivalent to the A-20A, in April 1940 and Britain ordering 300 DB-7Bs, again equivalent to the A-20A in February and April 1940. In a report to the British Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (AAEE) at RAF Boscombe Down , test pilots summed it up as: "has no vices and is very easy to take off and land ... The aeroplane represents

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6396-459: The Dutch East Indies in advance. The first six were delivered by ship in February 1942. Only one aircraft was assembled in time to take part in the action. The Japanese captured the remaining aircraft of the delivery, and at least one was repaired and later tested by the Imperial Japanese Army . The next 22 DB-7Bs to be delivered to the East Indies were diverted to the Royal Australian Air Force. They served with No. 22 Squadron RAAF and fought in

6519-402: The Dyle Line, by pivoting on the right (southern) Second Army. The Seventh Army would take over west of Antwerp, ready to move into Holland and the Belgians were expected to delay a German advance, then retire from the Albert Canal to the Dyle, from Antwerp to Louvain. On the Belgian right, the BEF was to defend about 20 km (12 mi) of the Dyle from Louvain to Wavre with nine divisions and

6642-465: The Dyle plan was adopted. On 17 November, a session of the Supreme War Council deemed it essential to occupy the Dyle Line and Gamelin issued a directive that day detailing a line from Givet to Namur, the Gembloux Gap, Wavre, Louvain and Antwerp. For the next four months, the Dutch and Belgian armies laboured over their defences, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) expanded and the French army received more equipment and training. Gamelin also considered

6765-435: The East Indies from September 1942. RAAF Bostons took part in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea and in attacks on a large Japanese convoy headed toward Lae . Some A-20A/C/G planes arrived from the US from September 1943. By November 1944, No 22 Squadron was going to be assigned to the Philippines. Thirteen Bostons were destroyed on the ground during a Japanese raid on Morotai . The squadron was withdrawn to Noemfoor , where it

6888-426: The First Army, on the right of the BEF, was to hold 35 km (22 mi) with ten divisions from Wavre across the Gembloux Gap to Namur. The gap from the Dyle to Namur north of the Sambre, with Maastricht and Mons on either side, had few natural obstacles and was a traditional route of invasion, leading straight to Paris. The Ninth Army would take post south of Namur, along the Meuse to the left (northern) flank of

7011-420: The French border from Luxembourg to Dunkirk . For the first fortnight of the war, Gamelin favoured Plan E, because of the example of the fast German advances in Poland. Gamelin and the other French commanders doubted that they could move any further forward before the Germans arrived. In late September, Gamelin issued a directive to Général d'armée Gaston Billotte , commander of the 1st Army Group, ...assuring

7134-417: The French built the Maginot Line , fortifications along the border with Germany . The line was intended to economise on manpower and deter a German invasion across the Franco–German border by diverting it into Belgium, which could then be met by the best divisions of the French Army . The war would take place outside French territory, avoiding the destruction of the First World War . The main section of

7257-445: The French military attaché in Bern warned that the centre of the German assault would come on the Meuse at Sedan, sometime between 8 and 10 May. These reports had little effect on Gamelin, as did similar reports from neutral sources such as the Vatican and a French sighting of a 100 km-long (60 mi) line of German armoured vehicles on the Luxembourg border trailing back inside Germany. Germany had mobilised 4,200,000 men of

7380-425: The General Staff Oberkommando des Heeres [OKH]), presented the first plan for Fall Gelb on 19 October. Fall Gelb entailed an advance through the middle of Belgium; Aufmarschanweisung N°1 envisioned a frontal attack, at a cost of half million German soldiers to attain the limited goal of throwing the Allies back to the River Somme . German strength in 1940 would then be spent and only in 1942 could

7503-436: The German armies there. British , Belgian and French forces were pushed back to the sea by the Germans where the British and French navies evacuated the encircled elements of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French and Belgian armies from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo . German forces began Fall Rot ("Case Red") on 5 June 1940. The remaining Allied divisions in France, sixty French and two British, made

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7626-530: The German translation of the phrase "sickle cut" coined by Winston Churchill after the event. It involved three armies (the 4th , 12th and 16th ) and had three Panzer corps. The XV had been allocated to the 4th Army but the XLI (Reinhardt) and the XIX (Guderian) were united with the XIV Army Corps of two motorised infantry divisions on a special independent operational level in Panzergruppe Kleist (XXII Corps). Army Group B ( Fedor von Bock ), comprised 29 + 1 ⁄ 2 divisions including three armoured,

7749-460: The Low Countries on 10 May 1940, about 70 DB-7s had reached North Africa, equipping three Escadrilles (squadrons), which were transferred from Africa to the French mainland in response to the German attack. They flew about 70 sorties against the advancing Germans during the Battle of France , with at least eight aircraft being lost, but before the armistice surviving aircraft were evacuated to North Africa to avoid capture. Here, they came under

7872-403: The Low Countries to outflank the Maginot Line from the north, an attack on the Maginot Line or an invasion through Switzerland. None of the contingencies anticipated the German attack through the Ardennes but after the loss of the Luftwaffe plans, the Germans assumed that the Allied appreciation of German intentions would have been reinforced. Aufmarschanweisung N°3, Fall Gelb , an amendment to

7995-416: The MAC 34 could not be fitted with synchronization gear , and was more expensive to manufacture than comparable weapons; but it was compact and had excellent reliability. Originally the Armée de l'Air favoured magazine-fed weapons, but it eventually accepted that the feeding system of the MAC 34 would require too frequent reloadings for dorsal gunners, and was impractical for wing mountings, so it required

8118-400: The Maginot Line and then south-east through the Stenay Gap, for which the divisions behind the Second Army were well placed. If the Allies could control the Scheldt Estuary, supplies could be transported to Antwerp by ship and contact established with the Dutch Army along the river. On 8 November, Gamelin directed that a German invasion of the Netherlands must not be allowed to progress around

8241-415: The Maginot Line ran from the Swiss border and ended at Longwy ; the hills and woods of the Ardennes region were thought to cover the area to the north. General Philippe Pétain declared the Ardennes to be "impenetrable" as long as "special provisions" were taken to destroy an invasion force as it emerged from the Ardennes by a pincer attack . The French commander-in-chief, Maurice Gamelin , also believed

8364-425: The Moselle but failed to detect the redeployment from the Dutch frontier to the Eifel – Moselle area. On 27 January, Manstein was sacked as Chief of Staff of Army Group A and appointed commander of an army corps in East Prussia . To silence Manstein, Halder had instigated his transfer to Stettin on 9 February. Manstein's staff brought his case to Hitler, who had independently suggested an attack at Sedan, against

8487-405: The Netherlands, the left flank of the army group was to advance to Tilburg if possible and certainly to Breda. The Seventh Army was to take post between the Belgians and Dutch by passing the Belgians along the Albert Canal and then turning east, a distance of 175 km (109 mi), when the Germans were only 90 km (56 mi) distant from Breda. On 16 April, Gamelin also made provision for

8610-431: The Netherlands. USAAF A-20s were assigned to North Africa and flew their first combat mission from Youks-les-Bains, Algeria , in December 1942. They provided valuable tactical support to allied ground troops, especially during and following the Battle of Kasserine Pass . During the North African campaign, many of the A-20s were fitted with additional forward-firing machine guns. Following the German surrender in Tunisia ,

8733-490: The Pacific war as its performance was not good enough to intercept Japanese night raiders, and were replaced by Northrop P-61 Black Widows as soon as possible. In Europe, USAAF A-20 crews flew their first combat missions attached to RAF units. On 4 July 1942, 12 crews from the 15th Bombardment Squadron became the first members of the 8th Air Force to enter combat. They flew Bostons belonging to No. 226 Squadron RAF from bases in England on missions against enemy airfields in

8856-893: The RAF, where they were given the name Havoc II and converted to night fighters. Eventually the British Purchasing Commission ordered a British version as the DB-7B and the RAF named it Boston III. The Boston III was the first to operate with the RAF as a light bomber. They were supplied to squadrons in the United Kingdom and Middle East (later moved to bases in Italy) replacing Bristol Blenheims . Their first raid took place in February 1942. Many Boston IIIs were modified to Turbinlite or Intruder planes. Through Lend-Lease , Soviet forces received more than two-thirds of

8979-559: The Second Army. The Second Army was the right (eastern) flank army of the 1st Army Group, holding the line from Pont à Bar 6 km (3.7 mi) west of Sedan to Longuyon . GQG considered that the Second and Ninth armies had the easiest task of the army group, dug in on the west bank of the Meuse on ground that was easily defended and behind the Ardennes, a considerable obstacle, the traversing of which would give plenty of warning of

9102-920: The Stars , also known as Johnny in the Clouds , is a 1945 war drama film made by Two Cities Films and released by United Artists, that prominently features RAF Bostons. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Fall of France Germany : 27,074 killed 111,034 wounded 18,384 missing 1,129 airmen killed 1,236 aircraft lost 795–822 tanks lost German: 156,547 Italian: 6,029–6,040 Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The Battle of France ( French : bataille de France ; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as

9225-464: The United States. The French discreetly participated in the flight trials, so as not to attract criticism from American isolationists . The Model 7B crashed on 23 January 1939 while demonstrating single-engine performance, killing the test pilot and seriously injuring a French observer aboard the aircraft. The presence of a foreigner on a test flight for an aircraft still under development caused

9348-586: The advice of OKH. On 2 February, Hitler was told of Manstein's plan and on 17 February, Hitler summoned Manstein, General Rudolf Schmundt (Chief of Personnel of the German Army) and General Alfred Jodl , the Chief of Operations of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, Supreme Command of the Armed Forces), to a conference. The next day, Hitler ordered Manstein's thinking to be adopted, because it offered

9471-469: The area to be safe from attack, noting it "never favoured large operations". French war games, held in 1938, of a hypothetical German armoured attack through the Ardennes, left the army with the impression that the region was still largely impenetrable and that this, along with the obstacle of the Meuse River , would allow the French time to bring up troops into the area to counter any attack. In 1939,

9594-481: The battle. German tanks had radio receivers that allowed them to be directed by platoon command tanks, which had voice communication with other units. Wireless allowed tactical control and far quicker improvisation than the opponent. Some commanders regarded the ability to communicate to be the primary method of combat and radio drills were considered to be more important than gunnery. Radio allowed German commanders to co-ordinate their formations, bringing them together for

9717-528: The bomber variants were known as Boston, while the night fighter and intruder variants were named Havoc. The exception was the Royal Australian Air Force , which used the name Boston for all variants. The USAAF used the P-70 designation to refer to the night fighter variants. In March 1936, a design team headed by Donald Douglas , Jack Northrop , and Ed Heinemann produced a proposal for

9840-694: The control of the Vichy government and briefly engaged the Allies during Operation Torch , the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. After French forces in North Africa had joined the Allies, DB-7s were used as trainers and were replaced in front line escadrilles with Martin B-26 Marauders . Free French squadron I/120 Lorraine , under RAF control, was based in England and re-equipped in 1943 with Boston IIIAs, later with Boston IVs. It

9963-545: The development of a belt-fed variant. The resulting weapon was introduced in 1939, and designated as MAC 1934 M39 . The MAC 1934 machine gun equipped French aircraft from 1935 until the later 1940s. Like other rifle-calibre machine guns, the MAC 34 proved to be too light for combat in World War II . A weakness of the MAC 34 was its operation at high altitudes. It was found that at altitudes past 6,100 m (20,000 ft)

10086-563: The development of the MAC 1934 machine gun to replace the Darne mod. 1933 machine gun aboard aircraft of the Armée de l'Air . Essentially a faster-firing variant of the mitrailleuse mle 1931 , and using the same 7.5 mm MAS ammunition, the MAC 34 worked by gas operation and was fed from drum magazines. Two main variants, sharing common parts, were introduced: Because it used an open bolt action,

10209-408: The directive read that as much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied. On 10 October 1939, Britain refused Hitler's offer of peace and on 12 October, France did the same. The pre-war German codename of plans for a campaign in the Low Countries was Aufmarschanweisung N°1, Fall Gelb (Deployment Instruction No. 1, Case Yellow). Colonel-General Franz Halder (Chief of

10332-688: The east (right flank) and attack on the west (left flank) by advancing into Belgium, to fight forward of the French frontier . The extent of the forward move was dependent on events, which were complicated when Belgium ended the Franco-Belgian Accord of 1920 after the German Remilitarisation of the Rhineland on 7 March 1936. The neutrality of the Belgian state was reluctant openly to co-operate with France but information

10455-552: The expense of Army Group B to the north. While Manstein was formulating new plans in Koblenz , Generalleutnant Heinz Guderian , commander of the XIX Army Corps , was lodged in a nearby hotel. Manstein was initially considering a move north from Sedan, directly in the rear of the main Allied mobile forces in Belgium. When Guderian was invited to contribute to the plan during informal discussions, he proposed that most of

10578-538: The faster-firing, 7.62 mm (0.300 in) calibre ShKAS , capable of up to 1,800 rounds per gun per minute. During the summer of 1942, the Bostons flew ultra-low-level raids against German convoys heavily protected by flak. Attacks were made from altitudes as low as 33 ft (10 m) and the air regiments suffered heavy losses. By mid-1943 Soviet pilots were familiar with the A-20B and A-20C. The general opinion

10701-491: The field army would have needed more troops than the British Expeditionary Force.) The 88 mm Flak had an elevation of −3° to +85° and could be used as artillery i.e. against panzers. The armies which invaded the west had 85 heavy and 18 light batteries belonging to the Luftwaffe , 48 companies of light Flak integral to divisions of the army and 20 companies of light Flak allocated as army troops,

10824-403: The flanks. Hitler made such a suggestion on 11 November, pressing for an early attack on unprepared targets. Halder's plan satisfied no-one; General Gerd von Rundstedt , the commander of Army Group A ( Heeresgruppe A ) recognised that it did not adhere to the classic principles of Bewegungskrieg ( war of manoeuvre ) that had guided German strategy since the 19th century. A breakthrough

10947-586: The ground attack role. 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. In October 1941 the Netherlands government in exile ordered 48 DB-7C planes for use in the Dutch East Indies . Delivery had been scheduled for May 1942 but because of the desperate situation US government agreed to divert 32 DB-7B Boston III aircraft to

11070-638: The guns had a tendency to freeze up. Heaters were added to the guns on the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 to allow high altitude use. The Armée de l'Air had plans to use several types of heavy aircraft machine guns, including an 11 mm variant of the MAC 34, but none could be completed before the Armistice . The MAC 1934 was used in Algeria on Morane-Saulnier MS.500 light aircraft for anti guerilla operations around 1957. The Armée de l'Air installed

11193-443: The integrity of the national territory and defending without withdrawing the position of resistance organised along the frontier.... giving the 1st Army Group permission to enter Belgium, to deploy along the Escaut according to Plan E. On 24 October, Gamelin directed that an advance beyond the Escaut was only feasible if the French moved fast enough to forestall the Germans. By late 1939, the Belgians had improved their defences along

11316-516: The invasion to begin on 12 November. Brauchitsch replied that the military had yet to recover from the Polish campaign and offered to resign; this was refused but two days later Hitler postponed the attack, giving poor weather as the reason for the delay. More postponements followed, as commanders persuaded Hitler to delay the attack for a few days or weeks, to remedy some defect in the preparations or to wait for better weather. Hitler also tried to alter

11439-536: The invasion, Hitler, who had spoken to forces on the Western Front and who was encouraged by the success in Norway , confidently predicted the campaign would take only six weeks. He was most excited over the planned military glider attack on Fort Eben-Emael . On 3 September 1939, French military strategy had been settled, taking in analyses of geography, resources and manpower. The French Army would defend in

11562-590: The last substantial user was the Força Aérea Brasileira , which did not retire the A-20 until the late 1950s. The number of airframes declined rapidly. By the early 1960s, only six complete A-20s existed, worldwide. That number has since grown slowly, with the discovery of crash sites in the Pacific and Eastern Europe. Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I, Jane's Fighting aircraft of World War II General characteristics Performance Armament The Way to

11685-559: The limited Saar Offensive but by mid-October had withdrawn to their start lines. German armies invaded Belgium , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , and France on 10 May 1940. In Fall Gelb ("Case Yellow"), German armoured units made a surprise push through the Ardennes and then along the Somme valley, cutting off and surrounding the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium to meet

11808-473: The main attack against France begin. When Hitler raised objections to the plan and wanted an armoured breakthrough, as had happened in the invasion of Poland, Halder and Brauchitsch attempted to dissuade him, arguing that while the fast-moving mechanised tactics were effective against a "shoddy" Eastern European army, they would not work against a first-rate military like the French. Hitler was disappointed with Halder's plan and initially reacted by deciding that

11931-584: The necessity of military campaigns to defeat the Western European nations, preliminary to the conquest of territory in Eastern Europe, to avoid a two-front war but these intentions were absent from Directive N°6. The plan was based on the seemingly more realistic assumption that German military strength would have to be built up for several years. Only limited objectives could be envisaged and were aimed at improving Germany's ability to survive

12054-512: The next stage of the offensive, units carrying supplies for three to four days' operations. The Panzer divisions were supported by motorised and infantry divisions. German tank battalions ( Panzer-Abteilungen ) were to be equipped with the Panzerkampfwagen III and Panzerkampfwagen IV tanks but shortages led to the use of light Panzerkampfwagen II and even lighter Panzerkampfwagen I instead. The German Army lacked

12177-579: The nose position with a powerful searchlight. The Turbinlite aircraft would be brought onto a hostile aircraft by ground radar control . The onboard radar operator would then direct the pilot until he could illuminate the enemy. At that point a Hawker Hurricane fighter accompanying the Turbinlite aircraft would make the attack. The Turbinlite squadrons were disbanded in early 1943. All the French DB-7As, an improved DB-7 version, were delivered to

12300-533: The nose. The revised aircraft, the DB-7, first flew on 17 August 1939. In 1939, the USAAC decided that the new bomber was best placed to meet its requirements for an attack bomber, which had been updated in 1938 from those that gave rise to the Model 7B, and in June 1939, it ordered 186 aircraft powered by Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engines, under the designations A-20 and A-20A (with the A-20s having 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) turbosupercharged R-2600-7 engines and

12423-457: The offensive, including 42 reserve divisions. The German forces in the west in May and June deployed some 2,439 tanks and 7,378 guns. In 1939–40, 45 per cent of the army was at least 40 years old and 50 per cent of all the soldiers had just a few weeks' training. The German Army was far from motorised; ten per cent of their army was motorised in 1940 and could muster only 120,000 vehicles, compared with

12546-478: The passing of the "Cash and Carry" act on 4 November 1939 allowed the aircraft to be handed over in the United States to the French, who would then be responsible for delivering the aircraft. The DB-7s were shipped to Casablanca in French North Africa where they were reassembled and tested before being handed over to operational units of the Armée de l'Air . When the Germans attacked France and

12669-460: The plan on 30 January, was only a revision of details. On 24 February, the main German effort was moved south to the Ardennes. Twenty divisions (including seven panzer and three motorised divisions) were transferred from Heeresgruppe B opposite Holland and Belgium to Heeresgruppe A facing the Ardennes. French military intelligence uncovered a transfer of German divisions from the Saar to the north of

12792-432: The plan, which he found unsatisfactory; his weak understanding of how poorly prepared Germany was for war and how it would cope with losses of armoured vehicles were not fully considered. Though Poland had been quickly defeated, many armoured vehicles had been lost and were hard to replace. This led to the German effort becoming dispersed; the main attack would remain in central Belgium, secondary attacks would be undertaken on

12915-625: The possibility of decisive victory. Hitler recognised the breakthrough at Sedan only in tactical terms, whereas Manstein saw it as a means to an end. He envisaged an operation to the English Channel and the encirclement of the Allied armies in Belgium; if the plan succeeded, it could have a strategic effect. Halder then went through an "astonishing change of opinion", accepting that the Schwerpunkt should be at Sedan. He had no intention of allowing an independent strategic penetration by

13038-651: The rearmament plans of the 1930s while fighting a defensive land war against Germany and weakening its war economy with a trade blockade , ready for an eventual invasion of Germany. On 7 September, in accordance with the Franco-Polish alliance , France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km (3 mi) into the Saar . France had mobilised 98 divisions (all but 28 of them reserve or fortress formations) and 2,500 tanks against

13161-522: The seven Panzer divisions of Army Group A. Much to the dismay of Guderian, this element was absent from the new plan, Aufmarschanweisung N°4, Fall Gelb , issued on 24 February. The bulk of the German officer corps was appalled and called Halder the "gravedigger of the Panzer force". Even when adapted to more conventional methods, the new plan provoked a storm of protest from the majority of German generals. They thought it utterly irresponsible to create

13284-466: The slower, top-down methods of the Allies. Army Group B had the support of 1,815 combat aircraft, 487 transport aircraft and 50 gliders; 3,286 combat aircraft supported Army Groups A and C. The Luftwaffe was the most experienced, well-equipped and well-trained air force in the world. The combined Allied total was 2,935 aircraft, about half the size of the Luftwaffe . The Luftwaffe could provide close support with dive-bombers and medium bombers but

13407-698: The war but OKH doubted such an operation could work. Manstein's general operational ideas won immediate support from Guderian, who understood the terrain, having experienced the conditions with the German Army in 1914 and 1918. Manstein wrote his first memorandum outlining the alternative plan on 31 October. In it he avoided mentioning Guderian and played down the strategic part of the armoured units, to avoid unnecessary resistance. Six more memoranda followed between 31 October 1939 and 12 January 1940, each becoming more radical. All were rejected by OKH and nothing of their content reached Hitler. On 10 January 1940,

13530-399: The west of Antwerp and gain the south bank of the Scheldt. The left flank of the 1st Army Group was reinforced by the Seventh Army, containing some of the best and most mobile French divisions, which moved from the general reserve by December. The role of the army was to occupy the south bank of the Scheldt and be ready to move into Holland and protect the estuary by holding the north bank along

13653-508: Was a broadly based force, intended to support national strategy and could carry out operational, tactical and strategic bombing operations. Allied air forces were mainly intended for army co-operation but the Luftwaffe could fly air superiority missions, medium-range interdiction , strategic bombing and close air support operations, depending on circumstances. It was not a Panzer spearhead arm, since in 1939 fewer than 15 per cent of Luftwaffe aircraft were designed for close support as this

13776-686: Was canceled. In 1937, the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) issued a new specification for an attack aircraft. To meet this requirement, the Douglas team, now headed by Heinemann, developed the Model 7B , with a similar layout to the 7A, but was powered by 1,100 hp (820 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C3-G Twin Wasp 14-cylinder engines, and carried a bombload of up to 2,000 lb (910 kg). It faced competition from

13899-413: Was communicated about Belgian defences. By May 1940, there had been an exchange of the general nature of French and Belgian defence plans but little co-ordination against a German offensive to the west, through Luxembourg and eastern Belgium. The French expected Germany to breach Belgian neutrality first, providing a pretext for French intervention or that the Belgians would request support when an invasion

14022-533: Was imminent. Most of the French mobile forces were assembled along the Belgian border, ready to forestall the Germans. An early appeal for help might give the French time to reach the German–Belgian frontier but if not, there were three feasible defensive lines further back. A practicable line existed from Givet to Namur , across the Gembloux Gap ( la trouée de Gembloux ), Wavre , Louvain and along

14145-561: Was in desperate need of any aircraft suitable for night fighting and intruder duties. The type saw its first operations with the RAF in early 1941, when 181 Boston Mk IIs began to be flown as night fighters and intruders. There were two basic versions of the Havoc I, an Intruder version (glazed nose, five 0.30-inch machine guns and 2,400 pounds of bombs) and a Night Fighter version ( AI Mk.IV radar and eight 0.30-inch machine guns). Some Havocs were converted to Turbinlite aircraft which replaced

14268-410: Was needed to encircle and destroy the main body of Allied forces. The most practical place to achieve this would be in the region of Sedan , which lay in the sector of Army Group A. On 21 October, Rundstedt agreed with his chief of staff , Generalleutnant Erich von Manstein , that an alternative operational plan to reflect these principles was needed, by making Army Group A as strong as possible at

14391-434: Was not as deadly as German flak, and it was soon found that there was little need for a bomb aimer. Consequently, the bomb aimer was replaced by additional machine guns mounted in a faired-over nose. A-20Gs were an ideal weapon for pinpoint strikes against aircraft, hangars, and supply dumps. When operating in formation their heavy forward firepower could overwhelm shipboard antiaircraft defenses and at wave-top level (resembling

14514-428: Was not its main role. The Germans had an advantage in anti-aircraft guns ( Fliegerabwehrkanone [ Flak ]), with 2,600 88 mm (3.46 in) heavy Flak guns and 6,700 37 mm (1.46 in) and 20 mm (0.79 in) . Light Flak refers to the number of guns in the German armed forces, including the anti-aircraft defence of Germany and the equipment of training units. (A 9,300-gun Flak component with

14637-563: Was part of No. 2 Group RAF and then the Second Tactical Air Force and carried out numerous raids against targets in mainland Europe. In late 1944 to early 1945, a few surviving ex-French DB-7s were moved to mainland France, where they saw action against the remaining isolated German pockets on the western coast . After the Fall of France , there were still a substantial number of DB-7s which had not yet been delivered to

14760-614: Was planned to finish off the French and British after the evacuation at Dunkirk. The Low Countries and France were defeated and occupied by Axis troops down to the Demarcation line , ending land operations on the Western Front until the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. On 3 September 1939, France and Britain declared war on Germany, over the German invasion of Poland on 1 September. In early September 1939, France began

14883-434: Was re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighters before it returned to action. Surviving Bostons were relegated to transport, mail delivery and communications. In 1940, the US military's indifference to the type was overcome by improvements made for the French and British Commonwealth air forces. The USAAC was impressed enough by the A-20A's high power to weight ratio and easy handling characteristics. Two variants were ordered, in

15006-551: Was that the aircraft was overpowered and therefore fast and agile. It could make steep turns of up to 65° of bank angle, while the tricycle landing gear made for easier take-offs and landings. The type could be flown even by crews with minimal training. The engines were reliable but sensitive to low temperatures, so the Soviet engineers developed special covers for keeping propeller hubs from freezing up. Some of these aircraft were armed with fixed-forward cannons and found some success in

15129-441: Was to advance through the Low Countries and lure the northern units of the Allied armies into a pocket. It was composed of the 6th and 18th Armies. Army Group C, (General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb ) comprising 18 divisions of the 1st and 7th Armies, was to prevent a flanking movement from the east and with launching small holding attacks against the Maginot Line and the upper Rhine . Wireless proved essential to German success in

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