American workhorse

Douglas A-20 Boston/Havoc Part 1

- Jan Polc

Known as the Boston or Havoc, the A-20 was used to support Alliedarmies in all theatres of operations, and in the hands of Vichy French pilots, it also saw service with their counterparts. Some 50% of aircraft produced were delivered to the Soviet Union as a part of the LendLease Act. The Boston was very popular amongst aircrews and ground personnel not only for its flying characteristics but also for the versatility of the airframe, which could be easily converted for particular combat tasks. It was only matched in these terms by British designers with the DH.98 Mosquito.

It was designed shortly before the war’s outbreak as a private venture for the Douglas Aircraft Company by talented designers Jack Northrop and Ed Heinemann (former chief designer at Douglas’ El Segundo factory). The initial idea was to design a light bomber with a crew of three or four. Both designers were anticipating a need for aircraft in the A (Attack) category and regarded the concept of single-engined machines, such as the Northrop A-17, as both short-sighted and redundant. Their conclusions were confirmed by the tragic combat deployment of British and Belgian Fairey Battles in the first days of the Battle of France.

Northrop´s private project for a reconnaissance aircraft, designated the Model 7A, was under development at the time. It was a twin-engined high-winged design with an intended armament of fixed 0.30 calibre machine guns with an additional weapon in a retractable gun turret. It was capable of carrying up to 300kg of bombs, but the attack role was to be a secondary use only. Potential was there to constitute a base for the new aircraft, but it would be necessary to make a lot of changes to the basic design.