PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - WWII Pacific 1943-44 Private Collection of Pics - RAAF Intelligence Officer
Old 18th Sep 2016, 16:38
  #9 (permalink)  
onetrack
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Perth - Western Australia
Age: 75
Posts: 1,805
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The unmarked photo below the WW2 war map of Europe and Britain, shows a Douglas A-20 ("Boston bomber") banking away after its bombing run, with the bomb bay doors still open.
I can't identify this aircraft precisely, it could be a USAAF aircraft, or it could one of the A-20's operated by 22 Sqdn RAAF.
The general lack of markings is puzzling, although the starboard engine is blocking any markings on the rear of the fuselage.
I'm tending towards the opinion it's one of the RAAF A-20's.
The aircraft shows a smooth nose and lacks the nose blisters common to many of the various A-20 models. Many of the RAAF A-20's display nose blisters, but not all. Unfortunately, good photos of all the RAAF A-20's are in short supply, so it makes ID very difficult.
I can't identify the harbour in the attack precisely, but it's not Rabaul. I suspect it may be Manokwari, New Guinea (now Indonesia), where an attack on Jap shipping was carried out by Bostons in April 1944.

The poor old Bostons had a bad run with the RAAF. A number were lost in training accidents, and at least two, and possibly others, were destroyed, when fragmentation bombs bounced back into the fuselage and exploded.
Then the Japs launched a savage air attack on Morotai airfield in Nov 1944, and caught a large number of RAAF aircraft on the ground. I think around nine Bostons were destroyed in that attack.

ADF serials - Douglas A-20
onetrack is offline