Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat dive bomber

Power Plant:

One 746 kw (1,000 hp) Wright R-1820-52 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Two 12.7 mm (0.50 in) fixed machine-guns in the nose; two 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine-guns on flexible mount in rear cockpit; one 454 kg (1,000 lb) bomb on centre-line rack; one 45 kg (100 lb) bomb under each wing on fixed rack

History:

The Douglas A-24 series was designed as a dive-bomber variant of the Douglas Dauntless but did not achieve the fame of that aircraft and, after a number of not particularly successful operations, was relegated to the training and support roles.

In July 1940 a Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless of the US Marine Corps was demonstrated to the US Army and was evaluated by the 24th Bombardment Squadron. On 27 September 1940 the United States War Department ordered 78 aircraft under the designation A-24-DE. These were ordered under US Navy contracts as the Navy had jurisdiction over the El Segundo facility in California where the type was built.

The first A-24, which was similar to the SBD-3 but was fitted with Army instrumentation and radio equipment, and which was fitted with a pneumatic tailwheel in place of the solid rubber unit, was taken on charge by the US Army on 17 June 1941. The first operational unit to use the type was the 27th Bombardment Group based at Savannah in Georgia. Serials allotted to the series were 41-15746 to 41-15823 (c/ns 802 to 956) and 42-6682 to 42-6771 (c/ns 1209 to 1526). Three squadrons were equipped, plus one squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group.

In November 1941 the United States was seeking to send all available fighters and bombers to The Philippines to bolster the defences against Japanese attacks. Amongst the aircraft involved were Douglas A-24s of the 27th (Light) Bombardment Group, this unit’s aircraft being on board a convoy which sailed from Pearl Harbour in Hawaii in late November escorted by the cruiser ‘USS Pensacola’. This unit equipped with 52 Douglas A-24s (similar to the SBD-3A but with naval equipment removed) was on its way to The Philippines but, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbour, The Philippines and Malaya, the fleet was diverted to Brisbane, QLD on 12 December 1941, arriving on 22 December. The US Military Attache was then ordered to arrange the unloading of the aircraft in Brisbane for their deployment to The Philippines. These aircraft were assembled at Archerfield, QLD but for some time were missing important parts.

Records indicated that these aircraft had previously been involved in manoeuvres in Lousiana during September 1941 and were missing trigger motors and solenoids which prevented the operation of the machine-guns. Many had worn tyres and it was necessary for Australian personnel to machine parts to get the machine-guns operable. Truck tyres were used to replace the aircraft tyres. Eventually made airworthy, a dive-bombing school for a short period was set up at Amberley, QLD for pilot training.  A second convoy loaded with aircraft arrived in Brisbane on 12 January 1942.

The 27th Bomb Group comprised the 91st, 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons equipped with the Douglas A-24 and, for a period, were based at Batchelor, NT in February and March 1942. The 91st Squadron departed Brisbane on 4 February 1942 for Koepang in Timor, the 16th Squadron leaving on 13 February. However, whilst on the Cloncurry, QLD to Daly Waters, NT leg of the journey the nine aircraft of the latter unit made an emergency landing at the local railway siding airstrip at Maranboy due to a shortage of fuel, one being extensively damaged when it hit a tree stump.

Of the aircraft of the 91st Squadron which reached Malang in Java, arriving on 17 February, only seven were suitable for combat. It was said they had worn-out engines, no armour plate, no self-sealing fuel tanks and received no fighter protection. They spent the next ten days attacking Japanese targets, including ships, and an air base on Bali. Two were shot down and three badly damaged. In March they were ordered to evacuate to Australia.

The aircraft of the 16th Squadron arrived at Daly Waters on 17 February but were refused permission to continue to Koepang due to Japanese attacks on northern Australia. The 7^th Bomb Group ground personnel of the USAAF in December 1941 were diverted from The Philippines to Australia, these troops disembarking at Brisbane on 23 December 1941.  About half of these troops were taken to Archerfield aerodrome where they became involved in assembling Douglas A-24 dive bombers and Curtiss P-40 fighters which had also arrived in Brisbane.

A few days later the Douglas A-24s of the 17th Squadron arrived at Batchelor, and operated in conjunction with CAC Wirraways of No 12 Squadron RAAF flying anti-shipping sorties in the area. Pilots and gunners performed their own maintenance with the assistance of personnel from No 12 Squadron. It was whilst one of the aircraft was being serviced in the No 12 Squadron hangar at Darwin, NT that the aircraft was destroyed on 19 February 1942 when the hangar received a direct hit from Japanese bombs.

The Douglas A-24s were in generally poor condition at this time and needed new engines and other equipment. Photographs indicated at least three aircraft of the 27th Bonb Group were wrecked at Batchelor. Fifteen replacement aircraft eventually arrived at Brisbane and the unit was ordered to Townsville, QLD. In March 1942 they were absorbed into the 3rd Bomb Group. The aircraft were flown to Charters Towers, QLD in late March and at this time two (41-15774 and 41-15816) were lost in a collision. The 8th Bombardment Squadron operated from there for a period until it moved to Seven Mile aerodrome at Port Moresby, PNG in April 1942.

The 8th Bombardment Squadron later took up duties in the Port Moresby area, its first operation being on 1 April 1942 when six aircraft were to attack Lae, PNG but, due to weather, dropped bombs on Salamaua. First operational loss was 41-15773 on 7 April 1942 over Lae, followed by 41-15819 shot down north of Buna on 29 July 1942, and 42-15811 which crashed at Wards Strip on 9 May 1942.

The 27th Bomb Group lost four aircraft whilst operating in the Darwin area. During Japanese attacks on Buna, PNG on 29 July 1942 a force of seven A-24s of the 8th Squadron, escorted by Bell P-39 Aircobras, was tasked to attack Japanese shipping between Buna and Gona. A convoy close in shore was found and attacked, five A-24s being shot down by patrolling Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes. One managed to land at Milne Bay and later returned to its base at Port Moresby.

It was later decided the Douglas A-24 was not suitable for further operations. The type was withdrawn and re-assigned to liaison and communications duties, only nine of the original 52 aircraft at this time surviving. The survivors continued in these roles up until the end of the war.

Further aircraft were sent to Australia, the ‘SS Hawaiian Merchant’ delivering 15 to Brisbane in February 1942. Other aircraft which suffered accidents in Australia included 41-15812 which did a wheels-up landing at Amberley; 41-15809 which crashed into the sea near Southport, QLD; 51-15808 which crashed 10 miles south of Archerfield on 31 January 1942; 41-15802 which crashed at Redbank, QLD on 27 January 1942; 41-15755 which crashed at Aramac, QLD whilst flying to Daly Waters in February 1942; 41-15803 which crash-landed at Maranboy, NT; and 41-15805 which crashed at McKinlay, QLD on 10 February 1942. Others involved in accidents included 41-15816, 41-15774, 41-15821 and 41-15772. On 5 June 1942 two A-24s 41-15816 and 41-15774 collided near Charters Towers, and were destroyed.

The type was tentatively named ‘Banshee’ but this name never appeared in official documentation. One unit with the type was the 58th Bombardment Squadron based at Wheeler Field, Hawaii. It carried out operations on Kiska Island in the Aleutians on 4 August 1943. The 58th Squadron later was re-designated the 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron and was transferred to the Gilbert Islands.

One Douglas A-24 was obtained by Squadron Leader Brian ‘Blackjack’ Walker, Commanding Officer of No 12 Squadron RAAF at Batchelor, and it was fitted with a new Wright GR-1820 Cyclone engine and a propeller from a Boeing B-17 Fortress. It was used as his personal aircraft, being flown as far afield as Sale, VIC, and into South Australia. Once he took command of No 30 Squadron equipped with Bristol Beaufighters, Walker handed the aircraft over to an American Colonel and it remained his personal ‘hack’ at Townsville, having the paint stripped and operating in a polished aluminium scheme.

The only relics that remain of these Douglas A-24s are a gunner’s seat and part of a windscreen assembly on display at the Darwin Aviation Museum. At least one example has survived in the United States.