Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long range transport

Power Plant:

Two 895 kw (1,200 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43 fourteen-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engines

Specifications:

Armament:

Nil

History:

The requirement for a very long-range transport quickly became apparent early in World War II and, because of its roomy fuselage and good cruising speed, the Consolidated B-24 series was a logical aircraft to develop to meet this requirement. Consolidated developed a transport variant, initial deliveries being from converted B-24Ds from the Fort Worth facility in Texas.

The first 26 B-24 Liberators off the San Diego, California  production line were destined for the British Government and were delivered by air. They were found to be unsuitable by the RAF for combat operations in Europe and were converted to unarmed transports, being operated on the Atlantic Ferry Service between Prestwick in  Scotland and Monteal in  Canada. These became known as the LB-30A or Liberator I.

The Liberator II, known as the LB-30, had no B-24 counterpart and was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4G engines with two-speed superchargers driving Curtiss Electric fully feathering propellers. These became known as the C-87 in USAAF service. They had a crew of five and provision for up to 25 passengers. Externally they differed from the B-24 in not having turrets and had a row of windows along the fuselage. 287 were delivered to the USAAC with which they were used for heavy transport duties.

A number was supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease arrangements for the duration of the war. Some operated on the Hump in China and a number there was fitted with two fixed forward-firing machine-guns for defence.

The transport variants were built on the production lines at Fort Worth and San Diego. A variant was the C-87A which had sleeper berths for 10 passengers, having the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-45 engine in lieu of the R-1830-43 of the C-87. The C-87B was a projected variant with armament but was not built. The C-87C was a transport variant of the single-tail B-24N. This variant was not supplied to the USAAC but 47 were built for the US Navy as the RY-3, 27 of these being operated by the RAF under Lend-Lease.

Aircraft for the RAF received the designation LB-30A Liberator I; LB-30 Liberator II, this model having an extended nose; and Liberator III, all being used for the Transatlantic Ferry Service and the link between the United Kingdom and Egypt in 1941. These 26 aircraft were allocated civil markings for long distance communications.

The need for extra transports early in the Pacific war meant a number of war-weary Liberators were stripped of armament and other military equipment for this purpose. LB-30s were used on the Hawaii – Australia air route and the unit operating these, the 19th Troop Carrier Squadron, 7th Air Force, became known as ‘Southern Cross Airways’.

Two LB-30s operated by the 317th Troop Carrier Group (TCG) carried call signs VHCBL and VHCBM on their tails. These aircraft continued in service until the availability of Douglas C-47s when VHCBM ‘Gopher Gus’ was retired at Garbutt, Townsville, QLD. It was later obtained by Consairway, a civilian airline operating services across the Pacific, having its former serial AL573 painted on the aircraft, and was eventually flown to the US.

The other aircraft, VHCBL (ex AL570 – ‘Nipponese Nipper’ –later ‘Belle’), remained in Australia and was eventually obtained by No 36 Squadron, RAAF, receiving major work at Archerfield, QLD in November 1942. It saw considerable service, eventually returning to the US, where both VHCBM and VHCBL were scrapped in Kansas in Missouri in 1947.

In order to increase the cargo and passenger carrying capacity of aircraft transporting VIP personnel and cargo to and from the United Kingdom on the Indian Ocean Service late in World War II after the successful operation of Catalinas from Perth, WA to Ceylon, BOAC obtained an example of what was described as a Consolidated Model 32-3 Liberator, the first aircraft received becoming G-AGKT (ex AL619) and being flown to Guilford, Perth, arriving on 3 June 1944 camouflaged and with the civil registration applied.

Two of the pilots on the Indian Ocean Service were Captain O P Jones and Captain Donald Bennett. Endorsement training was carried out with the Australian Liberator unit No 7 Opertional Training Unit (OTU) at Tocumwal, NSW. First service with G-AGKT was on 15 June 1944 to Ceylon, leaving Perth and Flying to Learmonth, WA to refuel. Total distance of the route was 4,952 km (3,077 miles). The flight to Learmonth took 3 hrs 40 mins and on to Colombo took another 16 hrs 13 mins, the return flight on 21 June taking 17 hrs 21 mins.

A second aircraft was obtained, becoming G-AGKU (AL547), and received extensive modifications at Archerfield, QLD, the main change being to remove the British long-range fuel tanks and replace them with rubber tanks. This aircraft had a payload of 2,495 kg (5,500 lb), this figure including up to 15 passengers. This second aircraft made its first flight from Guilford on 24 September 1944. On 16 October it suffered a nosewheel collapse at Guilford and received extensive repairs.

Subsequently G-AGKT was modified to similar standard as G-AGKU and the aircraft continued the service, now in natural metal finish, the service becoming known as the ‘Kangaroo Service’.  Services were initially 10 days apart, increasing to four crossings a week, and by August 1945 200 flights had been made.

On 28 November 1945 a third aircraft was received, becoming G-AGTI (ex AL541). By this time the home base had become Mascot, NSW, the route followed being Mascot – Gawler, SA – Learmonth – Ratmalana in Ceylon in a time of 27 hours. A fourth aircraft became G-AGTJ (ex AL524), and was received on 7 March 1946, having been overhauled by Scottish Aviation at Prestwick, Scotland to meet Qantas requirements. Services continued but the route changed to landing at Cocos Island in lieu of Learmonth. The service wound up in April 1946 after 327 crossings were made, Qantas operating initially Catalinas, Lancastrians and Liberators, thus making a total of 824 Indian Ocean crossings.

G-AGKT and G-AGKU were retired and broken up for spares in 1947; G-AGTJ was sold to Qantas in April 1947 and became VH-EAJ, eventually being retired and broken up in November 1950; G-AGTI was also purchased by Qantas, becoming VH-EAI in June 1947, being retired and broken up in August 1950.

The Liberator in its transport form was used extensively in this region. RAF Transport Command used the transport variant known as the RY-3, this being a variant of the PB4Y-2 Privateer, known in USAAF service as the C-87C. Known also as the C.IX with the RAF, examples with No 231 Squadron RAF regularly visited Australian and New Zealand Air Force bases, flying from Sydney to San Diego. These aircraft differed visually in having a single tail.

One example, a C.VII (built as 44-39258, a C-87-CF – serial EW631 – call sign VMYCB) flying from Momote to Manus Island on 19 July 1945 crashed on take-off at Mascot where it hit a sewer outlet and all on board were killed. EW622 (ex 44-39249, a C-87-CF) crashed on Cocos Island on 30 August 1945. JT979, an RY-3 built for the US Navy as 90027, crashed at RNZAF Whenuapai on 1 September 1945.

Australian, Dutch and American crews operated Liberator transports in the South Pacific and many were used to repatriate prisoners of war and drop food and other supplies to troops in the islands.

In 1941 a USAAF unit equipped with the Boeing B-17 Fortress, which later became known as the “Kangaroo Squadron”, left the United States and arrived over Hawaii on 7 December at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.  The unit was on its way to The Philippines and was diverted to Australia.  In 1942 it was equipped with a small number of LB-30s, these aircraft not being fitted with superchargers. They were used as transports conveying guns, ammunition and anything else required at forward airstrips.

On occasion they were used for very long-range photo-reconnaissance missions over enemy-controlled territory to New Guinea, and The Philippines, on one occasion the return mission being a distance of 4,023 km (2,500 miles).  They regularly operated from Batchelor, NT and Townsville. One LB-30 on 20 August 1942 was carrying a 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, personnel and their equipment and a ton of ammunition but due to a total hydraulic failure had to make a forced landing at Milne Bay on New Britain on the steel mat runway.  Days later it was shot up by strafing Japanese fighters and destroyed.