Warbird Information Exchange

A-20G on a mission over France Aug 1944

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Don't touch my junk!!

I don't recall ever seeing an A-20 with a Martin turret....WOW!

b29flteng......it means...Ya' Just Never Know...

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Martin was the standard turret on the A-20 was it not??

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Don't touch my junk!!

What I didn't realize was they had a turret at all. I always thought it had a birdcage type canopy that had a hand held gun, like the B-17 radio compartment. I learn new stuff every day!

Martin turrets showed up on later models.
To learn more about A-20's check out the book "Wreaking Havoc. A Year in an A-20" I got it from Mil . Book club and gave it to a friend as a gift after reading it. Wish now I'd kept it. The author's last name was Rutter, I think.

Canso42

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A-20's prior to the G model had either a pair of .30 cal guns or a single .50 cal in the upper rear gunner's position.The early G models had the single .50,but starting with A-20G-20-DO models,they switched to a Martin power turret.The fuselage had to be widened a bit where the turret was mounted.Efightmanuals says that it's okay to post up to 10 pages from any of their manuals.

I didn't know those had tunnel guns.
Canso42

The author is Joseph W. Rutter. I purchased a copy from Historic Aviation. Great book and recommend reading for any A-20 fan The author was just an average Joe who volunteered, flew his missions and lived to tell about it.

In the book, he indicates that the tunnel gun was replaced with a strike camera for the low level missions. The pictures taken from his plane over Clark Field were amazing.

I'm also reading "The Grim Reapers At Work in the Pacific Theater - The Third Attack Group of the U.S. Fifth Air Force" by John P. Henebry. It focuses more on the B-25, but there's a bit on the A-20 as well.

The most astonishing fact that I learned from this book was after the initial installment of A-20s were supplied to the 89th Squadron in 1942...no additional A-20s were forthcoming from the United States throughout 1942 or 43, causing the 89th to be re-equipped with the B-25s after their A-20s wore out. Eventually, in early 1944, the group re-equipped with new A-20s like the one pictured above.

IIRC, there were only two USAAF groups flying the A-20 in combat prior 1944, the 3rd in the Pacific and the 47th in North Africa. Where were all the A-20s going? There were over 5,000 produced. I imagine a good chunk went to Lend Lease as Britain and Russia used the A-20 as well, but to "cut off" the 3rd in favor of Lend Lease doesn't make much sense. Can anyone shed light on this?

Hello..

" IIRC, there were only two USAAF groups flying the A-20 in combat prior 1944, the 3rd in the Pacific and the 47th in North Africa. Where were all the A-20s going? There were over 5,000 produced. I imagine a good chunk went to Lend Lease as Britain and Russia used the A-20 as well, but to "cut off" the 3rd in favor of Lend Lease doesn't make much sense. Can anyone shed light on this?"

What Jock wrote in his book is correct.. The 89th Sqdn was flying the early versions of the A-20 until late 43'..The 3rd's other 3 Sqdn's ; 8th, 13th and 90th, transitioned to A-20's starting in late Nov 43' into early Jan 44', which was when the 89th finally ended up with the newer G Model...
As a side bar, some of the 89th's early A-20's were equipped with the flight controls in the Gunner's compartment..

Bill