9th AF Patch

416th Bombardment Group (L)

Douglas A-20 "Havoc"

Disposition

 

 

WWII-Medal

Return to Table of Contents



A-20 Disposition

The official 416th Bomb Group description of the Group's Conversion from A-20 to A-26 type aircraft
states "Conversion to the A-26 Invaders was completed on 5 November [1944]. The A-20s that we had been using were flown back to England."
Many of these A-20's likely were sent to USAAF Station 597, Langford Lodge, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, U.K.

Information provided by Will Lindsay, Curator USAAF Station 597 Museum - Langford Lodge,
notes that aircraft from 8th and 9th Air Force Bomb Groups began to arrive at Langford Lodge in late 1944 after the base
was re-designated a Storage and Experimental station, attached to the Base Air Depot Area, BADA.
Aircraft continued to arrive until around the end of June 1945, weeks before the base was due to close.
Included were many of the A-20 Havoc aircraft from the 409th, 410th and 416th Bomb Groups upon being replaced by the A-26 Invader.
See also USAAF Station 597 - Langford Lodge - 1942-1945 AIRCRAFT SERVICE UNITS (PDF)

Aerial photograph of aircraft in open storage at Langford Lodge, including several 416th BG A-20s.
(Photo courtesy Will Lindsay)


Some of these aircraft were refurbished for continued use, many were prepared for long-term storage and others salvaged.
Some that were initially stored at Langford Lodge were subsequently flown and stored at the 1st Base Air Depot (BAD), at Burtonwood, England.
Langford Lodge closed in August 1945 and after the end of WWII, many of the aircraft at Burtonwood were salvaged
as documented in photographs below provided by Will Lindsay.


416th BG, 669th Bomb Sq. A-20 2A-V, right-side foreground


    
Left: 416th BG, 671st Bomb Sq. A-20 5C-K in right-side background
Right: 416th BG, 671st Bomb Sq. A-20 5C-C in right-side background, 410th BG 647th BS 6Q-K in foreground


    
Left and Right: 416th BG, 668th Bomb Sq. A-20G 5H-?


    
Left: 409th BG, 640th Bomb Sq. A-20 W5-?


    


    





Additionally, in Chapter 12, page 168 of Jay A. Stout's "Unsung Eagles: True Stories of America's Citizen Airmen in the Skies of World War II"
book (ISBN: 9781612002095), Harry V. "Bob" Popeney, a pilot in the 416th BG relays the following story:

"Of course, once we were checked out in the A-26 we had to give up our A-20s." Popeney and the other pilots in the unit flew their A-20s to Blackpool on the western coast of Scotland. Once they landed they were stopped on the runway and told to get their gear and get out of their aircraft with the engines still running. At that point a mechanic pushed the throttles forward and the aircraft dribbled off the end of the runway, over the cliffs and into the sea. "That's how we got rid of our A-20s," Popeney recalled. "It broke my heart."

Dave Andrews, another 416th BG pilot, discussed the same event during his interviews with Wayne Sayles.