From Richmond to PNG: the Douglas Boston in RAAF service

A year later, by late 1941, and with encroaching Japanese aggression now a reality, the NEI government had more solid ground on which to make fresh appeals for arms. Following Pearl Harbor these requests were approved by the US government including a contract for 32 Douglas DB-7B Boston/ Boston III bombers diverted from a RAF order. They were destined for the Navy Aviation Service (Marine Luchtvaartdienst) of the Royal Dutch Navy (Koninklijke Marine) in Java.

The DB-7Bs were intended to be assembled at Maguwo, then the main airfield near Yogyakarta, where an assembly hangar had been constructed for the purpose. However, this was damaged during an air raid on 22 February 1942, and the Dutch squadrons stationed there were transferred elsewhere, although a few days later Yogyakarta became the headquarters of the USAAC’s Fifth Bomber Command. On 28 February 1942 the Marine Luchtvaartdienst returned there with a detachment of about 60 men.

This detachment took over a workshop adequately equipped for aircraft and engine maintenance, but on 1 and 2 March 1942 Yogyakarta was bombed again and subsequently evacuated following news of rapid Japanese advances in Central Java. This unfolded just after the first six DB-7B Bostons had been unloaded on 27 February 1942 at Batavia, Java, from the MV Kota Baroe.

Following Dutch capitulation of the NEI on 8 March 1942, two of this batch of six airframes were captured and rendered airworthy by the Japanese (British serials AL904 and AL906). Captured pristine in its packing case, AL904 was later recovered in airworthy condition from Atsugi Naval Air Base in Japan after the war. Meanwhile, with NEI ports no longer considered secure, two shipments of the remaining Dutch Bostons were diverted to Australia. The first shipment of seventeen bombers was unloaded in Sydney and Melbourne, whilst five more remained afloat in Hobart harbour awaiting clarification of their legal status. This shipment of five later docked at Geelong, meaning that at short notice Australia unexpectedly acquired an inventory of 22 DB-7B Bostons in wooden packing cases. Given the dire strategic situation they urgently needed to put into service, but with who?

A flurry of paperwork and discussions saw them allocated to the RAAF. Once unpacked from their wooden boxes the Bostons presented multifarious technical and engineering challenges, including a lack of proper tools. In that timeless battle of headquarters versus field, RAAF headquarters demonstrated limited sympathy for the difference in specifications, hardware and tools imposed on the US-constructed airframes.

The extant suite of tools employed by RAAF engineers at the time conformed to British Standard Whitworth measurements, while the US aircraft industry observed Society of Automotive Engineers specifications. From the operational perspective emanated a separate suite of challenges. The Boston was technologically advanced, more so than any other aircraft in RAAF service. Furthermore, it was also the first type to enter RAAF custody with a nosewheel, another first for transitioning aircrew.

Nine Bostons were assembled at Geelong by the No. 1 Air Depot and were then test-flown at nearby RAAF Laverton. The RAAF serial prefix number allocated was A28, with A27 just having been allocated to the Vultee Vengeance then on order, and the following A29 serial allocated to the Kittyhawk fighter. Whilst still marked in Dutch markings as D70, A28-9 experienced an accident on 13 April 1942 at Laverton when its nose wheel blew out. This was caused by a tail-heavy landing which also scraped the rear fuselage.

Meanwhile, four more Bostons were marked A28-1, A28-2, A28-3 and A28-4, all of which were ferried to RAAF Richmond, New South Wales, on 25 April 1942. They were followed the next day by A28-6, A28-7, A28-8 and A28-9, the latter of which had quickly been put back into service. Absent from Richmond was A28-5, as a result of an accident at Laverton on 12 April 1942 during a test flight which had damaged a maingear when landing. Still wearing Dutch serial D66 it arrived at RAAF Richmond a little later on 30 April 1942. Then, over the course of May and June 1942 Bostons A28-11, -12, -14, -15, -16, -17, -18, -19, -21 and -22 all entered service after assembly by No. 2 Air Depot at Richmond.

Meanwhile, during this test period on 19 May 1942 whilst returning from an over-ocean training flight, Dick Fethers was forced to land at Sydney’s Mascot airport instead of Richmond due to his low fuel situation in A28-17. When he over-ran the runway the resultant impact badly damaged both engines and airframe.

Although assembly of the Bostons had been commenced by the RAAF, the desirability of operating such a fast bomber was not surprisingly about to be contested. Robust negotiations and lobbying had continued to emanate from the Melbourne headquarters of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and its attached Army Air Force, who wanted to get their hands on what they considered was legally their property. Their man at Archerfield, Captain WF Boot, commander of the NEI Archerfield detachment, had been told that an additional six Mitchells en route for the NEI had been commandeered by the USAAF. This decision had understandably raised tensions between Allied stakeholders.

The thorny issue placed more contestation on the Bostons, several of which were now airworthy and awaiting deployment, and yet more discussion and negotiation ensued. The end result was a resolution to equip both Nos. 18 and 22 Squadrons with Douglas DB-7B and A-20A Bostons, the former unit being a Dutch-crewed one within RAAF organisation and administration. The orphan shipment of the 22 DB-7B Bostons would be supplemented by A-20A inventory from the US. Note that absorption of the Bostons into service was still considered only an interim solution by the RAAF, pending delivery of the Vultee Vengeance dive-bomber. However, it soon became apparent that production delays in the Vultee factory would push back delivery of the first Vengeance into early 1943.

At this to-and-from juncture of June 1942, No. 22 Squadron had eleven Bostons in service, whilst three more were undergoing fuel and oil tank modifications along with the installation of torpedo racks. Then surprisingly, the commanding officer of No. 18 Squadron, Wing Commander Bernadus Fideldij, refused to accept the Boston, claiming it lacked sufficient range to reach targets from Australia in the now Japanese-occupied NEI. Instead, Fideldij pressed for the hotly contested B-25C which had sufficient range to strike Japanese occupiers in the NEI. Accordingly, further robust discussions ensued with his American counterparts.

In the midst of this confusion, and turmoil it was, ten A-20As had meanwhile been slated for the RAAF, the first three of which were ferried to RAAF Fairbairn, Canberra, on 15 June 1942. These were flown down from RAAF Amberley via RAAF Richmond being US serials 40-077, 40-082 and 40-101. With the horse-trading still going on at higher levels as previously outlined, there was yet another change of mind. The following day, led by USAAF 8th BS pilot First Lieutenant Henry Rose, this trio was ordered to depart RAAF Fairbairn and stage themselves northwards to Brisbane bound ultimately for Charters Towers. There they would enter service with the 8th BS of the 3rd BG, USAAF.

For now, the other seven A-20As allocated to No. 22 Squadron were ferried to Fairbairn on 23 June 1942 by RAAF crews. Again, at short notice these were reassigned to the 8th BG. It was then confirmed that No. 18 Squadron would retain sought-after B-25Cs as primary inventory, with a flight of A-20As provisioned for training. With the dust settled, or so it seemed, at the end of June once again there was another eleventh-hour change of plan. Henceforth all DB-7A Bostons would be retained by the RAAF, whilst it was confirmed that No. 18 Squadron would become solely a B-25C outfit. The decision seemed providential when yet a further delay was announced pertaining to the delivery of the elusive Vengeances. This now positioned No. 22 Squadron, home-based at Richmond, to operate the Bostons until at least the beginning of 1943. However, matters would turn out very differently.

Shortly after the first Bostons arrived at Richmond, No. 22 “City of Sydney” Squadron was reclassified as an Intruder Squadron and commenced the process of transferring its Wirraways to No. 23 Squadron. Training and familiarisation on the Bostons began in earnest with formation, test, night and conversion flying the order of the day. The incumbent unit commander was Squadron Leader Russell “Dinger” Bell who had served in Hudsons in Malaya.

A good example of cross-country flying took place on 29 May when a formation of Bostons flew from Richmond to Nabiac and Williamtown before returning to Richmond. Now largely forgotten, RAAF Nabiac was an advanced operating base located near the town of Nabiac, NSW. It was constructed in 1942 by the NSW Public Works Department about ten kilometers southeast of the town, and eventually comprised two runways, with bomb dumps and camouflaged hangars for aircraft deployed there.

For the new Boston crews the month of June 1942 saw a period of heightened tension as Japanese submarines were active off the NSW coast, following on from the 31 May midget submarine attack in Sydney Harbour. On 4 June Charles Learmonth conducted a search for survivors of the bulk carrier Iron Chieftain, sunk off Sydney late the previous evening by submarine I-24.

On 6 June Flight Lieutenant Vernon Morgan flying A28-12 was credited with sinking an enemy submarine, three miles east of Botany Bay. Alas, no submarine was sunk and in fact no Japanese submarines were in the vicinity that night. Throughout the month the squadron regularly deployed a single Boston to Nabiac, north of Sydney, in the event of callouts for submarine patrols. The deployment terminated on 23 June.

In June 1942, all of the Bostons were ordered fitted with a jettisonable 200-gallon fuel tank in the forward bomb bay, a 130-gallon tank installed in the rear bomb bay and twin ten-gallon oil tanks in the fuselage opposite the engines. These extra fuel tanks proved problematic due to a lack of baffling. This allowed the sudden movement of fuel during flight which in turn affected the Boston’s centre of gravity and were later removed.

Throughout July and August, and with an average of five Bostons serviceable on any given day, No. 22 Squadron flew a regime of extensive anti-submarine and convoy patrols, several of which staged through Nowra and Moruya on the NSW coast. Submarine patrols sometimes extended three hundred miles from shore, whilst convoy patrols were more arduous as the Bostons made wide circles over slow-moving ships. Low level bombing exercises were also conducted in the period, and among the more mundane duties were return flights to Wagga Wagga to collect spare parts and ferry flights to deliver Tiger Moths to Cootamundra, with the pilots returning to Richmond by slow train.

On 4 July naval cooperation exercises were conducted with the light cruiser HMAS Adelaide off the NSW coast. On 11 July A28-7 force-landed near Parramatta during a ferry flight from Richmond to Sydney resulting in a technical glitch from the installation of auxiliary fuel tanks. The Boston was undamaged and flown out the following day, but the new tanks were proving an unwelcome distraction. On 27 July six No. 22 Squadron personnel conducted an arduous cross-country walk from Blackheath to Richmond through the Blue Mountains National Park to test the suitability of aircraft ration packs to provision combat flying in the Bostons. Following the exercise with HMAS Adelaide, on 31 July A28-19 cooperated with the corvette HMAS Castlemaine to conduct radio direction finder trials. Then, on 18 August A28-16 cooperated with searchlight ground units in an exercise over Sydney.

Behind all this relatively benign but preparatory activity lay the looming excitement of forward deployment to New Guinea, presaged on 4 September when an advance party departed Richmond for Wards ‘drome, Port Moresby, by C-47. Their task was to survey a potential squadron camp area and precinct. Then, on 10 September, ten Bostons departed Richmond for Charters Towers, with three more following the next day. Following the unit’s deployment to Charters Towers, and in preparation for combat service in New Guinea, additional 0.303-inch calibre Browning machine-guns were mounted through a universal ball mount in the nose. Several Bostons had a singular gun installed in the tail, in a fixed “blind” position meaning it could not be aimed. The installation added about 50 kilograms of weight, and its rationale was that a rear-facing gun would deter attacks from directly astern, a blind spot for the crew. A 0.50-inch calibre Browning machine gun was trialed on Boston A28-14, however, it proved too cumbersome, and was even heavier. Furthermore, all of these tail installations were removed before the unit moved to New Guinea as they were by then considered extraneous for low-level attacks. Meanwhile some No. 22 Squadron engineers cast an eye to USAAF A-20As undergoing modification to full strafer configuration.

Soon movement for New Guinea was clearly afoot, and on 22 September most of the ground echelon boarded a train headed for Archerfield, near Brisbane, before continuing north to RAAF Garbutt in Townsville. There they waited for a ship bound for Port Moresby. Then, on 27 September, A28-1, A28-9 and A28-12 flew from Garbutt for temporary duty at Wards ‘drome, before returning three days later. Their main assignment was to judge operating conditions for the Bostons at Wards, which in the event was determined to be satisfactory. On 9 October Bostons A28-3, A28-4, A28-7 and A28-15 undertook a temporary deployment from Garbutt to Cairns. This brief assignment was to look for USAAF fighters reported as missing from a delivery flight to New Guinea. The fighters were not in fact lost but had been declared missing due to a communications debacle.

Following the Blue Mountains National Park trekking adventure, more consideration was being given on how best to equip crews for combat in New Guinea. Whilst parachutes were standard equipment, it was recognised that baling out of a Boston was not straightforward for either the pilot or gunners. In the case of the former there was a considerable chance of hitting the fin upon exit. Any wireless-gunner in the rear had limited hatch space through which to exit, and in fact exiting through the bottom hatch with a parachute strapped to the upper torso was nigh impossible. Furthermore, missions over water would also require a lifejacket, thus tightening the parachute straps and filling out even more body space. A jungle kit was in the process of assemblage too, including rations, while the crews also carried a revolver and bush knife. The Boston came with a dinghy secured behind the pilot’s head, restrained by the pilot hatch. It was designed to release easily, and much stock was placed on its apparent proximity. This trust later proved well-founded in real ditchings.

On 9 October A28-19 force-landed with engine problems during a ferry flight from Garbutt to Archerfield where it was to be fitted with nose guns, putting down on a property owned by the Cruice family, about four kilometres from Woodford, Queensland. The crew comprised pilot 26-year-old Flying Officer Robert Wines and wireless-gunner Flight Sergeant Clifford Grove. Wines picked a wide-open area in which to land gear-down. However, the bomber impacted a gully hidden by grass, and the resultant force sheared the nosewheel and broke the airframe’s back. One of the Cruice brothers used an axe to free Wines from the bent cockpit whilst Grove was able to clamber out uninjured. The heavily damaged bomber was written off and converted to components.

The following day of 10 October the enthusiastic No. 22 Squadron personnel, all 325 of them, commenced loading equipment aboard the coal steamer SS Anhui at the Townsville wharves, before boarding and embarking for Port Moresby on 14 October. They docked at Port Moresby’s main wharf following a five-day cramped and disagreeable voyage.

No. 22 Squadron has arrived in New Guinea.

The Douglas Boston in RAAF Service: No. 22 Squadron 1942-1944, published by Avonmore Books, is out now. Visit avonmorebooks.com.au