Is it a Bolo?

[ChrisMcD]

Hi Folks,

The Sunday Times had this image of the wartime photographer Gellhorn on an American airbase in Britain.

Is that a Bolo. How did it manage to get across the Atlantic? How many weeks did it take?

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/chrismcd3/WWIIbomber.jpg

Sorry about the 'ghosting' newspaper is too thin for a good scan.

[Kutscha]

Looks like a B-18A Bolo or Digby(RCAF).

The B-18 had a range of 2200mi.

[GregP]

Many aircraft were transported on ships and so simply hitched a ride across the pond.

[Ricky]

I didn't know that any Bolo's made it to Britain...

[R Leonard]

The caption says “British base”, not “base in Britain”. So I wonder if this photo is even in the UK. Looking at the variety of outfits, it would seem that this is a fairly warm clime. How do we know they’re not operating out of Bermuda, for example?

Does anyone know if B-18 units even made it to England?

Rich

[Ricky]

Ah, good point. It could even be in the Carribean, or one of the bases we swapped for 50 destroyers...

[ChrisMcD]

Hi Gents,

The Bermuda (triangel?) idea is a good one.

I thought that by WWII all the B18's were doing maritime patrol.

[Lightning]

HI All,

I don't think the RAF used any Bolos, but the RCAF bought 20 of them and used them for patrol bombers. Their name for it was the "Digby." Whether or not they had any built especially for them (i.e. not buying already built aircraft) I don't know.

Regards,
Lightning

[montanamotor]

Hi,

is that a "Norden"-bombsight that's buried so neatly under the wrap in the bomb-gunner's compartment - so as to please the wartime censors?

At what time was the Norden-sight introduced? And was it EVER sold to the British? Or could anyone say from assessing the sheer dimensions, that this is NOT a Norden-sight? I think I remember the Norden-sight was quite a bulky piece of engineering - maybe bulkier that that one under the wraps in the glasshouse-nose?

Is that correct - the Bolo basically was a DC 3 with a bomb-bay, glassnose and guns? Or was there more up with it?

Cheers!

Montanamotor

[Kutscha]

Yes Lightning, the RACF called it the Digby, see my post above.;)

They were assigned to 10 (BR) Squadron for Atlantic anti U-boat patrols. They sank 1 U-boat while the American B-18s sank 2 U-boats.

RCAF > U-520:

Sunk 30 Oct, 1942 east of Newfoundland, in position 47.47N, 49.50W, by depth charges from a Canadian Digby aircraft. 53 dead (all hands lost)

American > U-512, U-654

details > http://uboat.net/index.html

montanamotor, the B-18 was derived from the Douglas DC-2/3 family of transport. Not a bad site usually, http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b18.html

A further evalution, the B-23 Dragon was derived from the DC-3 transport.

http://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20MAM%20COLLECTION%20B-23%20BORDER.htm

[JoeB]

quote:Originally posted by R Leonard

The caption says “British base”, not “base in Britain”.

I think that's it. B-18's flew ASW patrols out of Jamaica and Trinidad at least among British posessions (at the time) in the Carribean.

The U-512 sinking was by a 99th BS a/c based in Surinam Oct 24 '42. The U-654 sinking was by a 45th BS a/c based in the Panama Canal Zone Aug 22 '42. A B-18 of the 10th BS based at Aruba made the final attack on U-615 by light of flares the night of August 6/7 1943; it had been continuously attacked by Navy PBM's and PV's since the previous night, fighting back on the surface (as U-boats were doing at that time) and downing one PBM, killing the pilot of another. The boat scuttled itself the morning of the 7th.

Joe

[Lightning]

quote:Yes Lightning, the RACF called it the Digby, see my post above. ;)

Kutscha, Were the Digbys B-18s that were gotten from the USAAF and then renamed, or were they originally built for the RCAF under purchase contract? The source I read said the RCAF bought 20 B-18s from the US, but it was unclear whether these were bought from existing inventory or directly from Douglas by contract.

[Kutscha]

Can't say for sure Lightning but the Digby had Vickers .303s instead of Browning .30s. The radio equipement was also different. Baugher says the 20 were ordered from Douglas.

The 20 a/c were given serial numbers 738 to 757 but I can't find any correspond USAAF numbers. They were delivered from March to May 1940. Serial numbers for the B-18A are 37-458/634, 38-585/609 and 39-12/64.

Btw, Castle Air Museum has one on display.

[kurier44]

This image was taken at Rio Hato Panama in late 1940 or early 1941. The B-18 and personnel are of the 9th BG and at this time I cannot verify which squadron. Martha Gellhorn was also Ernest Hemingway's wife.

[Cirrus]

quote:Originally posted by kurier44

This image was taken at Rio Hato Panama in late 1940 or early 1941. The B-18 and personnel are of the 9th BG and at this time I cannot verify which squadron. Martha Gellhorn was also Ernest Hemingway's wife.

Kurier
You seem to very sure. Can you tell us more? I thought it could be a B18A of the 9th BG at Trinidad - that would also fit in with the 'British base' claim. Does anyone know if Gelhorn was in either of these places in 1941?