IN ABOUT 1942
CRASH OF AN A-20 HAVOC
INTO OPERATIONS HUT
AT CHARTERS TOWERS

The 89th Squadron was the first to be equipped with the A-20's which had been shipped from the United States in crates. They were then assembled in Brisbane and test flown before being flown to Charters Towers. An A-20 Havoc bomber, of the 89th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group, crashed into Moreton Bay, near Brisbane on 5 July 1942. Dick Birnn was on a test flight in the A-20 Havoc, when it cartwheeled into the waters of Moreton Bay.

A total of 10 A-20's were lost in in the first few months of operation of the 89th Squadron.  One of the reasons for the incidents were mismanagement of fuel requirements.  In another incident, a crew chief ran an A-20A into the Group Operations hut in Charters Towers during an engine run-up.

REFERENCE BOOKS:-

The Forgotten Fifth
A Classic Photographic Chronology of the
Fifth Air Force in Action in the Pacific in WW2
By Michael Claringbould

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 13 June 1999

This page last updated 13 June 1999