34 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
T
HE HISTORY OF the British early-
model Consolidated Liberators
used for ferrying and transport
duties during 1941–42 is rife with
tragic stories; but none more so
than the loss of Liberator Mk I AM918/G-AGDR
in February 1942, in what today would be called
a “friendly fire” incident.
The early-contract Liberators ordered by
the British from Consolidated comprised six
LB-30As (AM258–AM263, equivalent to the
USAAF’s YB-24) and 20 LB-30B/Liberator
B Mk Is (AM910–AM929, equivalent to the
B-24A), none of which was fitted with self-
sealing tanks, armour-plate or supercharged
engines, and which carried only a small number
of hand-operated defensive machine-guns. All
of the LB-30As and three of the Liberator Is were
immediately converted for transport duties for
the Atlantic Ferry Organisation (Atfero), while
the remainder of the Liberator Is became test
airframes or were modified for anti-submarine
duties over the Atlantic. Atfero was a British Air
Ministry/Canadian Pacific Railway Co (CPR)
partnership established in July 1940 to facilitate
the air delivery of American-built combat aircraft
from Canada to the UK. The first flight (of seven
Lockheed Hudsons led by future Pathfinder Don
Bennett) began in November that year.
Initially the ferry crews were returned to
Canada by ship, but this took between ten Canada by ship, but this took between ten
and 14 days and the backlog of aircraft to be
ferried was becoming severe. The availability
of the Liberators was seen as a godsend, and
the first eastbound flight, christened the Return
Ferry Service (RFS), was made on May 4, 1941.
The crews were a mixture of RAF and civilian
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
personnel, and passenger accommodation
was initially little more than mattresses and
blankets on the floor of the unheated bomb
bays, where temperatures could plummet to
-40°C. Improvements were made progressively,
however; combustion heaters were replaced by
tapping exhaust heat from the engines and 14
seats were installed aft of the bomb bays, which
were then available for cargo.
The contract with CPR expired in July 1941,
permitting the RFS to become an all-government
enterprise. As a result, RAF Ferry Command
was established on July 20, 1941. On September
24 that year BOAC was given the responsibilityIn January 1942 BOAC Liberator G-AGDR completed the outbound half of a trial
service from the UK to Egypt; two weeks later, after a series of garbled messages
between BOAC and the RAF about a revised route for the return flight, the aircraft
became the victim of a tragic “friendly fire” incident, as BOB LIVINGSTONE relates
TragedyTragedy
errors
AA
of