Douglas A-20 Havoc (1938-1944): The Douglas A-20 Havoc attack bomber, designed for both medium and low-level missions, was one of the most widely used combat planes of World War II. The plane served not only with American air forces, but also those of France, Holland, Great Britain, and Russia. The A-20 earned a well-deserved reputation for bringing itself and its crew home when neither were in the best condition. During the first American air attack on Nazi-occupied Europe (July 4,1942), an A-20 Havoc was so badly damaged that it actually hit the ground but bounced back into the air again. With the aircraft’s right propeller shot away and part of the right wing gone, the pilot nursed the plane 300 miles back to safety in England. The A-20 made its first flight on August 17,1939, and 7,098 were produced before the end of the war. (Boeing assembled 380 A-20Cs in Seattle under license from Douglas.)