British Forces

BOAC’s plane at Gibraltar

Imperial War Museum

Curtiss CW-20A, G-AGDI "St Louis", of BOAC is refueled at Gibraltar. "St Louis", which ran regular supply flights between Lisbon, Gibraltar and the besieged island of Malta from 1941 to 1942, the only CW-20 of the BOAC, were the prototype of this twin engine transport plane afterwards built by Curtiss for the US Air Forces as C-46 Commando. At the time it made its first flight on 26 March 1940, the airplanes was named CW-20T with two fins and rudders replaced by a single unit during the tests. The plane was re-designated CW-20 and sold to the U.S. Army and designated C-55-CS. In September 1941, it was returned to Curtiss and sold to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), registered G-AGDI, and converted to a 24-seat transport. The G-AGDI was flown to Prestwick, Scotland, in November 1941 and began flying long haul routes and the route from Gibraltar to Malta until being scrapped in October 1943. Victor Sierra