The first unit to be equipped with the F2A-1 was Lt. Cdr. Warren Harvey's
VF-3, assigned to air group. On 8 December 1939, VF-3 received 10 of the 11 Buffalos delivered to the U.S. Navy. The remaining 43 F2A-1s were declared surplus (to be replaced with an equal number of the improved F2A-2s) and sold to
Finland.
Ralph Ingersoll wrote in late 1940 after visiting Britain that the Buffalo and other American aircraft "cannot compete with either the existing British or German fighters", so Britain used them "either as advanced trainers --or for fighting equally obsolete Italian planes in the Middle East. That is all they are good for". Even the
Eagle Squadrons' American pilots used
Hawker Hurricanes instead of the Buffalo. Early in the war all modern monoplane fighter types were in high demand, however. Consequently, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the
Netherlands East Indies purchased several hundred export models.
Finland donated sufficient funds for the
FAF to purchase a B-239. In return,
NOKA was inscribed on BW-355. Operated by
No. 24 Squadron, it was destroyed on 24 October 1944. Future ace Paavo Mellin shot down an
I-16 and shared in the destruction of a
MiG-3 whilst flying this aircraft. In April 1939, the Finnish government contacted the Roosevelt administration, requesting the supply of modern combat aircraft as quickly as possible. On 17 October, the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., received a telegram clearing the purchase of fighter aircraft. The only strict requirements laid down by Finnish authorities were that the aircraft be already operational and able to use 87-
octane fuel. Part of an F2A-1 shipment – 44 aircraft originally intended for the US Navy – was diverted to Finland, by the US State Department, after the USN agreed to instead accept a later shipment of F2A-2 variants. On 16 December, the Finnish government signed a contract to purchase 44 aircraft: an F2A-1 variant designated Model
B-239E by Brewster. The upgraded engine and slightly reduced net weight (i.e. from the omitted armor and de-navalization) resulted in an improved
power-to-weight ratio and better general performance. In four batches the B-239E was shipped initially to
Bergen, in Norway, in January and February 1940 from
New York City. The crated fighters were then sent by railway to Sweden and assembled by
SAAB at Trollhättan, northeast of
Gothenburg. After delivery of the B-239E, the Finnish Air Force added armored backrests, metric flight instruments, the
Väisälä T.h.m.40 gunsight, and four machine guns. The top speed of the Finnish B-239s, as modified, was at , and their loaded weight was . In February 1940, pilot Lieutenant
Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen flight-tested the first B-239 to become operational in Finland. Unfamiliar with the aircraft, he burned out the engine while flying very low at high speed; crashing on a snow-covered field, damaging the propeller and some belly panels. None of the B-239E fighters saw combat in the
Winter War (1939–1940). However, five of the six delivered during the war became combat-ready before it ended. The B-239E was never referred to by the name Buffalo in Finland; it was known simply as the Brewster, or by the nicknames
Taivaan helmi ("sky pearl") or
Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi ("pearl of the northern skies"). Other nicknames were
Pylly-Valtteri (lit. "butt-walter"),
Amerikanrauta ("American hardware" or "American car") and
Lentävä kaljapullo ("flying beer-bottle"). The total of 44 examples of the B-239E fighters used by the FAF received serial numbers
BW-351 to
BW-394. Brewster B-239 formation during the
Continuation War Finnish pilots regarded the B-239E as being easy to fly, or in the words of ace
Ilmari Juutilainen, a "gentlemen's travelling [or
touring] plane". The Buffalo was also popular within the FAF because of its relatively long range and good maintenance record. This was in part due to the efforts of the Finnish mechanics, who solved a problem that plagued the Wright Cyclone engine by inverting one of the piston rings in each cylinder, which had a positive effect on reliability. The cooler weather of Finland also helped, because the engine was prone to overheating as noted in tropical Pacific use. The Brewster Buffalo earned a reputation in Finnish Air Force service as one of its more successful fighter aircraft, along with the Fiat G.50, which scored an unprecedented kill-loss ratio of 33-1. In service from 1941 to 1945, Buffalos of
Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) claimed 477
Soviet Air Force warplanes destroyed, with the combat loss of just 19 Buffalos, an outstanding victory ratio of 26:1. During the
Continuation War,
Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Buffalos were transferred to
Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Most of the pilots of
Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans. This squadron claimed a total of 459 Soviet aircraft with B-239s, while losing 15 Buffalos in combat. Many Finnish pilots racked up enormous scores by using basic tactics against Soviet aircraft. The default tactic was the four-plane "
parvi" (swarm), with a pair flying lower as bait, and a higher pair to dive on enemy interceptors. The Soviet Air Force was never able to counter this tactic. The top-scoring B-239 pilot was
Hans Wind, with 39 kills. Lt Hans Wind, with six other Buffalos of LeLv 24, intercepted some 60 Soviet aircraft near
Kronstad. Two Soviet
Pe-2 bombers, one Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighter, and 12
I-16s were claimed for the loss of just one B-239 (BW-378). After evaluation of claims against actual Soviet losses, aircraft
BW-364 was found to have been used to achieve 42½ kills in total by all pilots operating it, possibly making it the highest-scoring fighter airframe in the history of air warfare. The top scoring Finnish ace,
Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364. During the Continuation War, a lack of replacements led the Finns to develop a copy of the Buffalo built from non-
strategic materials such as plywood, however the
Humu, as they called it, was already obsolete and only a single prototype was built. By late 1943, the lack of spares, wear-and-tear, and better Soviet fighters and training greatly reduced the effectiveness of Finnish B-239s, though LeLv 26 pilots would still claim some 35 victories against Soviet aircraft in mid-1944. The last victory by a Buffalo against Soviet aircraft was claimed over the
Karelian Isthmus on 17 June 1944. By the end of the war in Lapland, only eight B-239s were left. Five B-239s continued to fly until 1948, with last flights of Brewsters by the Finnish Air Force on 14 September 1948, when they were stored until scrapped in 1953.
Belgium Just before the start of the war, Belgium sought more modern aircraft to expand and modernize its air force. Belgium ordered 40 Brewster B-339 aircraft, a de-navalized F2A-2, fitted with the
Wright R-1820-G-105 engine approved for export use. The G-105 engine had a power output of (peak) on takeoff, some less than the engine fitted to the U.S. Navy F2A-2. The arrestor hook and liferaft container were removed, and the aircraft was modified with a slightly longer tail. Only one aircraft reached France by the time Germany launched its
Blitzkrieg in the West on 10 May 1940. The Buffalo was later captured intact by the Germans, and it was partially rediscovered near
Darmstadt in 1945. Six more Belgian Brewsters were offloaded at the French Caribbean island of
Martinique and languished on a coastal hillside, never to be flown. The rest of the order went to the RAF.
British Commonwealth (Malaya) , Singapore in April 1941. Facing a shortage of combat aircraft in January 1940, the
British Purchasing Commission was established to acquire U.S. aircraft that would help supplement domestic production. Among the U.S. fighter aircraft that caught the Commission's attention was the Brewster. The remaining 32 B-339 aircraft ordered by the Belgians, suspended at the fall of France, were passed on to the United Kingdom. Appraisal by
Royal Air Force acceptance personnel criticized it on numerous points including inadequate armament and lack of pilot armor, poor high-altitude performance, engine overheating, maintenance issues, and cockpit controls, while it was praised for its handling, roomy cockpit, and visibility. With a top speed of about at , but with fuel starvation issues over , it was considered unfit for duty in western Europe. Delivery and assembly of the Buffalos in Singapore took place in the spring of 1941. . This aircraft was flown by
Flying Officer Maurice Holder, who flew the first Buffalo sortie in the
Malayan Campaign on 8 December 1941, strafing
landing barges on the
Kelantan River. Damaged by ground fire, it was abandoned at
RAF Kota Bharu before its fall to the Japanese. The Brewster aircraft delivered to British and Commonwealth air forces were significantly altered from the B-339 type sold to the Belgium and French forces in accordance with their purchase order. The Brewster factory removed the Navy
life raft container and
arrestor hook, while adding many new items of equipment, including a British Mk III
reflector gun sight, a gun camera, a larger fixed pneumatic tire tail wheel, fire extinguisher, engine shutters, a larger battery, and reinforced armor plating and armored glass behind the canopy windshield. The Brewster Model B-339E, as modified and supplied to Great Britain was distinctly inferior in performance to the F2A-2 (Model B-339) from the original order. It had a less powerful () engine compared to the F2A-2's Cyclone, yet was substantially heavier due to all of the additional modifications by some . The semi-retractable tail wheel had been exchanged for a larger fixed model, which was also less aerodynamic. Top speed was reduced from at combat altitudes. The fuselage tanks were filled with a minimum of fuel, and run on high-octane aviation petrol where available. At Alor Star airfield in Malaya, the Japanese captured over of high-octane aviation petrol from British forces, which they promptly used in their own fighter aircraft. Many of the pilots assigned the Buffalo lacked adequate training and experience in the type. A total of 20 of the original 169 Buffalos were lost in training accidents during 1941. By December 1941, approximately 150 Buffalo B-339E aircraft made up the bulk of the British fighter defenses of Burma, Malaya and Singapore. The two RAAF, two RAF, and one RNZAF squadrons, during December 1941 – January 1942, were beset with numerous problems, including poorly built and ill-equipped aircraft. Japanese aircraft lacked armor and self-sealing fuel tanks in the early years of the war, a fact unknown to the
Allies at the time. lined up at
RAF Sembawang in November 1941. Buffalo AN185/TD-V was flown by
Flt Lt Doug Vanderfield, who shot down three Japanese bombers (two
Ki-48s and one
Ki-51) over
Butterworth, Penang on 13 December 1941, while his
undercarriage was still down. When the Japanese invaded
northern Malaya on 8 December 1941, the B-339E initially performed adequately. Against the
Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate", the overloaded Brewsters could at least hold their own if given time to get to altitude, and at first achieved a respectable number of kills. However, the appearance of ever greater numbers of Japanese fighters, including markedly superior types such as the
Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" soon overwhelmed the Buffalo pilots, both in the air and on the ground. Another significant factor was the Brewster engine's tendency to overheat in the tropical climate, which caused oil to spray over the windscreen, usually forcing an aborted mission and greatly complicating attempts to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft. In the end, more than 60 Buffalo Mk I (B-339E) aircraft were shot down in combat, 40 destroyed on the ground, and approximately 20 more destroyed in accidents. Only about 20 Buffalos survived to reach India or the
Dutch East Indies. The last airworthy Buffalo in Singapore flew out on 10 February, five days before the island
fell. It is not entirely clear how many Japanese aircraft the Buffalo squadrons shot down, although RAAF pilots alone managed to shoot down at least 20. Eighty were claimed in total, a ratio of kills to losses of just 1.3 to 1. Additionally, most of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the Buffalos were bombers. The
Fleet Air Arm also used the Buffalo in the Mediterranean in the
Battle of Crete in early 1941. The Brewster Mark I produced four Commonwealth aces:
Geoff Fisken,
Maurice Holder,
A. W. B. (Alf) Clare and
R. D. (Doug) Vanderfield. New Zealander Fisken, the top-scoring pilot, later flew RNZAF
P-40s and became the highest-scoring Commonwealth pilot within the
Pacific theatre.
Japanese invasion of Burma File:Fujio Sakaguchi's Nakajima Ki-27 shot down near Rangoon, 24 January 1942.jpg|thumb|Flying officer Edward Sadler of 67 Squadron RAF with a Nakajima Ki-27 that was shot down near
Rangoon on 24 January 1942
No. 67 Squadron RAF was originally formed in Singapore before their redeployment to Burma in October 1941. They were joined by
Curtiss P-40 fighters of the
American Volunteer Group (
Flying Tigers). AVG crews were initially impressed with the Buffalo, some even urging General
Claire Chennault to trade a squadron of P-40s for Buffalos. In response, Chennault arranged a mock dogfight between both fighters, with 1st Lieutenant Erik Shilling flying the P-40 and Squadron Leader Jack Brandt flying the Buffalo. four P-40s including two pilots were lost while all the Buffalos returned safely. Nevertheless, the Japanese succeeded in bombing Rangoon, its port facilities and
RAF Mingaladon, inflicting extensive damage and casualties. The Buffalos and P-40s carried out air defenses over Rangoon and Mingaladon as well as strafing missions on Japanese airfields. Like Malaya and Singapore, lack of effective early warning systems greatly hampered British and AVG efforts to defend Burma from air raids. Reports of Japanese aircraft performance from the
Malayan Campaign prompted Buffalo pilots in Burma to employ different tactics; according to Flight Sergeant Vic Bargh, "come in from above, or at the same level at the very least, then dive away before they got onto you, because if they did get onto you, well, you were shot down". One of the Buffalo's final victories of the
Burma Campaign was claimed by Bargh; he found the wreckage of the bomber and had his picture taken with it as proof. On 13 February, the squadron moved further north to
Magwe with only eight Buffalos, where they continued to carry out reconnaissance flights as well as escorting
Westland Lysanders on ground attack missions. They were swiftly relegated to training duties, though two were briefly acquired by
No. 146 Squadron RAF in early April, one of which was regularly flown by Squadron Leader
Count Manfred Czernin. After the first few engagements, the Dutch halved the fuel and ammo load in the wing, which allowed their Buffalos (and their Hurricanes) to stay with the Oscars in turns. They served with
1 PRU,
24 Sqn,
25 Sqn,
85 Sqn and the Air Gunnery Training School, at
RAAF Williamtown. They were originally assigned to as part of a relief force bound for
Wake Island, but were diverted to Midway instead after the force was controversially recalled on 22 December 1941. Wake Island
fell on the following day. The squadron first saw action on 10 March 1942 when a
Kawanishi H8K "Emily"
flying boat was shot down by Captain James L. Neefus near Midway, the Buffalo's first kill in U.S. service. From February - April 1942 the rebuilt squadron VMF-211 (most of which had been lost in the Battle of Wake Island) was re-equipped with F2A-3s and was ferried by the escort carrier Long Island to Palmyra Atoll, where it remained until recalled in July of that year, ferrying their aircraft to land on Long Island to return to Hawaii to re-equip with F4F-4s. During the
Battle of Midway in 1942, VMF-221 was destined to participate in one of the few aerial combats involving the Buffalo in U.S. military service. The initial Buffalo interception of the first Japanese air raid was led by Major
Floyd B. Parks, whose 13-aircraft division did not fly in paired flights of mutually supporting aircraft. After attacking a formation of 30–40
Aichi D3A1 "Val"
dive bombers escorted by 36
Zeros, the Marines, flying in two divisions of aircraft, downed several Japanese bombers before the escorting Zeros reacted; a furious dogfight developed. Thirteen out of 20 Buffalos were lost; of the six Wildcats, only two remained flyable at the end of the mission. The losses included the Marine air commander, Major Parks, who bailed out of his burning Buffalo, only to be strafed by Zeros after parachuting into the sea. Second Lt. Charles M. Kunz reported that after successfully downing two Val bombers, he was attacked by Japanese fighters: I was at an altitude of about 9,000 ft, and shoved over in a dive trying to shake the plane on my tail until I was about 20 feet from the water. I was making radical turns hoping the pilot couldn't get steadied on me. I glanced out of the rear and saw that it was a
Zero fighter. I continued flying on a rapid turning course at full throttle when I was hit in the head by a glancing bullet. After he fired a few short bursts he left as I had been in a general direction of 205 degrees heading away from the island. My plane was badly shot up... In my opinion, the Zero fighter has been far underestimated. I think it is probably one of the finest fighters in the present war. As for the F2A-3, (or Brewster trainer), it should be in Miami as a training plane, rather than used as a first-line fighter.
Claire Chennault's report on the Zero and air combat reached Washington in 1941, where it was disseminated to aviation forces of the U.S. Army and Navy. This information, along with the development of two-plane mutual defensive formations and tactics, were incorporated into U.S. and Marine Corps air combat training doctrine by some prescient U.S. commanders, including Lieutenant Commander
"Jimmy" Thach. The
Thach Weave was developed for use by Wildcat pilots against the Zero and was later adopted by other Wildcat squadrons in the Pacific. With the emergence of new tactics for the F4F-3 and F4F-4 Wildcat, the Battle of Midway marked the end of the Buffalo in both U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fighting squadrons. Surviving F2A-3 aircraft were transported to the U.S. mainland, where they were used as advanced trainers. The introduction in late 1943 of vastly superior American carrier-borne fighters such as the
F6F Hellcat and
Vought F4U Corsair soon relegated the Brewster F2A-3 to a distant memory. ==Buffalo aces==