Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

=== RAF ===
[[File:LB-30 Ferry Command.jpg|thumb|Consolidated LB-30A, s/n AM260, used by Atlantic Ferry Command]]

The first British Liberators had been ordered by the Anglo-French Purchasing Board in 1940. After the [[Battle of France|Fall of France]] the French orders were in most cases transferred to the United Kingdom. The RAF found, as did the US, that global war increased the need for air transports and early-type bombers and seaplanes were converted or completed as cargo carriers and transports. LB-30As were assigned to [[transatlantic flight]]s by [[RAF Ferry Command]], between Canada and [[Prestwick]], Scotland. The first Liberators in British service were ex-USAAF YB-24s converted to [[Consolidated Liberator I|Liberator GR Is]] (USAAF designation: LB-30A). The aircraft were all modified for logistic use in [[Montreal]]. Changes included the removal of all armament, provision for passenger seating, a revised cabin [[oxygen]] and [[heating system]]. Ferry Command's Atlantic Return Ferry Service flew civilian ferry pilots, who had delivered aircraft to the UK, back to North America.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} The most important role, however, for the first batch of the Liberator GR Is was in service with [[RAF Coastal Command]] on anti-submarine patrols in the [[Battle of the Atlantic (1940)|Battle of the Atlantic]].<ref name="March p63">March 1998, p. 63.</ref>

[[File:B 24 in raf service 23 03 05.jpg|thumb|LB-30A (YB-24) in RAF service]]
Later in 1941, the first Liberators entered RAF service. This model introduced self-sealing fuel tanks, a {{convert|2|ft|7|in|cm|abbr=on}} plug in the forward fuselage to create more space for crew members and, more vitally, ever more equipment such as [[ASV Mark II radar]] (anticipated early in the Liberator's development when Reuben Fleet told the engineering team he had a gut feeling the nose was too short). The Mark II was the first Liberator to be equipped with powered turrets, one plane having them installed before leaving San Diego, the remainder having them installed in the field: four Browning [[Boulton Paul Aircraft#Boulton Paul gun turrets|Boulton Paul]] A-type Mk IV with 600 rounds of .303 in the dorsal position; and a Boulton Paul E-type Mk II with 2200 rounds in the tail (later increased to 2500 rounds), supplemented by pairs of guns at the waist position, a single gun in the nose and another in the belly, for a total of fourteen guns. The maximum take-off weight was slightly raised to 64,250 pounds, the maximum altitude lifted from 21,200 to 24,000 feet but the maximum speed was reduced to 263&nbsp;mph, largely as a result of increased drag.<ref name=":1" />

The Liberator II (referred to as the LB-30A by the USAAF<ref name="Taylor 1968, p. 463" />) were divided between [[Coastal Command]], [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]], and [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC). Both BOAC and the RAF used converted Liberator IIs as unarmed long-range cargo carriers. These aircraft flew between the United Kingdom and [[Egypt]] (with an extensive detour around [[Spain]] over the Atlantic), and they were used in the evacuation of [[Java (island)|Java]] in the [[East Indies]]. BOAC also flew trans-Atlantic services and other various long-range air transportation routes.

[[File:Liberator 120 Squadron.jpg|thumb|Consolidated Liberator Mk.I of 120 Squadron Coastal Command RAF, used from December 1941]]
Two RAF bomber squadrons with Liberators were deployed to the [[Middle East]] in early 1942. While RAF Bomber Command did not use B-24s as strategic bombers over mainland [[North West Europe campaign|North West Europe]], [[No. 223 Squadron RAF]], one of Bomber Command's [[No. 100 Group RAF|100 (Bomber Support) Group]] squadrons, used 20 Liberator VIs to carry electronic jamming equipment to counter German radar.

In October 1944, two RAF Liberator squadrons (357 and 358) were deployed to [[Jessore District|Jessore]], India, in support of British SAS, American OSS and French SIS underground operations throughout SE Asia. The aircraft were stripped of most armaments to allow for fuel for up to 26-hour return flights such as Jessore to Singapore.<ref>Smith, Harry V. et al. [http://www.rquirk.com/escape.pdf "Escape from Siam."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092333/http://www.rquirk.com/escape.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }} ''rquirk.com''. Retrieved: 27 May 2015.</ref>

Liberators were also used as anti-submarine patrol aircraft by RAF Coastal Command. RAF Liberators were operated as bombers from [[India]] by [[South East Asia Command|SEAC]] and would have been a part of [[Tiger Force (air)|Tiger Force]] if the war had continued. Many of the surviving Liberators originated in this Command.