Early Access: German Flak - Was it Effective?

must have made a lasting impression :/

Military Aviation History

From what I read, it gets the important stuff right most of the time. Probably based on observation of standardized Flak practices and from intel

Military Aviation History

i was reminded of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIYVwqHM488 dunno how accurate it is (pun not intended)

Spartaner 251

I sing in a (non religious Gregorian Chant group. One of the singers is Waldemar Huala, who was a soldier in the German Army. When ever he sees this model up on the studio wall in my house ... https://www.flickr.com/photos/doneastwest/8606931070/in/photolist-2ceSS6M-NvtLQU-MisfJG-LPZ41c-JmKXpN-nnosdZ-mQFkx6-fkzh47-e7yLKh-HEm3S-EMCC8-EMDF9-vYuBW-7ijHS-7ijHV-7i9hv-7gxoC. .... it creapes him out. He said every time they saw a B-17 ( in Italy ) they knew they were in big trouble.

Hey Ellis, thanks for sharing this story. It's tragic how your uncle was caught up in this, considering he was only replacing someone else.

Military Aviation History

(Continuing, since I forgot that hitting "enter" closes the comment.) Second, the guns were radar-directed. This was well known at the time - the bombers carried boxes of "window" - aluminum confetti - that they just dumped out a door. (French witnesses described the sight of the "window" caught in the search lights.) The German gunners were very, very good with their primitive radar. Nonetheless, a direct hit by an 88 was just luck. The shell exploded in the forward compartment, killing the pilot, co-pilot (my uncle) and navigator. The three enlisted gunners all survived with shrapnel wounds. My uncle had previously been a command pilot, but was filling in on this mission for a sick copilot. The British night raid was late getting started, so all the night fighters were vectored to my uncle's formation. 9 of 30 bombers were shot down and 2 of those that made it back never flew again. So, that was it for night missions in the B-26, which had among the lowest casualty rates in the war. The Marauder takes a back seat to the B-25 Mitchell in the realm of medium bombers and I think rightly so since the Mitchell was much easier to fly and more versatile. But they did a lot of good work precision bombing railroad yards, bridges etc. from 10,000 feet.

Ellis Davison

Well done, as usual. Your emphasis on heavy bombers is well-placed - that was the 8th AF's primary emphasis also. My personal investigation led a different direction since my uncle (and namesake) was killed by a direct hit from an 88 somewhere around the village of Talmas, southeast of Abbeville, early in the morning of August 8, 1944. The target for this first (and last) B-26 Marauder night mission was a local V-1 headquarters in a small chateau, Ribeaucourt. There are a lot of moving parts to this, but one of the more interesting factors was radar. First, the Germans had developed a way of using the British Chain Home system as their transmitters, extending their coverage to air bases that were thought to be out of range. So my uncle's raid was tracked from the time it reached about 5,000 feet above their airfield, and all along their diversionary route south.

Ellis Davison