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Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots explain what it’s like attacking a B-17 Flying Fortress formation from behind

by Till Daisd July 6, 2023

On the B-17E, the tail gunner may have been the most important gunner. He used two.50 caliber machine guns to defend the back quarter of the aircraft. The tail guns earned the healthy respect of enemy pilots

The B-17 Flying Fortress is among the most well-known aircraft ever produced. 28 July 1935 saw the first flight of the B-17 prototype. Even though there weren’t many B-17s in use on December 7, 1941, production swiftly picked up once the US entered World War Two. The aircraft saw action in every theater of war, but its most infamous mission was the strategic daytime bombing of German industrial targets.

Nine machine guns and a 4,000-pound bomb load were carried by the B-17E, the first Flying Fortress variant to be mass-produced. It had more armament and was many tons heavier than the prototypes.

The tail gunner of the B-17E was reportedly one of the most crucial gunners, according to B-17 Queen of the Skies. He used two.50 caliber machine guns to defend the back quarter of the aircraft. A terrible surprise awaited opposing fighters as they approached the E model B-17. The tail guns earned the healthy respect of enemy pilots.

‘A German pilot did once say that attacking a B-17 formation from behind was like trying to make love to a porcupine that is on fire,’ Walt Miller, Former 0311/0302 at United States Marine Corps (1973-1993), explains on Quora.

In JG-26 Top Guns of the Luftwaffe by Donald Caldwell, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot explains;

‘The size of the heavy bombers and their formations could not be adequately described to a green pilot; they had to be experienced first-hand… The bomber gunners opened fire as soon as a target was seen, in order to disrupt or ward off attacks. The Americans’ browning .50-inch machine guns had a higher muzzle velocity and a greater range than the Germans MG 17s whose tracers were used to site their MG 151 cannon. So, the fighter pilots’ cockpits were surrounded by red tracers, “Swarming like wasps” in Karl Borris’s words, long before they themselves could open fire effectively; and because of low closing speeds, this extremely uncomfortable situation could continue for several minutes…some pilots would invariably break away prematurely, and the rest would pass through the bomber formation at whatever angle and orientation promised the best chance of survival.’

German pilots were compelled to reconsider their strategies as a result of this advantageous position, which resulted in the adoption of the infamous “12 O’Clock” attack, in which they bore into formations head-on at a closing speed of more than 500 mph! In Donald Caldwell’s JG-26 Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, another fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe recounts;

‘All four of the bombers shot down by JG 26 came from the 306th Bomb Group. The Geschwader lost only one pilot in this battle, but it was a serious blow to the unit. Hptm. Fritz Geisshardt, Kommandeur of the third Gruppe, was hit by return fire on his unit’s first pass through the bombers. Bleeding profusely from a wound in the abdomen, Geisshardt dove away from the battle and made a smooth landing …his blood loss proved fatal; the medical personnel at the Ghent hospital could not save him and he died early the next morning.’

One of the keys to victory against USAAF bombers, according to the great German ace General Adolf Galland, was for the fighters to retain formation. The bombers’ weapons did not down many German fighters, but their streams of.50-inch tracers formed a very strong defensive barrier.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

July 6, 2023 0 comment

History

Luftwaffe Dornier Do 217 bombers sank the Italian battleship Roma using the Fritz X

by Till Daisd April 26, 2023

written by Till Daisd

When the Dornier Do 217 used the radio-guided, free-fall “Fritz X” weapon to sink the Italian battleship Roma, it made aviation history by being the first military aircraft to use a precision-guided bomb in combat

The Dornier Do 217, which took over for the Do 17 in frontline service from the middle to the end of 1941, had a significantly greater bomb load capacity and range. Although the Do 217 was first only deployed as a bomber, later modifications allowed it to perform the duty of a precision maritime strike. The Do 217 was modified to launch glide bombs in order to carry out the latter objective; units using these innovative weapons saw considerable success in the Mediterranean starting in the autumn of 1943.

When the Do 217 used the radio-guided, free-fall “Fritz X” weapon to sink the Italian battleship Roma shortly after Italy’s capitulation in September 1943, it made aviation history as the first military aircraft to use a precision-guided bomb in combat.

Following the Operation Avalanche landings in Salerno, on the southwest coast of Italy, which began on September 3, 1943, things were busy for Luftwaffe Dornier Do 217 crews, as described by Chris Goss in his book Dornier Do 217 Units of World War 2. The Allies were fortunate that the Italians surrendered five days later because the Regia Marina’s main warships were supposed to be assaulting the landings. Instead, a 17-ship fleet, including the battleships Roma, Vittoria Veneto, and Italia, sailed from La Spezia on September 9 in an effort to keep the ships out of German hands. When the Luftwaffe learned about the Italian plans, they sent III./KG 100 to attack them with ‘Fritz X’ guided bombs.

III./KG 100 Do 217s followed the fleet until it reached the Strait of Bonifacio between Sardinia and Corsica, where 11 aircraft launched an attack at 15:37 local time.

It is believed that the first strike was led by Major Bernhard Jope, whose observer, Unteroffizier Lori Klapproth, achieved a near miss that temporarily jammed Roma’s rudder. A second attack wave, led by Oberleutnant Heinrich Schmetz, saw Unteroffizier Heinrich Penz, observer to Leutnant Klaus Deumling of 7./KG 100 who was on his first mission, hit Roma on the starboard side. Photographic evidence exists of the attack by Unteroffizier Eugen Degan, the observer in Oberfeldwebel Kurt Steinborn’s Do 217K-1 of 7./KG 100, who also reported hitting Roma on the starboard side. At the same time, Roma’s sister ship Italia was attacked.

The ship was damaged by the second glide bomb that struck Roma, which detonated beneath the keel. The boiler and engine rooms were submerged in water, and the entire ship was engulfed in electrical flames. When Roma slowed down, another “Fritz X” from a second wave of seven Do 217s exploded in the forward engine room at 1602 hours. Then there were more flames, flooding, and an explosion in the magazine of the No. 2 main turret. Further flooding ensued, at which point Roma started to sink bow first until it broke in half and capsized. At least 1253 crew members perished along with the ship, and 593 men were rescued.

Italy had more luck because the “Fritz X” that struck it forward of the No. 1 main turret pierced the ship, made its way out of the hull, and then detonated in the water below the ship. The battleship limped into Malta port in spite of the latter’s hole, which allowed 1060 tons of water to enter.

Dornier Do 217 Units of World War 2 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Laststandonzombieisland.com and unknown via Wikipedia

Luftwaffe Dornier Do 217 bombers sank the Italian battleship Roma by means of the Fritz X, the first ever precision-guided bomb deployed in combat — Italian battleship Roma

April 26, 2023 0 comment

History

The observation mission to monitor V2 impacts flown by Luftwaffe Arado Ar 234 reconnaissance aircraft

by Till Daisd January 9, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Even though they weren’t as well-known as the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters, the Ar 234s that made it to Luftwaffe units were outstanding aircraft, especially for reconnaissance

The world’s first operational jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft were the Arado Ar 234 B Blitz (Lightning). On August 2, 1944, the Ar 234 conducted its first combat mission, a reconnaissance flight over the Allied beachhead in Normandy. The Blitz quickly avoided Allied fighters with piston engines thanks to its top speed of 735 kilometers per hour (459 miles per hour).

Even though they weren’t as well-known as the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters, the Ar 234s that made it to Luftwaffe units were outstanding aircraft, especially for reconnaissance.

It was decided on Christmas Day of 1944, as recounted by Robert Forsyth and Nick Beale in their book Arado Ar 234 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units, that all Ar 234 reconnaissance flights should begin from Rheine for the time being. Once reinforcements had arrived, Kommando Sperling (Detachment Sparrow) should hold a pilot at readiness for V2 spotting over Antwerp “in accordance with oral instructions to detachment pilot Hauptmann Horst

Oberleutnant Werner Muffey and Leutnant Wolfgang Ziese took off in quick succession to cover the combat area, Nijmegen, and Tilburg on the 25th, which for once had clear skies. Meanwhile, Oberleutnant Erich Sommer was driving to the photographic division of Lw.Kdo. West (Luftwaffenkommando West – Air Command West).

Muffey completed a duty given to him a week prior on the 26th by taking photos of the English coast from Southwold to Dover, followed by Boulogne, Calais, Dunkirk, Ostend, Zeebrugge, the Scheldt, and Antwerp. Later, he remembered such a flight; ‘Crossing the coastline near Lowestoft at around 10,000 m and in a clear blue sky, trailing long white condensed streams for everyone to see. I can’t remember just how many airfields we counted on the film I had brought back, full of Fortresses and Liberators, but that had been the order – to start early enough [so as] to still have them on the film before they had left their base, heading for Germany.’

On the morning of the 25th, Ziese was also up and flying an observation mission to monitor V2 impacts on Antwerp in Ar 234B2 WkNr 140153 T9+HH. Since October, V2 aircraft had been continuously attacking Antwerp, the main supply port for the Allies; the assault would persist until March 28, 1945.

At an altitude of between 7000 and 9000 meters, he was flying over the city when three rockets were reported: the first at 1307 hours, 7.5 km south-southwest of the city center, west of the Willebroek road; the second four minutes later, in the angle of “the Turnhout-Meuse canal,” probably the intersection of the Kempisch and Albert Canals; and the third rocket at 1314 hours, at Rijkevorsel, 30 km east. Photographs were taken of the impact points and of the Scheldt as far as Vlissingen, as well as of Antwerp itself, Breda, Tilburg, ’s‑Hertogenbosch, and Nijmegen.

The specially commissioned cover artwork by Mark Postlethwaite included in this post shows Ziese’s Ar 234 flying over the Belgian port city immediately after the second impact on the Turnhout-Maas canal with smoke billowing into the sky.

Arado Ar 234 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

January 9, 2023 0 comment