The German fighters
would not fly into the flak clouds to pursue the bombers.
In these conditions,
no evasive action could be taken by the pilots and defensive action from the gunners was useless.
The gunners fought off German fighter
planes on the way to the target and returning home. But over the target,
there wasn't much they could do.
Once the formation turned for the target and started the bomb run, control of the plane was turned over to the bombardier and his bombsight. The entire formation maintained heading, altitude, and speed while all the planes released their bombs at the signal from the lead bombardier.
During the 20 to 30 minutes over the
target, there were usually no fighter attacks to contend with. More
terrible than the German Luftwaffe was flak.
The German fighters
would not fly into the flak clouds to pursue the bombers.
In these conditions,
no evasive action could be taken by the pilots and defensive action from the gunners was useless.
The word "flak" came from the German
Flieger
Abwehr Kanone (anti-aircraft cannon). They were a fragmentation grenade
that could be set to explode at a specific altitude.
NEXT PAGE