Coasting out from England and crossing into the European mainland on the morning of Friday July 7, 1944, was a huge aerial column of USAAF 8th Air Force heavy bombers, almost 100 miles long, consisting of 373 Consolidated B-24 Liberators and 956 Boeing B-17 Fortresses-a total of 1,329 bombers. The fighter escort for this phalanx of bombers totaled 756 long-range fighters-P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s-over 2,000 aircraft in all. What a daunting sight that must have been for any defender! The bombers' targets were the synthetic oil plants at Böehlen, Leuna-Merseburg, and Lützkendorf; aircraft assembly plants and engine factories in the Leipzig area; airfields; and railway marshalling yards, all deep in the German heartland. As the bomber formations droned toward their targets, they were tracked by the Luftwaffe's sophisticated and well-practiced air defense command and control system.
The USAAF bomber crews were hardened to mass fighter engagements, especially on these deep penetration missions, and they had recently been subjected to multiple headon attacks. They did not know however, that today the Luftwaffe was about to unleash a new tactic, utilizing its new Gruppe of heavily armed and armored Sturmböcke Focke Wulf Fw 190s in a large battle formation or "Gefechtversband." (Sturmböcke translates as "battering rams.")
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
ZERO MYTH, MYSTERY, AND FACT
A test pilot compares the A6M5 Zero to U.S. fighters
Fw 190 STURMBÃCKE
The Luftwaffe's \"Battering Rams\" against the USAAF heavy bombers
American BEAUTY
\"Forgotten Fifteenth\" top-scoring Mustang ace John J. Voll
BANSHEE WAIL!
Flying Skulls over Burma
KILLER CORSAIR
Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace
BACKSTREET BRAWLER
A young man, his Hurricane and the Battle of Britain
Still Flying After All These Years
One of the oldest airworthy J-3 Cubs
NOORDUYN NORSEMAN
Canada's rugged, fabric-covered workhorse
A good landing is one you can walk away from
NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a \"good landing\" on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.