Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Check out the leather jackets in this video of WW2 bomber crews being interviewed.

Dixon Cannon

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,157
Location
Sonoran Desert Hideaway
That is Col. Curtis LeMay being interviewed. You can see by his demeanor that he is pretty much no nonsense and by the book. Fascinating to see and hear him at the beginning of his illustrious career, prior to his victories in the PTO. Excellent - thanks for sharing!

http://www.8af.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123187583

"The 305th Bomb Group, based at Chelveston in the UK, was one of the four pioneer B-17 groups assigned to Eighth Air Force. It was commanded by Col. Curtis E. LeMay, a tough, no-nonsense leader and a tactical genius. All of the groups arrived in England without combat experience and faced a steep, perilous learning curve. They entered combat in the autumn of 1942.
It was obvious to LeMay that two major deficiencies of the bomb groups were formation flying and air discipline. He experimented with various formations to give maximum mutual protection against enemy fighters. To improve bombing accuracy, he had all B-17s in a group formation drop on signal from the bombardier of a select lead crew.

Because of the short range of escort fighters at that time, most early targets were in France or the Low Countries. The first penetration of German territory came on Jan. 27, 1943, when LeMay's group took part in an attack on the port of Wilhelmshaven. Then it was back to targets in German-occupied western Europe for the most part."


-dixon cannon
 
Last edited:

rocketeer

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,605
Location
England
Seriously, these guys did a great job with extreme heavy losses at the start. How many made it through to go home?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,643
Messages
3,085,602
Members
54,471
Latest member
rakib
Top