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
