Norden Bombsight: Put a bomb in a pickle barrel at 20,000 ft altitude.

[SR108]

My father was a bombardier on a Boeing B-17G named "Little John" (ID letters of "JUX" and "UXJ" painted on the fuselage) based at RAF Podington (airfield), England (Eighth Air Force, 92nd Bombardment Group, 327th Squadron). Type "Podington" (and/or "Doc Furniss War Film") in the YouTube search tray if interested in seeing a typical WW2 bomber airfield in action.

He flew 20 mostly hellish combat missions over Europe. On his last mission, his bomber was badly crippled by German fighters (FW-190s) and flak over eastern Germany (they were bombing an FW-190 fighter aircraft factory).

The pilot (Lt Trost) radioed home base that the aircraft was badly damaged and that he was going to attempt to limp to and crash land in Sweden. As they flew over the Baltic Sea the crew threw out everything they could to lighten the load as the B-17 was slowly losing altitude (the plane was down to one good engine and another engine crippled but putting out partial power; the other two engines were dead). As they neared Sweden, Swedish fighter planes intercepted them and escorted them to Bultofta airbase where Lt Trost managed to perform a successful wheels-up crash landing (as the aircraft's hydraulics were completely shot out by the fighters).

My father and his crewmates were interred (they were de facto prisoners of war) of Sweden for the rest of the conflict. On one side of the airbase was the barracks for American and British POW aircrew and on the other side, there were barracks for German aircrew POWs. The two sides were not allowed to comingle. My father was employed by the Swedish government as an aircraft mechanic (prior to volunteering for air combat he was fully trained as a B-24 bomber mechanic having received almost a years training at the bomber plant at Ypsilanti, Michigan).

Believe me, there is a LOT more to this story, loads of fascinating details and whatnot I gleaned from my dad (and not covered in the excellent book mentioned below).

If interested, you can read about this and much more in a fascinating book (available from Amazon.com) by George Webster (Ph.D. Biochemistry), the aircraft's radio operator and rear dorsal gunner. It is a fairly easy and quick read, and likely you will not be able to put it down (Click on the book's front cover to read the Preface):
Savage Sky: Life and Death on a Bomber over Germany in 1944 (Stackpole Military History Series)
Feb 11, 2016
by George Webster

My father was a bombardier on a Boeing B-24, 15th Air force. He flew out of Italy, April to July, 1944. Shot down on 27th mission over fascist/German controlled northern Italy. 2 killed on his plane, 2 POWs from his plane, 5 escaped capture and walked through the alps in northern Italy to Yugoslavia, where they hooked up with Tito's men and were eventually flown back to allied controlled Italy in a SAS plane that was flying in weapons for Tito.

 

[brupsu]

It made taking Berlin more difficult. The massive rubble provided natural defensive positions for the Germans and denied the Russians wide open avenues of approach. Many a Russian armored vehicle was destroyed by a kid with a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon hiding behind a pile of rubble.

That’s probably why Zhukov had the infantry go in front of his tanks

 

[schoolie]

Well, it wasn't me but please note that this is an old thread.....2018

Oh, in that case considering the brain cells that have left my mind since 2018, maybe it was me. That's life.

 

[olelion]

Oh, in that case considering the brain cells that have left my mind since 2018, maybe it was me. That's life.

Well, I actually thought it was a new thread as well until I scrolled through it and saw posts form none other than I

 

[GreggK]

Oh, in that case considering the brain cells that have left my mind since 2018, maybe it was me. That's life.

Well, I actually thought it was a new thread as well until I scrolled through it and saw posts form none other than I

I normally don't resurrect old posts but since the book I was referencing made sense in this post, I figured I would.

 

[delcoLion]

No. These were air crew losses. It was a phucking slaughter

Late to the discussion, I agree. For about the first 18 months of the European theatre, the only offensive action conducted by US forces was the bombing campaign, with everyone learning on the job. They were trying to relieve pressure on the Russians while taking out manufacturing capabilities. The losses in crews and aircraft were staggering, really.

 

[kgilbert78]

My father was a bombardier on a Boeing B-24, 15th Air force. He flew out of Italy, April to July, 1944. Shot down on 27th mission over fascist/German controlled northern Italy. 2 killed on his plane, 2 POWs from his plane, 5 escaped capture and walked through the alps in northern Italy to Yugoslavia, where they hooked up with Tito's men and were eventually flown back to allied controlled Italy in a SAS plane that was flying in weapons for Tito.

Which squadron? My uncle was a ball turret gunner in the 343rd ("Snow White Squadron")....

 

[SR108]

Which squadron? My uncle was a ball turret gunner in the 343rd ("Snow White Squadron")....

831rst

 

[kgilbert78]

831rst

Not the 98th Bomb Group, then, correct? Too bad, as there's a gal that's done serious research on the 98th in the National Archives and posted them on her site--I've been able to read a number of my uncle's mission reports there.

 

[kgilbert78]

Here's an example--my uncle was Sgt. Bennett. This was a Ploesti mission....

 

[sluggo72]

Late to the discussion, I agree. For about the first 18 months of the European theatre, the only offensive action conducted by US forces was the bombing campaign, with everyone learning on the job. They were trying to relieve pressure on the Russians while taking out manufacturing capabilities. The losses in crews and aircraft were staggering, really.

me too dont go by the title its about radar in WWII

 

[The Spin Meister]

Thanks for posting those training films. Here's another and Gladwell's read on the history/effectiveness of the sight.

View embedded media

View embedded media

That certainly was different than spaghetti sauce.

 

[kgilbert78]

If you look at the mission report I posted above, one of the issues with strategic bombing was accuracy. Not because of the bombsight but other factors. The folks at Ploesti had a really good system of smokescreens (as noted in the report) and other "fakes" to lure a bomber away from the main target. They also had a pretty decent defense with flak and their own home-grown fighter (IAR-80) that was pretty good as well as the Luftwaffe.

 

[SR108]

Not the 98th Bomb Group, then, correct? Too bad, as there's a gal that's done serious research on the 98th in the National Archives and posted them on her site--I've been able to read a number of my uncle's mission reports there.

485th bomb group. I have been trying to find mission reports and the SAS interviews of the crew members that made it back, but have had limited success.

 

[SR108]

Not the 98th Bomb Group, then, correct? Too bad, as there's a gal that's done serious research on the 98th in the National Archives and posted them on her site--I've been able to read a number of my uncle's mission reports there.

Link to this gals' site?

 

[kgilbert78]

Link to this gals' site?

Link