Storming the bombers - Egon Mayer's first 'frontal' attack, 23 November 1942

 

The air war in the West and over the Reich determined the fate of the Luftwaffe - with a higher percentage of casualties to participants than in the East, it was by far the most costly theatre for the Luftwaffe. And the Allies for that matter. The USAAF lost over 79,000 airmen between 1942-1945 and the RAF lost over 8,000 aircraft in the period 1939-1945 resulting in similar numbers of air crew killed. Over 60% of these losses were attributed to enemy fighters, both day and night respectively. The USAF lost over 8,000 bombers from November 1942 to May 1945 with German fighter pilots shooting down over 6,000 American and 7,000 RAF bombers, at a cost of 150,000 Allied airmen combined. The Germans themselves lost almost 20,000 fighter and 'destroyer' crews men and pilots, more than half killed fighting against the heavy bombers and their fighter escorts on the Western Front. Attacking a bomber formation was dangerous. Initial encounters with US bombers flying by day during mid-late 1942 were inconclusive, but the Germans quickly grew to realise that the American four-engine bombers with their heavy defensive armament - well able to absorb punishment especially when flying in their mutually protective ‘combat boxes’ - were tough opponents.  

Egon Mayer scored his first heavy bomber kills as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 2 on 23 November  1942 - this may well have been his first such encounter with the '4-mot. Kampfflugzeuge' or “Viermots.” Having been appointed Gkr. at the start of that month, Mayer - known as a conscientious, studious and pragmatic fighter pilot and leader - had studied tactics and angles of attack to develop procedures against the 'Viermots' - most notably the B-17.  Other pilots in his unit had been doing likewise - Jules Meimberg recalled in his memoir;

“ we sought out as much information on these machines as we could find..first flight in 1935, steadily upgraded and improved..three revolving turrets, eight heavy machine guns for defence..and only one point of weakness – the cockpit. Whereas Mayer wanted to launch attacks from all directions simultaneously to disperse the defensive fire, I argued that head-on – hitting the B-17s where their defensive fire was at its weakest - was the only certain way to bring a Fortress down..”  

US bombers were increasingly penetrating the airspace of western and northern France. Mayer's Gruppe was specifically tasked with defending the U-boat bases in Brittany.  While JG 2 was not scrambled on the 9 October 1942 attack on the 'Lille industrial area', this was the first raid for which the US VIII BC managed to assemble over 100 bombers. However events elsewhere (North Africa) meant that it would be another six months before such a large force could be put together again over Western Europe. 

On 7 November, some 34 B-17s and B-24s raided Brest. Oblt. Bruno Stolle claimed one B-24, the first of this type shot down by the Richthofen Geschwader. St. Nazaire was the target of 36 bombers on 23 November 1942. Mayer led off 7. and 9./ JG 2 from Vannes at around 12:00 mid-day. 

As the Fw 190s sighted the bomber formation, Mayer made a rapid assessment of the situation and elected to attack the bomber formation 'head-on'. Climbing almost a mile above and three miles ahead of the formation, he turned and started  a shallow diving attack from the front. Receiving light defensive fire he held his approach for several seconds, focusing his aim on the port engines.  Perhaps less than thirty feet above the bomber 'box' he veered away as the target headed to earth. He repeated this pass on a second B-17. Fifty calibre rounds pounded his armor plate around his cockpit and according to one account, damaged two cylinders in his engine. Pulling up and gaining altitude, he then closed on a box of B-24s, an attack timed at  14:00.  By this stage he was probably almost out of ammunition and running low on fuel. Mayer decided to return to base. While he claimed two B-17s and a B-24 on 23 November 1942 (his victories 52-55) and brought back a relatively unscathed aircraft, no B-24s were lost. Four B-17s in total did fail to return - two credited to Mayer, one for Uffz. Friedrich May of 8./JG 2 and the fourth was credited to Oblt. Siegfried Schnell, StaKa of 9./JG 2, his 72nd victory. Mayer's 7. Staffel wingman Uffz. Theo Angele was the only loss suffered by III./JG 2- Angele's Fw 190 A-4 was hit by the bombers' defensive fire and went down into the sea. Angele's body was later washed up on the coast.

General der Jagdflieger Galland was quick to praise Mayer's initiative against the Viermots on 23 November 1942. In a message sent to all units  (below, dated 14 December and received at I./JG 54 on 13 January 1943) he urged all formation leaders to adopt this frontal attack method where possible in order to increase the 'lethality' of the German fighters and overwhelm the bomber formations. 

RL 10/291 contains a combat report 'Erfahrungsbericht' (a  'retour d'experience' written for the JG 54 pilots shifting  to the Western Front) which indicates that Mayer almost certainly employed the new frontal attack method for the first time during this raid. The traditional attack from the rear had proved risky, with attacking fighters likely sustaining many hits from the defensive fire of a typical staggered trail formation. 

 There were of course several 'negatives' to the frontal pass - attacking from head-on gave the German fighter pilot only a few seconds to line up, aim, fire and either pull up or dive away after a closing speed of 500 mph or more. Few German pilots could do this, which was considered an acquired skill and required steely nerves. Those who did master this method risked collision and damage or destruction once they pulled up, or in most cases rolled into a 'split-S' manoeuvre and dove away following the attack. On the other hand, only the top turret twin fifties on the B-17 F models could engage the incoming aircraft, reducing exposure to the numbers of guns in a formation until the fighter passed underneath or overhead. But by then the German was too fast for the ball turret to track and engage. Waist gunners had to be cautious in firing for fear of hitting the bomber on their flank. But the frontal pass directly concentrated fire on the most vulnerable part of the bomber - the cockpit. In response to this new method of German attack, the Americans introduced new models - the B-17 G and B-24 H both incorporated the forward firing “chin” mounted twin fifty calibre machine guns to defend against the head-on attack. This soon led to the exclusive use of the more heavily armed Fw 190s to attack the bombers, leaving the Messerschmitts to engage the American escort fighters.

Below; Oblt. Egon Mayer (fifth left) with his 7. Staffel seen in Poix during October 1942. Uffz. Theo Angele KIA on the 23 November raid is fourth right.

These developments deterred all but the most dedicated and efficient bomber 'killers'. Those aces who 'specialised' in the frontal attack simply changed their angle of attack, above the chin turret guns’ elevation, rolling over exposing the undersides of their Fw-190s, where the armor plating absorbed the impact of the enemy rounds. Most of the German fighter pilots who amassed many bomber kills paid a heavy price and fought a long war. For example, Georg-Peter Eder was shot down on multiple occasions and wounded numerous times. He had three kills confirmed after colliding with his targets, surviving the crash and being thrown from the wreckage, the last being in a Me-262 jet, breaking both legs in January 1945, ending his war. Anton Hackl was shot down eight times and also wounded on four occasions, including a collision. Eder was not that an unusual case. Most of Germany’s pilots were shot down and often wounded several times. Returning to combat was expected unless the loss of sight, a limb or other crippling injury was the result. The fortunate few became instructors until they healed, passing on their knowledge to the next group of future fighter pilots. This protection was far less available in the front of a formation, and an attack described by Heinz Knoke shows how on the job training often developed a better result, but was a much more difficult and dangerous proposition: 

“We draw closer to the bomber formation…I can distinguish the individual enemy aircraft now. Most of them are Liberators….They look as if their fat bellies are pregnant with bombs. I pick one of them as my target…I shall make a frontal attack. The Yank is focused in my sights. He grows rapidly larger. I reach the firing buttons on the stick. Tracers come whizzing past my head. They have opened up on me! Fire! I press both buttons, but my aim is poor. I can see only a few hits register in the right wing. I almost scrape the fat belly as I dive past. Then I am caught in the slipstream, buffeted so violently that for a moment I wonder if my tail plane has been shot away. I climb up steeply and break away to the left. Tracers pursue me, unpleasantly close. “Damn all this metal in the air! Three hundred heavy bombers carry a total of 4,800 super heavy machine guns. Even is only one in ten has a chance to fire that still means we run into quite a barrage. I come in for a second frontal attack, this time from a little below. As I swing round I turn my head. Flames are spreading along the bottom of the fuselage of my Liberator. It sheers away from the formation in a wide sweep to the right. “Twice more I come in to attack, this time diving from above the tail. I am met by heavy defensive fire. My plane shudders under the recoil from the cannon and two 13 mm guns. I watch my cannon shell bursts rake along the top of the fuselage and right wing, and then I hang on to the stick with both hands. Fire spreads along the right wing. The inside engine stops. Suddenly the wing breaks off altogether. The body of the stricken monster plunges vertically, spinning into the depths. A long black trail of smoke marks its descent. “One of the crew attempts to bail out. But his parachute is in flames. Poor devil! The body somersaults and falls to the ground like a stone. At an altitude of 3,000 feet there is a tremendous explosion, which causes the spinning fuselage to disintegrate. Fragments of blazing wreckage land on a farm 200 or 300 yards from the Zwischenahn Airfield, and the exploding fuel tank sets the farm buildings on fire.”

Also on this blog;

rare images of Georg-Peter Eder JG 2

Storming the bombers ! IL2 movie based on Heinz Knoke's memoir - in two parts

Pauke! Pauke! IV./ JG 3 and Sturmstaffel 1 in action against the US 8th Air Force, 11 April 1944 - Luftwaffe fighter aces, Fw 190 Defence of the Reich

Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr.712, 26 April 1944 - combat footage over the Reich from German wartime newsreel

The Wochenschau cinema newsreel Nr. 712, presented to German cinema audiences on 26 April 1944 splices together all sorts of 'combat footage'  much of it 'rehashed'. In this piece I have 'captured' the best stills from this reportage some of which was filmed during April 1944 at Salzwedel,  home to the Fw 190s of the Sturmstaffel and the Bf 109s of IV./JG 3. The film as shown in cinemas appears to focus for at least some of its footage on the US 8th Air Force raid of 11 April 1944.  IV./JG 3 was one of the most successful units flying in the Reichsverteidigungduring the first half of 1944 and 11 April 1944 was to be their 'best' day defending the Reich prior to the formation of the Sturmgruppen. Otto Bach of JG 1and his Geschwaderkommodore Oesau are also interviewed prominently. I have captioned these images using the original German commentary and references such as the as-yet untranslated Gruppehistory of IV./JG 3 by Jochen Prien....

The film sequence opens with footage of German monitoring and listening posts tracking a US Air Force bomber incursion. The commentary mentions that German fighters often scramble to oppose as many as 600 bombers - on 11 April 1944 the US 8th Air Force dispatched over 900 bombers to aircraft factories in central Germany, a huge force that was screened by over 800 fighter escorts. On the German side some 18 day fighter Gruppen were sent up to counter the incursion. The scene switches to Salzwedel where the Fw 190s of the Sturmstaffel and the Bf 109s of IV./JG 3 are quickly scrambled...a line up of Sturmstaffel 1 FW 190s at Salzwedel (above right)

Above, a technician shows the PK reporter one of the gun cams - a BSK 16 (Leica) - fitted into the wing of the FW 190. Here he is seen closing it up....before installing it in the wing via the undercarriage well. Gun cameras were not in widespread use in the Luftwaffe fighter force during 1944 and were generally not used in the confirmation of victory claims..

"Einsatz Alarm!' IV./JG 3 is scrambled at 10:05 - pilots are seen running out to their Bf 109s, clambering into the cockpit and being strapped in..Note the extremely small frontal area of the windshield. In the next image the 'erste Wart' slams the canopy shut. Note the underwing MG 151 cannon in this view of 'Yellow 1', a typical IV./JG 3 'Kanonenboot'. Bf 109s of IV./JG 3 get airborne and roar low over the camera man. They have been ordered to form up with units of the 1. and 3. Jagddivision in a large Gefechtsverband or battle formation..

Also scrambled at 10:05, the FW 190s launch into their take off runs. It is just possible to make out the white/black/white rear fuselage bands worn by the aircraft of the Sturmstaffel. The Sturmstaffel had been established in late 1943. Its volunteer pilots undertook to bring down at least one four engined bomber on every mission, even if they had to ram it. To allow the pilots to get close enough to the heavily defended bombers, their FW 190s were fitted with extra armour plating around the cockpit area - bolt-on 5 mm armour plates or "Panzer Platten" - and 30 mm armoured glass panels were scabbed onto the canopy. Additional Panzerglas was added to the windshield quarter-panels. The outboard 20 mm wing guns were replaced by MK 108 30 mm cannon. Although the results gained by Sturmstaffel 1 were not spectacular, they were enough to spur the formation of three Sturmgruppen 



Angriff ...attack. Kampf über den Wolken..combat above the clouds..

The defenders close on a bomber Pulk between Braunschweig and Halberstadt. Boring in from astern to close range the sky is quickly filled with exploding machines, pieces of debris and parachutes of baled out airmen. With their emphasis on attacking the bombers at all costs, German fighters used M-Geschoss explosive shells - gun camera footage shows the type of explosions when they hit.

Above;  "...Rückkehr der deutschen Staffeln.."  much back-slapping and hand-shaking as the successful fighter pilots are welcomed home. JG 3 alone claimed some 34 Ab-und-Herausschüsse on 11 April 1944, of which 16 were attributed to IV./JG 3 in this first engagement. Returning home to Salzwedel a second 'Alarmstart!' was ordered at 12:40 - IV./JG 3 reported a further eight victories, clashing with 1 BD four-engine bombers south of Rostock.

..Lt. Dieter Zink (above) of the Stab IV./JG 3 has returned with two victories.. Here he is seen after climbing down from the machine usually flown by the Kommandeur.. He usually flew as Kommandeur Friedrich-Karl Müller's wingman and followed him when Müller moved to the Geschwaderstab JG 3 in mid-April 1944.

On page 141 of Prien's 'Chronik' Zink explained why he was flying Mueller's machine that day;

'..one day a team of PK reporters arrived on the airfield and explained that they were there to film some footage for the Wochenschau. A special camera was mounted in Major Müller's machine- our normal gun camera was not adequate for this purpose. The person in charge of the PK-Trupp explained to the Major exactly what sort of pictures he wanted .." now Herr Major you have to do this and then you should do that..and so on and so forth ". He got short shrift from the Major - Müller told him in no uncertain terms that as Kommandeur he didn't have to anything at all. To cut a long story short the Kommandeur then ordered me to take his aircraft and get the necessary footage...'

..Sturmstaffel pilots seen leaving their dispersal . The Fw 190 A-7 has been fitted with armoured canopy 'blinkers' and is wearing the white/black/white defence of the Reich fuselage bands.. Fw. Gerhard Marburg of the Sturmstaffel seen being congratulated on his return (below)

..Above, Lt. Karl-Dieter Hecker, an 11./ JG 3 pilot who had been with IV. Gruppe since its establishment in June 1943. He was wounded in combat on three occasions and survived the war. He was StaKa of 15. Staffel from late 1944. He achieved six victories and successfully baled out on four occasions. Here he is seen just after returning his first victory on 11 April, a B-17..Another successful IV./JG 3 pilot that day was Lt. Willi Unger who likewise returned his first victory and went on to become one of the leading four-engine bomber 'killers'..

..the camera lingers on more IV./JG 3 personalities - above, Hptm. Wilhem Moritz, who would be appointed Kommandeur from mid-April charged with converting IV./JG 3 to the Sturm close-in armoured assault role - Sturmstaffel 1 was disbanded at around the same - a core of its pilots went on to II.(Sturm)/JG 4 established a few months later..




..and Gruppenkommandeur Friedrich-Karl Müller (above) - who did not fly the sortie on 11 April - seen here in discussion with Walther Dahl..Müller was about to be appointed Kommodore of JG 3 after only a few short weeks in charge of IV./JG 3, replacing Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke..In the event German day fighters had enjoyed one of their most successful days on 11 April 1944.

Storming the bombers Volume II - first review. JG 4 Sturmgruppe Defending the Reich

During March 1945, high-ranking Wehrmacht officers undertook a number of tours of Luftwaffe aerodromes with the aim of relaying the following exhortations emanating from the Reichsmarchall Göring and Genraloberst Stumpf:

" The battle for the Reich, for our people and our homeland is entering its decisive phase. In blind hatred the nations of the world have come together to destroy us. We must draw on our last remaining forces to resist this evil tide. Never in our history has our German homeland been threatened with such total destruction from which there will be no rebirth. We can resist this danger only by manifesting the highest qualities of German combativeness. This is why I am turning to you in our most decisive hour of need: save the nation through the sacrifice in battle of your own life! I call upon you now to one last taking up of arms from which there is only a small probability of return. Those who respond to this appeal will immediately enrol for a flying training programme. Comrades - a place of honour awaits you in the roll call of the Luftwaffe's most revered fighting men. By your sacrifice you will give the German people renewed hope of victory and become an example for future generations in this hour of their greatest danger." (s) Göring

Several dozen pilots responded to this appeal - among them senior and experienced pilots from diverse backgrounds. It was explained that they would be called upon to dive their aircraft onto those of the enemy, as well as troop concentrations, pontoon bridges and other kinds of strategic objectives. Many of the contingent of volunteers were to train for the 'suicide' mission mounted by the Sonderkommando Elbe mentioned previously, while other volunteers were kept in reserve for other types of Selbstopfer – or 'self-sacrifice' - operations. For many of them life itself had already lost all meaning following the death of loved ones and the destruction and loss of all their possessions. Having lived since a young age in the Third Reich, they had in all likelihood been convinced by the Nazi Party propaganda machine of the superiority of their nation and their race. Many doubtless considered that their own fate was indivisible from that of the nation. If this value system was to collapse then everything they held dear would be destroyed for ever. For most the only possible outcome was to die in action - to go down with the Third Reich in its death throes.

Those remaining members of JG 4 who had some contact with the activities and operations of these suicide pilots - usually as a result of being assigned to escort them into action - would remain deeply affected by the experience. Lt. Ewald Kraas, of the Stab III./JG 4 recalled;

" In early April 45 - as the Soviet advance along the Oder front was showing signs of stalling - there were a number of discussions on the subject of suicide missions at the level of the Geschwaderstab in JG 4 - we had become aware that a group of volunteer pilots were being called upon to fly their aircraft - packed with explosives - into the pontoon bridges that had been thrown across the Oder. During this period of inflammatory calls to the German fighting spirit it came as no surprise that some of our pilots were coming forward to undertake these kinds of 'self-sacrifice' missions - after all there had never been any shortage of volunteers for the Sturmstaffeln in our Geschwader. However a Rammjäger always had the option of bailing out at the last minute after ramming an enemy bomber - but these Selbstopfer pilots were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, diving their fully fuelled fighters onto enemy targets..

During the middle of April our Kommodore, Obstlt. Michalski, accompanied by several staff officers paid a visit to Jüterbog/Altes Lager - the aerodrome where the suicide volunteers were assembling. On his return he described the situation there to Hptm. Gerhard Strasen- I was present during this conversation. Michalski had seen eighty volunteers - pilots of all ages, ranks, backgrounds and experience. There was even an Oberfeldwebel among their number who had been decorated with the Ritterkreuz. The discussion turned to the motivations of these men and what drove them to want to sacrifice themselves in this way. Michalski turned to me and said : "well, Lt. Kraas, would you ever consider putting yourself forward to fly this kind of mission?"

Without hesitation I replied: "Herr Oberstleutnant, frankly - not at all!" _" No, neither would I" he admitted..

A link to Adam Norenberg's review of "Storming the Bombers - Vol. 2".

" ...The rare oral testimonies found here are backed up by excellent photographs from pilots and crew’s private collections. Credit must go as well to Neil Page who has produced the translation of the text and has made sure the book is never just a dry account of history as many books are when translated into the English language..."



http://www.themodellingnews.com/2012/01/review-storming-bombers-chronicle-of.html

more Focke Wulf 190 aces (Wurmheller, Bretschneider, Priller, Bär, Linz, Weik, Migge)

 

Wurmheller's III./JG 2 'yellow 2' Fw 190 A-5 from the Eduard A-5 'Heavy fighter' kit in 72nd

Revell Fw 190 A finished as Klaus Bretschneider's 'Red 1' from September 1944 when Bretschneider was Staffelkapitän of 5.(Sturm)/JG 300, decals from the Aeromaster 'Rammjäger' set. I've added plastic card 'armour plate' to the cockpit sides, faired in the upper cowl MGs and fabricated some 30 mm cannon in the outboard wing stations from sprue! Bretschneider did in fact 'ram' a B-17 in this aircraft. However this was an unintentional act - a collision - since he was able to land 'Red 1' safely - full story in the Jean-Yves Lorant's JG 300 history.

 

Staffelkapitän 2./JG11 Erich Hondt’s A-5 WNr 410 266 ‘schwarze 13' (see model pic below). The numeral was black with a red outline. It displayed the so-called Schwarmführerstreifen or red diagonal stripes of a Schwarm leader along the fuselage sides appearing as a 'Vee' from above. The aircraft did not have a yellow Rumpfband. Two reasons; Hondt wrote a letter describing this machine and its colourful finish which was published in a German-language book. The pilot was then shot down and the aircraft lost on 8 October 1943, well before fuselage bands were introduced. See Peter Rodeike in Jet & Prop 3/12. Hondt’s A-5 was in addition fitted with the U12 Rüstsatz which consisted of underwing gondolas each containing a pair of MG 151 cannon, one of the few armament Rüstsätze to reach operational status



Revell A-8 in the markings of Hans Weik, IV.(Sturm)/JG3 ace (36 vics.
Weik was WIA as Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 3 on 18 July 1944 at the controls of this Fw 190A-8/R2 (W.Nr. 680 747) "White 7". The wounds were serious enough to keep Weik from any further front line duties. On 27 July, Oberleutnant Weik was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 36 victories. In April 1945, Weik was transferred to III./ EJG 2 at Lechfeld to train on the Me 262 jet fighter.







Günther Migge's NJGr.10 "Kognakpumpe" 'White 9' Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 night fighter in 72nd scale. The 'cognac pump' inscription under the boar's head emblem was probably a reference to the nerve-jangling experience of flying a single-engine fighter at night






Italeri A-8 in the markings of JG 5 ace Lt. Rudi Linz, Kapitän of 12./JG 5 who was shot down and KIA on 9 Feb 1945 at the controls of Fw 190 A-8 WNr. 732183 'Blue 4'. Posthumously awarded the RK. The port side of this a/c featured a large green heart emblem under the cockpit..

The Revell & Academy Fw 190s side by side in the colours of Heinz Bär's 'Red 13' (JG 1) and Staffelführer JG 11 Erich Hondt. (Note how horrible the Academy kit is with its barn-door type wing & hopelessly oversized ailerons. The rudder and engine cowl are also under-sized. In fact the front end bears no relation to the actual aircraft - easily Academy's worst 72nd scale kit)

Storming the bombers ! a two-part IL-2 movie based on Heinz Knoke's memoir (1)

..just one click to open and play the movie...well worth watching !!

The early USAAF raids over France in late 1942/early 1943 were flown principally by four B-17 F equipped BGs. The Fortresses mounted a single 0.30 cal gun in the nose fired by the bombardier using alternative sockets, none of which gave a good field of fire and did not pose a big threat to attacking fighters. JG 2 and JG 26 were the units to defend against these first USAAF raids. Hauptmann Egon Mayer, Kommandeur of III./JG 2 and Staka Georg-Peter Eder were credited as being the pilots who developed the frontal attack technique which was first used in an attack on 23 November 1942 against a USAAF raid on St. Nazaire. In a frontal attack it was possible to hit the vital parts of the cockpit and crew as well as the engines. The impact energy of the bullets was increased by the speed of the attacking aircraft as well as the targeted a/c.

It was on the other hand much more difficult to lead and set up a head-on attack as it demanded correct estimation of the target speed, course and altitude as even a slight deviation from the head-on direction made the attack less effective and more dangerous with the collision risk increased. To get the correct altitude and course the bomber formation was shadowed, overtaken and a final 180° turn executed. It took good estimation, timing and finally strong nerves to execute. With approach speeds of up to a combined 800-850 km/h there was only 2.5 seconds between opening fire and a collision! The 'fright factor' was expected to help break up the bomber formation and hence the defensive fire. The method was slightly modified to be initiated from a higher altitude making it easier to estimate closing speed and distance to the target - hence the classic "twelve-o-clock-high" warning! The USAAF of course tried to improve the B-17s nose armament, first by installing a hand operated 0.50 cal or even two fixed 0.50 cal in some aircraft. The final solution was the chin turret with two 0.50 cal introduced in later production aircraft. These on the other hand made the a/c a bit slower (10km/h) and more directionally unstable which was a disadvantage to tight formation flying. Frontal attacks were later augmented by stern attacks from the rear for a number of reasons - the lack of good unit leaders and experienced pilots who could skilfully could execute successful frontal attacks. In addtion the introduction of long-range USAAF escort fighters hampered the defenders attempts at assembly for frontal attacks while the improved frontal armament on B-17s and B-24s negating the earlier advantage of utilising a blind defence sector by attacking head-on.

(by F19 Gladiator)

Willi Unger IV./JG 3 - Fw 190 Sturmbock

 IV./JG 3 - Fw  190 Sturmbock deployed briefly to Normandy with the 'Krebs' rocket launcher