I have a question pertaining to defensive tactics, and I cant find this answer anywhere, so anyone who has a living relative who flew in a B17, Id appreciate if you could field this question. During the war, P51s often accompanied the bombers en route, to protect them from enemy fighters. Ive also seen many accounts in both film and in books that, once the enemy fighters showed up, our boys would just peel off to go and take care of them, leaving the bombers unprotected - even if for a short period of time, which lead to a lot of unnecessary B17 losses. I recently viewed the movie Redtails which Im sure everyone on this thread has heard of, or seen. In this movie, the Tuskegee Airmen develop a reputation for staying *with* the bombers and protecting them from *within* the B17s flying formation, and do not just spin off to grab as much glory as they can for themselves, leaving the bombers to their fate. Three questions: 1) How common was it for white pilots to do this, just leave the bombers to be mowed down? 2) If the Tuskegee Airmen could protect them, why couldnt the white guys do it as well? 3) Was this tactic changed during the war, as AAC realized they needed to be close to the bombers, to protect them, and it was just a matter of evolution of air tactics as the war progressed? Addendum: My questions are not meant to be disrespectful, Im just trying to find out what the truth is.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 13:21:15 +0000
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