Quote:
Originally Posted by Nokose
I saw this movie but it was way after the TV show that was inspired by it. The show ran from 1964-67 (3 seasons). It starred Paul Burke as Colonel Joe Gallagher the CO of the 918th BG. I remember one episode of a B-17 commander who was out for revenge for a certain area of Flak going to a target for the destruction of his friends. In the show he broke formation and bombed it. It seems there was in reality a island covered with flak batteries in the war that the Allies did bomb.
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Revenge or off the cuff bombing of anti aircraft artillery positions was not uncommon. I've read description of USN dive bomber pilots diverting against the AAA positions after the leading aircraft hit the planned target. In another case A group of B26 bombers in 1945 had a bridge as the primary target, the leading squadron dropped the bridge instantly & the group commander radioed for the following squadrons to hold their bombs & attack the alternative target. Enroute to the other bridge the leading squadron took heavy losses from a cluster of German FLAK guns. The squadron leaders plane went down along with several others. The trailing squadron commander narrating this saw the leading survivors release their bombs, & miss the target, their pattern precisely covering a FLAK battery just beyond the bridge. For a bomber group of their experience missing a bridge by 1000 meters was unheard of & the narrator thought it clearly intentional.