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How effective was Schrage Musik?
I have seen accounts that suggest the effectiveness of Schrage Musik gun installations on a variety of night fighters was exaggerated. To the casual observer, the upward-firing device looks deadly and suggests that it was a piece of cake to fly under a Lancaster and blow it away, but I wonder...
Some have written that the installations were heavy and were often stripped out in the field, others have said that they had the unfortunate side effect of firing at an angle (typically 65 degrees, I think) that led to the attacking aircraft being hit by pieces of the bomber. They should have fired vertically, it has been suggested.
What is the truth of the matter? Was Schrage Musik deadly and effective, or did it look better than it actually was?
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