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Old 29th December 2013, 00:22
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Bill Walker Bill Walker is offline
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Re: Is this a true statement about the B24?

Oh brother, here we go again.

The RCAF had more experience than just about anybody in long range operations over the North Atlanitc early in the war. They gave up on close escorts of conveys after finding that patrolling at higher altitudes over a broad area, rather than just close to a convoy, gave much better results. I guess they were all idiots too, Tony?

Can you provide a source for that "kill every 120 hours" on close escort? Using that math, the RCAF alone should have got several kills a week in 1940 and 1941 on close escorts. Instead they averaged more like one every two or three months. Switching to wider ranging patrols in 1942 got that up to one a month. Something doesn't add up here.

The majority of the long range transport conversions of Liberators with BOAC were used to return ferry pilots from the UK to North America for the next delivery. Closing the air gap wouldn't have helped much if the Luftwaffe had air superiority over the harbours in the UK, where all the "saved" ships ended up. Air defence of the UK required aircraft as well, and many of them came from North America.

Your point four makes no sense. Coastal Command and the RCAF regularly flew 20 hour plus patrols in 4 engined aircraft and Catalinas/Cansos. Are you claiming some crews refused to fly 20 hour patrols?

Tony, wars are very complicated. Don't believe anyone who tells you one little fix here or there will change everything.
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