Luftwaffe losses to ground fire during Bodenplatte

[George Hopp]

(Gee, Artie, you're becoming awfully formal in your old age. But, as you wish.) The guns listed by the Navy as being supplied with VT fuzes were the two Mr. A. Medcalf mentioned--the 3"/50 and the 5"/38--and in addition, the 6"/47 and the 5"/54. Although I never said that the 40mm gun couldn't have received the VT fuse after 1950; my gut feeling is, why would they bother? But, I am saying that it certainly didn't have it in time for Bodenplatt, at least according to the Navy, and why should it lie? Remember, this was all still vacuum tube technology with wire circuitry and a wet battery for power; and they were having problems sticking the unit into a 3" shell. Just imagine the additional problems they would have in trying to fit the same mechanism into a shell nose of less than 1/3 that volume.

Since Mr. Medcalf can remember the colour of the shell nose cones, perhaps he can also remember the type of sight the 40mm gun used when he was on its gun crew. If I remember correctly, they had the ring-and-bead sight for much of the war, but did they eventually get the gyro sight?

All the best,
George