flak-busting - Aircraft of World War II

Aggie08 · 04-20-2006, 06:42 PM

I've been reading "Winged Victory- The Army Air Forces in World War II" by Geoffery Perret and just recently came upon something i'd never heard of. It seems this was a type of mission where P-47 pilots would fly over well camouflaged flak batteries to get them to fire and reveal their positions so they could be taken out. This would be done before a flight of bombers or transports flew over the area and if done correctly greatly reduced planes shot down. It was terribly dangerous as you can imagine. Scary. Anyone know more about this?

lesofprimus · 04-20-2006, 07:14 PM

Early day Wild Weasels.... Yes, there were several units that took part in AA hunts....

Quoted from Don Bryan with the 328th....

"We started hunting for the flak guns, but couldn’t find them. Soon, another C-47 was hit by flak, and again, it went in along with the two gliders it was towing. Why didn’t they release? There must have been at least 30 men in those planes. We still couldn’t find the triple A site, so I flew with the sun at my back and very low, and continued to search the ground for those guns. Wouldn’t you know it, another C-47 was hit by flak, and again, the two gliders went in with it, but this time I saw the gun flash on the ground. The four of us went in, worked the place over, and we chewed the hell out of them. We took out the guns, the trucks, everything."

the lancaster kicks ass · 04-21-2006, 03:46 AM

i know it's not really flak (although flak was involved) hunting but on the note of wild weasel, it's interesting to note that rocket fitted Typhoons were fitted with the "Abdullah" receiver which could guide the tiffies to the source of the radar emissions, at which point the radar sites would be destroyed, kinda clever, didn't work hugely well though

Glider · 04-21-2006, 06:33 PM

Different arena but the Boomerangs in the Pacific flew missions simlar to this to flush out the Jap positions. The British used the last P36's for the same mission.

Twitch · 04-22-2006, 01:23 PM

Germans also had well fortified flak towers around airdromes that regularly got the attention of American fighters for sure, when on fighter sweeps and airfield strafing missions.

Aggie08 · 04-22-2006, 06:05 PM

Interesting. Definitely not a mission i'd envy... It was the fighter bombers- the p47s, typhoons, etc- that terrorized the germans post dday. Brave men.

04-20-2006, 06:42 PM	#1
Aggie08 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 1,013	flak-busting I've been reading "Winged Victory- The Army Air Forces in World War II" by Geoffery Perret and just recently came upon something i'd never heard of. It seems this was a type of mission where P-47 pilots would fly over well camouflaged flak batteries to get them to fire and reveal their positions so they could be taken out. This would be done before a flight of bombers or transports flew over the area and if done correctly greatly reduced planes shot down. It was terribly dangerous as you can imagine. Scary. Anyone know more about this? __________________ "I had ten rockets on board, and as I wasn't particularly fond of head-on attacks, I salvoed the whole lot at him. The rockets didn't hit him but but they must have scared the bejesus out of him, for he did a steep turn to starboard... I let him have the full blast, all eight fifty-calibers. I had never seen an aircraft completely disintegrate in the air the way this Me-110 did..." Bill Dunn, 406th Fighter Group Matt

04-20-2006, 07:14 PM	#2
lesofprimus Minister of Whoopass Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi Posts: 17,503	Early day Wild Weasels.... Yes, there were several units that took part in AA hunts.... Quoted from Don Bryan with the 328th.... "We started hunting for the flak guns, but couldn’t find them. Soon, another C-47 was hit by flak, and again, it went in along with the two gliders it was towing. Why didn’t they release? There must have been at least 30 men in those planes. We still couldn’t find the triple A site, so I flew with the sun at my back and very low, and continued to search the ground for those guns. Wouldn’t you know it, another C-47 was hit by flak, and again, the two gliders went in with it, but this time I saw the gun flash on the ground. The four of us went in, worked the place over, and we chewed the hell out of them. We took out the guns, the trucks, everything." __________________ My IL2 Video Tribute to My Grandfather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtzN5RuNNJk

04-21-2006, 03:46 AM	#3
the lancaster kicks ass Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 19,945	i know it's not really flak (although flak was involved) hunting but on the note of wild weasel, it's interesting to note that rocket fitted Typhoons were fitted with the "Abdullah" receiver which could guide the tiffies to the source of the radar emissions, at which point the radar sites would be destroyed, kinda clever, didn't work hugely well though __________________ "Reminds me of the time I sank the Tirpitz" comments a Spitfire pilot, "One pass of course, old boy."

04-22-2006, 01:23 PM	#5
Twitch Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: City of the Angels California Posts: 809	Germans also had well fortified flak towers around airdromes that regularly got the attention of American fighters for sure, when on fighter sweeps and airfield strafing missions. __________________

04-22-2006, 06:05 PM	#6
Aggie08 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 1,013	Interesting. Definitely not a mission i'd envy... It was the fighter bombers- the p47s, typhoons, etc- that terrorized the germans post dday. Brave men. __________________ "I had ten rockets on board, and as I wasn't particularly fond of head-on attacks, I salvoed the whole lot at him. The rockets didn't hit him but but they must have scared the bejesus out of him, for he did a steep turn to starboard... I let him have the full blast, all eight fifty-calibers. I had never seen an aircraft completely disintegrate in the air the way this Me-110 did..." Bill Dunn, 406th Fighter Group Matt

04-21-2006, 06:33 PM	#4
Glider Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 3,655	Different arena but the Boomerangs in the Pacific flew missions simlar to this to flush out the Jap positions. The British used the last P36's for the same mission.

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