Combat box
The combat box was a
Initially formations were created in keeping with the pre-war
Creation of the concept is credited to
The practice of referring to a concentrated formation as a "box" was the result of diagramming formations in plan, profile and front elevation views, positioning each individual bomber in an invisible boxlike area.[1]
Evolution of Eighth Air Force formations
1942 experiments
The first ten missions of the
The original two heavy bomb groups of the Eighth Air Force transferred to North Africa and were replaced in October and November by four new groups of B-17s (the
Between November 1942 and the end of the war various configurations of the combat box were adopted to meet changing conditions, particularly changed German tactics that stressed head-on attacks against the weak forward firepower of the bombers. The 305th BG innovated the 18-aircraft "javelin down" formation, which stacked planes within an element and squadrons within a group downwards in the direction of the sun. This aided gunners on the higher aircraft in seeing lower aircraft without being blinded by glare. In the front elevation the formation resembled a set of stairs, but in profile and plan resembled a spear point. Unlike earlier group formations in which the lead bomber had flown in the lowest position, it now was placed in the center of the formation vertically. The 305th successfully tested the formation on a December 6, 1942, mission to Lille, and it was immediately adopted by the other three B-17 groups.[5]
The 305th soon developed a more compact staggered formation that stacked elements downward in one direction, but stacked squadrons upward in the opposite direction. A third element of three bombers was added to the 18-plane box, placed in the most exposed squadron for additional support. This resulted in a 21-plane wedge-shaped configuration that was adopted by all groups on January 13, 1943, and remained standard through September 1943.[8]
In 1943, the use of assembly ships, modified older bombers with unique paint schemes, to organize combat boxes was devised. These planes continued to be used throughout the war, even with the invention of other technological advances.[9][10]
Wing boxes
Although the combat box was initially designed around a
The wing box, a 54-plane formation (basically three 18-plane boxes stacked in a similar fashion to the group box), evolved from a need to provide defensive fire against head-on attacks. The formations were stacked so that while squadrons were stacked away from the sun on missions, groups were stacked in the opposite direction, making for a more compact wing box. Because the Eighth AF had only four B-17 units until May 1943, composite groups were formed by combining squadrons from different groups, or a fourth group was added to the wing box to form a diamond-shaped box. The latter was flown in a trailing position behind the wing and proved susceptible to Luftwaffe tactics of attacking the extremities of formations. The wing box was often spread 3,000 ft (910 m) vertically, 7,000 ft (2,100 m) deep, and 2,000 ft (610 m) across and was difficult to maintain.[5]
The most serious disadvantage of the wing box was that the lowermost and uppermost elements, trailing at the end of the formation, had the least mutual protection.[5] An additional risk was that of an aircraft being struck by falling bombs if it strayed in the box (see image):
"Directly below us (on 19 May 1944 to Berlin in B-17G 42-102411[12]) in the path of our falling bombs was a B-17 out of position. Later pictures show a B-17 having his left stablizer shorn off by a five hundred-pound bomb dropped from above. That plane went into a steep dive, out of control, and was lost. As mentioned before, the bombs had to fall about five hundred feet or more before the protective vane spun off to leave the bomb armed." —303rd BG pilot Richard Riley Johnson[13]
In the summer of 1943 the Eighth expanded in size to 16 groups of B-17s and 4 of B-24s, and by the following June would grow to 39 groups. The
The 54-plane wing combat box used by the Eighth's B-17s required both practice and discipline to maintain formation.
Group combat box revisions
In October 1943 the first
Wing boxes followed each other in trail, and the formation was easier for escorts to protect. However, the close stagger of the four-squadron 36-plane was difficult to maintain, and increased the likelihood of a bomber flying at the bottom of the box being struck by bombs dropped from a higher plane. In visual bombing situations the revised 36-plane box eliminated the lowest squadron to lessen the possibility.[14] Although the 36- and 27-bomber group combat box became standard for most of 1944, a diamond-shaped formation of four 10-plane squadrons was developed for B-24s of both the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force.[16]
During the winter of 1944–45, minimizing losses to flak became a priority. The 27-plane box became standard for B-17s for all of 1945, spread more laterally to avoid catastrophic damage to the formation from a single shell burst. At the same time wingmen flew more forward on element leaders, creating a box that was stacked 750 ft (230 m) vertically, 650 ft (200 m) from front to back, and 1,170 ft (360 m) laterally. This final variation presented flak gunners with a small target, produced excellent bomb patterns, and was both easy to fly and control.[14]
B-24 combat boxes
B-24s of the
Fifteenth Air Force formations
The Fifteenth Air Force, consisting of a preponderance of B-24 groups flying at altitudes 5,000 feet (1,500 m) or lower than those flown by the B-17 groups in the Eighth Air Force, employed a larger group box during the period of December 1943 to July 1944. Called the "six-box formation", it consisted of forty aircraft, with the group divided into two units of twenty B-24s, one behind the other, and each unit consisted of three squadron boxes.[17]
The center squadron (known as Able Box) of the first unit was a composite formation of six aircraft containing the group leader, with the deputy leader flying on its wing. The other four aircraft of Able Box were from the two squadrons assigned to the unit for that mission, with the six bombers formed in two
Because it was laterally wide, the six-box formation was not a compact formation, was cumbersome to fly, and thus was less efficient in bombing accuracy. The Fifteenth Air Force adopted the diamond formation during the summer of 1944 to increase its bombing accuracy, but this also had the negative consequences of increasing losses to flak. This formation reduced the number of boxes from six to four, each flying three elements of three planes each with a Tail-end Charlie.[21] As with the six-box formation, the trailing elements were stacked downward from the high leader, and the Tail-end Charlie of the fourth box (Dog Ten) was still often referred to as "the Purple Heart position".[20] The four-box formation proved easier to assemble and organize, provided a tight bomb pattern, and concentrated defensive firepower against fighter attacks.[22]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c Freeman 1991, p. 37
- ^ Bowman 1997, p. 48
- ^ Capps 1997, p. 108
- ^ Morrison 1962, pp. 22–23
- ^ a b c d e Freeman 1991, p. 42
- ^ Freeman 1991, pp. 38–40
- ^ Freeman 1991, p. 40
- ^ Bowman 1997, pp. 46–48
- ^ "⚜ | Why Use Colourful Camouflage in World War 2? - Assembly Ships". Youtube. Military Aviation History.
- ^ "Polka Dot Warriors > Vintage Wings of Canada". www.vintagewings.ca. Vintage Wings. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
- ^ Freeman 1991, p. 42 This applied only to B-17 groups until September 1943, because of the fewer number of B-24 groups and their different performance characteristics.
- ^ Miss Lace
- ^ Johnson 1995, p. 146
- ^ a b c d e Freeman 1991, p. 43
- ^ "The Matterhorn Missions", John T. Correll, AIR FORCE Magazine, March 2009.
- ^ a b Freeman 1991, p. 44
- ^ Capps 1997, p. 102
- ^ Thompson 1995, p. 1
- ^ Newby, Leroy W. "Ted" (March 1987). "50 Mission Crush: A 50 Mission Recall". Computer Gaming World. pp. 20–21, 54.
- ^ a b Capps 1997, p. 106
- ^ Capps 1997, p. 104
- ^ Capps 1997, p. 394
- Bibliography
- Bowman, Martin W. (1997). USAAF Handbook 1939-1945, Stackpole Books, ISBN 0-8117-1822-0
- Capps, Robert S. (1997). Flying Colt: Liberator Pilot in Italy, Manor House, ISBN 0-9640665-1-3
- Freeman, Roger A. (1991). The Mighty Eighth War Manual, Motorbooks International, ISBN 0-87938-513-8
- Morrison, Wilbur H. (1962), The Incredible 305th: The "Can Do" Bombers of World War II, Jove Books, ISBN 0-515-07733-X
- Thompson, Robert L. (1995). Flying in Coffin Corner, Whitewing Press, ISBN 0-9639519-1-2
- Johnson, Richard Riley (1995). Twenty Five Milk Runs (And a few others): To Hell's Angels and back. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1-4120-2501-X. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- 398th Bomb Group Combat Formations