Did you ever hear this one?

During the air engagements in the Mediterranean, an Italian bombing raid ran into some fierce opposition from a very determined British fighter.
Concentrating his attention on one bomber, the pilot expended all ammunition within the formation, concentrating bursts on one bomber, causing considerable damage. After he had no .303 ammo left, the pilot slid back his canopy, fired all 6 rounds of his Webley at the bomber, and then threw his pistol at the bomber, scratching the paintwork.
The pilot of the bomber was concentrating on the proceedings here, and saw then, the fighter pilot fire his Very flare at the bomber.
Seeing the utter determination and resilience displayed by the British pilot, the Italian pilot ordered his crew to bail out!!!

[ 02. January 2003, 11:44 PM: Message edited by: Panzerknacker ]

 

Sounds like his next option was to Ram him!

 

Hadnt heard of this but--this is kinda why Hajo Hermann created the "Wild Sau" unit--for ramming. I dont know if it was because of the possibility of not having enough ammo to finish the job--if Erich sees this--maybe he can tell you more.

 

Hajo Hermann created the 'Wilde Sau' because he was devastated that Germany was being torn open at night by the British bombers without notable losses to their ranks.
After seeing that the Wilde Sau alone would not turn the tide of battle, and knowing that without gallant sacrifice Germany was doomed, he ordered the formation of the 'Rammkommando' after hearing instances in which Jagdgeschwader pilots were taking it upon themselves to ram Allied bombers in a desperate bid to bring them down-and thought WHAT A BLOODY MARVELLOUS IDEA!!!

 

Well lets see if I can give some light to this subject.........maybe not. But I will try.

Hajo Hermann was present during the fire bombings at Hamburg and without seeing as much as a twin engine fighter in the air he phoned about a dozen bomber crewment to pilot any single engine fighter they could find and be ready to fly on a moments notice.......thrus after the mid-July 1943 victories, thus Wilde Sau was born.
The original so called Ramm units were the single staffel Sturmstaffel 1 raised in the fall of 1943 and disolved in the Spring of 1944, absorbed by 11.Sturm/ JG 3. Heavy Fw 190A-8's with 500 extra pounds of protective armor and heavy 3cm weapons in the outboard position of the wings, plus the extrememly effective Hexagon rounds that only 3/4 were needed to bring down a heavy bomber. Gettting back to the ramming situation commander von Kornatski ordered that all pilots to sing a form promising that once a pilot was airborne he swore to bring down a bomber even if by ramming. Possibly only 2 rammings in this staffel and Gruppenkommanduer of IV.STurm/JG 3, Willi Moritz sluffed off the order as he and the staff felt the pilots were more important alive than the machines.
Hajo insisted on the idea as a last resort in spring of 1945 as Sonderkommando Elbe, a real loser of an idea Hajo ! Hardly a success in unarmed 109's, no protective escorts against Allied fighters, and a huge waste of young lives.

E

 

The Germans did many great inventions but then again...some were quite awful.I dug up some names so let´s see what kinda planes the Germans were making in order to destroy the B-17 bombers...

Blohm und Voss BV 40


Type: Point-defence interceptor glider
First Flight: May 1944
Service Delivery: None
Engine: None
Maximum Speed:
344 mph (553km/h) when towed by a single Bf 109G
315 mph (507km/h) when part of pair towed by Bf 109G
Anticipated Dive Speed In Free Flight: 560 mph (900km/h)
Armament:
Two 30mm MK 108 each with 35 rounds.

Growing desperation stemming from the destruction wrought by the Allied bomber swarms, the Bv 40 was a desperate solution. The Bv 40 was to be towed above a bomber formation either singly or in pairs by a Bf 109G. The Bv 40 would be released and would then commence a diving attack on the formation. The pilot sat in a heavily armored cockpit and would pilot the aircraft to an unpowered landing on a skid. The entire program was dropped in the autumn of 1944.


----------

Sombold So 344



Was meant to be a parasite fighter but was later meant to be a "Bomber exploder" as the plane would fly in the middle of the bombers, and left the nose part to explode ( approx 500 kgs of explosives ) and with its rocket engines escaped.
By the end of the war there was only 1/5 model for the wind tunnel experiments.

---------

Zeppelin Rammer

I guess this is the plane for ramming the allied planes. Did not however find much in text.

 

Heh heh heh--I was waiting for Erich, Ryan and Kai to come up with something on this--but surprised Martin hasnt yet.