[investigateworld]

Actually we did have P-51's over Berlin by Jan - Feb, 1944 via using drop tanks.

But we were still at a clumsy stage, the much vaunted Norden bomb-sight just wasn't up to putting bombs on a specific target.

The Army Air Corp knew it too, in fact checking crew manifests for raids in 44 -45 (B-17 and B-24) one will see that frequently instead of listing a bombardier, there is a "Nose Gunner", always a trained enlisted man in that position.

I can't believe that this wasn't discussed during his USAF flight training.

[Tallguy]

The Army Air Corp knew it too, in fact checking crew manifests for raids in 44 -45 (B-17 and B-24) one will see that frequently instead of listing a bombardier, there is a "Nose Gunner", always a trained enlisted man in that position.

One of Gen. Curtiss LeMay's contributions prior to leaving for the Pacific was the "Bomb on Lead" tactic. Instead of each bomber lining up on the target & dropping on it's own bombardier's signal, the bombers would all drop simultaneously when the lead bombardier in the lead bomber signalled 'drop'. Bombing on the signal of a Master Bombadier had better effects than having everybody taking their best shot regardless of experience or skill.