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Posted on 01/21/2007 6:11:53 PM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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On 6, November 1944 the Germans were holding the high ridges in the Northern Apennine mountains they called THE GOTHIC LINE. This defense line ran through the mountain ranges that reached, almost unbroken, from La Spezia on the north west coast of Italy to the City of Rimini on the Adriactic. Near the center and behind the German lines was the important transportation center of Bologna. Rail lines bringing war supplies from Germany, were for the most part routed through the Brenner Pass. Other rail lines from Austria were further east and led south into Venice and then into Bologna. These were the two main transportation lines that fueled the German machines in Italy.  It was estimated that 24,000 tons of supplies was flowing to the German troops each day. That was five times the minimum daily requirements needed to support the German troops that were locked in a winter stalemate with our Allied forces. On the 6th. of November 1944, Operation BINGO was put into effect. It's objective was to stop the flow of German goods coming to the fighting front by closing off the Brenner Pass. The four B-25 bomb groups belonging to the 57th. Bomb Wing were to carry the bulk of the load. Fighter bombers of the 12th. Air Force's Tactical Air Command and the Desert Air Force (British) would assist. Some help would come from B-17's and B-24's of the 15th. Air Force.  Bombs Away. A load of white phosphorous bombs heading down toward the gun emplacements protecting the the Orr Bridge at Brenner Pass. Photo courtesy of Dave Mershon, 487th. It was estimated that if electrical power could be denied the electrical driven locomotives that were used on the steeper grades, it would force the Germans to use more inefficient steam locomotives that would require part of the transportation effort to supply coal for these trains and also pull locomotives and rolling stock from their present activities. If this could be accomplished, it was estimated that it could reduce the carrying capacity in the Brenner Pass to around 10,000 tons a day. On 6 November, the B-25's struck targets in the Brenner; the electrical transformer stations between San Ambrogio - hit by the 310th., through Ala - hit by the 321st., and Trento - hit by the 340th. The targets were all hit and destroyed or damaged to the extent that electrical power was denied to trains as far north as Balzano. The 319th., newly changed from B-26's to B-25's, hit railroad bridges in the lower end of Brenner.  The defense of the pass fell to the 2nd. Fighter Group of the Italian Facist Republic Air Force. These were Italian pilots flying Me-109's with German markings. With only about 50 planes these would not be the most effective deterrent. The primary defense fell to the German 5th. and 127th. Flak Regiments that manned the 366 heavy, anti-aircraft guns that were stationed from Verona, in the south, to Innsbruk, in the north. By the end of that day more heavy guns moved in around Ala and Rovereto. In addition to the German gunners there were still Italians fighting along with the Germans. However the batteries were manned independently by either Germans or the Italians. The Italian gunners used an Italian cannon coupled with the German Radar.  319th Bomb Group The German's main defensive weapon was the 8.8cm. Fliegerabwehrkanone, shortened to Flak. The 88 fired a 9.24KG (20.34 pound) shell to over 49,000 feet. It was coupled with the KG 40 gun director and the 41D gun laying radar. The gun director was a mechanical calculator with a stereoscopic height finder incorporated, capable of predicting a rectilinear or curvilinear course. The radar was capable of furnishing present azimuth, angular height and radar range to the gun director. Usually the gun batteries used radar tracking for range and optical tracking for direction. In cases where clouds or smoke obscured the bomb formations, radar controlled or barrage firing was used although it was not considered as effective as visual sighting.  Other guns were used also. The Italians made 90mm cannon, with a range of 26,000 feet and their 102mm cannon that reached to 40,000 feet were used to guard the Brenner Pass targets. While the larger guns were require to reach high flying B-17's and B-24's, lighter guns such the German and Italian 37mm cannon would reach up to 15,000 feet and the Italian 75mm ranged to 27,000 feet, were all effective against our B-25 Bombers who rarely flew above 13,000 feet. This meant any gun from a 37mm up could reach the medium bombers altitude. From the reports of the combat crews - they all did.  As the attacks increase on the Brenner Pass, targets of rail and road bridges, tracks and fills, the amount of flak guns increased. Batteries were added as far north as Bressanone. On the 11th. of November a flight of B-25's had 18 aircraft holed and one crash due to flak damage. Of the 16 attacks made during November, 11 had drawn flak. Of 300 sorties 20 B-25's were holed and one B-25 crashed. In December 69 more guns were moved into the Brenner Pass by the Germans, making a total of 435. Anti-flak operations became standard practice by the 57th. Fighter bombers dropping general purpose bombs and the bombers dropping 20 pound fragmentation bombs and twisted pieces of tin foil called Chaff or Window (to confuse the radar) were tried.  Returning from a mission. 7T, 7Z and other aircraft of the 487th peeling off to land. August 1944 Alesan, Corsican Photo courtesy of Dave Komigsberg, 487th. At the end of December the 319th. Bomb Group flew it's last mission, over Italy, and returned to the U.S. in January of 1945. This left the 310th., the 321st., and the 340th. Groups the only medium bombers in the theater.
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We didn't build it on Tuesday. :-(
Performance numbers from Wikipedia
B-25J performance figures
* Maximum speed: 275 mph (239 knots, 442 km/h)
* Cruise speed: 230 mph (200 knots, 370 km/h)
* Combat radius: 1,350 mi (1,170 nm, 2,170 km)
* Ferry range: 2,700 mi (2,300 nm, 4,300 km)
* Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
* Rate of climb: 790 ft/min (4 m/s)
* Wing loading: 55 lb/ft² (270 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.110 hp/lb (182 W/kg)
Crew: six (two pilots, navigator/bombardier, turret gunner/engineer, radio operator/waist gunner, tail gunner
Weapons
* Guns: 12× .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
* Bombs: 6,000 lb (2,700 kg)
B-26G perormance figures
* Maximum speed: 287 mph (250 knots, 460 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m)
* Cruise speed: 216 mph (188 knots, 358 km/h)
* Landing speed: 104 mph (90 knots, 167))
* Combat radius: 999 nm (1,150 mi, 1,850 km)
* Ferry range: 2,480 nm (2,850 mi, 4,590 km)
* Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 ft)
* Wing loading: 46.4 lb/ft² (228 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (170 W/kg)
* Lift-to-drag ratio: 12.0
Crew: seven: (2 pilots, bombardier, navigator/radio operator, 3 gunners)
Weapons
* Guns: 12× .50 in (12.7 mm) Colt-Browning machine guns
* Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
So it looks like the B-25 has an advantage in range and bomb load vs the B-26.
The original B-26 was, for it's day, a very hot airplane with performanc efigures far in excess of the B-25. It was the high performance that gave fledging aircrews a lot of problems initially. MacDtll AFB in Florida was the home to the B-26 training unit and crashes were numerous. Things got so bad the Gen. Arnold had Jimmy Doolittle go down and check out the training as the AAF was thinking of cancelling the Marauder program. The basic problem was that a lot of the aircrew had NO twin engiine experience. Kinda like giving a 16 year kid with a new license the keys to an AC Cobra. SAMWolf covered this in #35
The B-25 on the other hand was relatively speaking a much more sedate aircraft to fly. I also suspect the the B-25 held up to battle damage a little better than the B-26 but I don't recall where I read this.
One other tidbit regards the B-26 FWIW. In the opening days of WW-II the 22nd Bomb Group was sent to Australia to help in the fight against the Japanese. They were equipped with the original shortwinged B-26As. In raids over japanese airfields on New Guinea after completing thier bomb runs the B-26sa were able to pull away from the Jap fighters. See Martian Caidan's Ragged Rugged Warriors for the full story.
Hope this helped some
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Thanks to both of you for the info. The B-26 definitely looked sleeker. And newer. But I, personally, like the rugged looks of the B-25 better, it could both dish it out and take it, my favorite. I've read somewhere that it, like the DC-3, was very versatile, the most versatile airplane of the war, in fact.
Click on picture to go to website. Then click on various images to enlarge.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Great pic Soaring Feather!
January 23, 2007
READ: Jonah 1:1-10
Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. —Jonah 1:3
Why do people run away from God? Is it because of anger, disappointment, despair, disobedience, or a web of rebellion woven from our own desires?
The book of Jonah looks at a prophet who rejected God’s call to deliver His word to the people of Nineveh. In the first chapter (vv.3,10), we read that Jonah deliberately headed for Tarshish to run away from the Lord. He knew exactly where he was going and why. After being given a second chance (3:1-2), Jonah delivered God’s message but reacted angrily when the Lord spared the repentant city (3:10–4:2).
The book ends with the Lord speaking to Jonah about His compassion: “Should I not pity Nineveh?” (4:11). But there’s no indication that the disgruntled prophet changed his attitude. The people of Nineveh repented; Jonah did not.
The story of Jonah should cause each of us to be honest about our feelings toward the Lord. Do we harbor resentment for His leniency toward people we feel deserve judgment? Have we forgotten that God has forgiven us? Are we ready to obey His call and leave the outcome to Him?
The story of Jonah illuminates our reactions to God and measures our willingness to trust Him when we can’t understand His ways.
Kewl!
I wish I could remember the name of the ship and the country. Alfa6 posted it last year sometime.
I wrote a poem using the plane as an inspiration.
Nice comparision of the stats on the B-25 and B-26.
I wonder if we have the manufacturing capacity to do something like that again.
The B-25 looked "meaner"
It's a C-130 can't tell if it's the Gunship version though.
I should have saved that info, but I figured you men would know. ;)
Yesh, talk about mean looking. Hate to be on the receiving end of all those 50 cal in its nose! And what is that big whatever it is, sitting lower in it's nose? Looks like a large gun of some sort.
That's a 75mm cannon. In addition to the four 50's in the nose there are two more pointing forward on each side of the cockpit! And it looks like the top turret can bring two more to bear. If so, that's ten (10) .50-cals and a 75mm on target! Not to mention another two at the rear to clean up! The side gunners get a crack at anyone trying to get out of the way.
Click on the picture and look at the other pictures. You you look close you can see the extra 50s!
"The B-25H was an improved version of the B-25G. The fixed nose armament was increased to four nose-mounted .50-cal. machine guns and four more .50-cal. machine guns in fuselage mounted pods. The 75mm cannon was changed from the G model's M4 to the lighter T13E1 75mm cannon. The top turret was moved to the forward fuselage and the lower turret was removed and replaced by a single .50-cal. machine gun in each of the two waist positions. A tail turret housing a pair of .50-cal. machine guns was added bringing the firepower total to 14 .50-cal. machine guns and a 75mm cannon. The aircraft could also carry up to 3,200 pounds of bombs."
Here is a pic of a RAF Tornado fighter taken on the same route. Remember the photog was on a hill and the white dots are sheep!!!
BAAAAAA
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
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