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Germany Never Expected Chin Turrets To End B-17 Head-On Attacks
Western Germany, February 6, 1944, thirteen hundred hours, and Oberleutnant Hans Knoke of Jagdgeschwader 11 tightened his grip on the control stick of his Focke-Wulf F W one-ninety A-6, watching the massive formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses approaching from the west at twenty-three thousand feet, their contrails stretching across the winter sky like white scars, when something caught his eye that made his blood run cold, a glint of metal beneath the nose of the lead bomber where no guns should have been, twin barrels protruding from what looked like a powered turret mounted directly under the bombardier's position, and in that instant Knoke realized everything Jagdgeschwader 2's Egon Mayer had taught them about attacking the amerikanische Viermots from head-on, the tactic that had brought down hundreds of Flying Fortresses since November 1942, might suddenly be worthless, obsolete, a death trap for any German fighter pilot foolish enough to attempt it.
The Luftwaffe's discovery of the B-17's frontal vulnerability had been almost accidental, born from desperation and the brilliant tactical mind of Hauptmann Egon Mayer, commander of III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen," who on November 23, 1942, had led his Focke-Wulf F W one-nineties against a formation of amerikanische heavy bombers over France, experimenting with an approach that contradicted everything German fighter doctrine had taught about attacking bombers, coming in fast and level from twelve o'clock high, the most dangerous angle imaginable with a closing speed exceeding six hundred miles per hour, giving the pilot perhaps two seconds to aim and fire before breaking away to avoid collision, yet Mayer had noticed something the technical intelligence officers at Rechlin had missed, that the early model B-17E and B-17F Flying Fortresses had minimal forward defensive armament, just two flexible fifty-caliber machine guns operated by the navigator and bombardier through cheek windows, plus whatever the top turret could depress forward, which wasn't much, leaving a cone of vulnerability directly in front of the bomber that no amount of armor plating could protect.