homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation European Air War Escorting Bombers

I know this is a somewhat basic question,,But when escorting bombers what was American doctrine ,,Fly above and behind or way in front hunting???I remember reading a book about Adolf Galland years ago and there was two trains of thought one wnated to hunt ahead and the other wanted them to tie in with the bombers.I've been practicing escorts lately and need to know American tactics for 352ND,,I'm trying to work on my tactics to get beyond the shoot and screw I normally do off line

Multiple squadrons formed the bomber's escort. They were divided between close and loose escorts. During the latter portion of the war most of the Luftwaffe attacks were driven off before they made contact. It took a coordinated attack to engage the loose unit/s and allow additional units to pass through and mix it up with the close escorts and bombers.

Thanks Mike.Think for now I'll work on close escort practice..Remembered I had a book about the Mighty 8TH gonna get to the garage and dig it out and do some instructive reading hell I just might learn a bit,

Dont know the original doctrine for escorting.......
Do know that total escorting was not accomplished until the
introduction of the P51, and that it WAS the doctrine of the
332nd to stick close to the bombers. (Chase off, come back.)

I have tried both sticking close, and chasing to a kill in EAW.
If enemy is set to 'heavy' the game seems to send one group to
occupy the escorts, and another to go after the bombers. Dont see any
reason why this would not have been the real enemy doctrine.

In EAW, if you chase, you will be drawn down and away and lose contact
with the bombers. If your squad stays close, more of your bombers will
succeed in bombing the target. You might get less kills. But I found that if
you come in behind the bombers and attack the attackers until they break off,
then circle back around and do it again, (Just like you do when your attacking
bombers.) you will save bombers and rack up kills.
Be sure to keep calling your squad/wingman to 're-group!'

AO

Thanks AO I have found chasing a mutt Does make me loose the bombers and I have a hell of a time getting back to the bombers.Maybe with practice I'll figure it out.

Good advice Roller
Russ' post begs the question about AI plane behaviour. AI interceptors behave in programmed ways in EAW, which you need to deal with if you are flying an escort mission. What may have happened in reality may be irrelevant.
The objective is that the bombers survive, and if they do the mission is successful. Only planes that are actually attacking the bombers need to be dealt with, so you need to stay close to the formation, and not be concerned with planes that are no longer in a position to attack.

Thanks M8's got some good info.First I forgot to figure I'm dealing with A.I. pilots and 2nd to stay closer to the bombers and protect them ,forget thinking about the kill,,Usually I do the stupid thing and get focused on on fighter and get drawn away.I hear the call"where are you guys??" a lot and spend too much time trying to locate and get back to the formation.Seems like a good thing to practice once I'm flying again.

Hi Russ,

Mike is right. By the beginning of 1945 the Mustangs were both close escort, and also when there were enough available would go hunting in front of the bombers to break up enemy formations as they were joining up. In some cases they went down and strafed the airfields as well. Generally some flights stayed close and some were detached when enemy spotted to engage them before they could attack the bombers. Of course it did not always work and some leaked through the defensive screen. You mention Galland and during BoB he wanted the fighters to hang loose and engage the RAF but Goering insisted that they stick close to the bombers, which Galland thought negated the value of the 109's.

Pete

Pete
You're right that's one of the things I took away from that book..But after reading Jelly's post those tactics aren't really applicable in a game environment..guess the first thing is A.I. pilots aren't human and react in a set way kind of also most the the active squads are very small and you can't have two pronged tactics..For my self I see the need to stay closer to the bombers and not be pulled away and to better understand which planes are an immediate threat and which aren't worth going after at the moment..And not loose sight of the mission to protect the bombers not rack up kills.Guess I'm getting to the point where I look at tactics and not getting notches on my gun.

Russ,

During Bob the aim was for the Luftwaffe to destroy the RAF fighters and gain air supremacy so Galland wanted to attack the fighters and did not mind losing bombers - Goering did not see it that way. During the "Pointblank" campaign the US Army Air Corps also wanted to destroy the fighters and that was the official policy irrespective of bomber losses - to a point. Same idea, different interpretation. In the game I seem to remember that as squad leader you can order your planes to either defend the bombers or attack the fighters but not both. Not sure how effective the orders are but I guess you could order everybody else to defend then do the attacking yourself, butyou probably will not last too long on your own.

Pete