Night bombers interception in Western Europe in 1944

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...


The option then was fit a belly turret of doubtful utility
and to do so you have to remove the H2S Radar dome
you need to find the target.

Keith


How about take off a few pounds of bombs and do both?


For one thing there wasnt the physical space to fit both.
The Lancaster had a very large bomb bay and it would
have required considerable modifications to the aircraft
to allow this to happen.

Even had they done so its doubtful it would have made much
difference. Even a .50 calibtre turret would have been
outranged by the 30mm cannon used by the German
nightfighters and the chances of a gunner even spotting the
aircraft were low. Its much easier to spot a plane above
you at night than one below especially in blackout conditions.

The best defence against the NF was the bomber stream and
flying a varying course. This of course was tiring and a pain
for the navigator but it made the job of the nightfighter
very much harder.

Keith