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Curtis Lemay -> RE: AA Patch - unofficial and temporary. (10/3/2013 4:22:59 PM)
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ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work
Yes they bombed from lower than planned altitude to get under the cloud and actually see their targets on some beaches from 3500-7000 ft - whereas at Omaha the equivalent raids did not, blind bombed and completely missed!!
No. Actually it was the other way around:
"For a moment, it had seemed that low cloud might force the Eighth, better provided than were other forces for nonvisual bombing, to undertake the missions originally assigned to IX Bomber Command against targets in the UTAH area. However, Brig. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson sought, and received, authority to bomb visually under the 3,500-foot ceiling, and the project to divert the heavies from Caen was abandoned. Accordingly, the mediums took off between the hours of 0343 and 0500, flying in boxes of eighteen planes each. Because of continuing overcast the attacks went in at levels ranging from 3,500 to 7,000 feet."
So, they were ordered to bomb below 3500 feet, but conditions didn't permit bombing below 3500.
I would also point out that there were versions of such bombers equipped primarily for strafing mode (lots of MGs in the nose), not to mention ones equipped with torpedoes (gotta be on the deck to drop torpedoes).
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3500 ft was what the allies considered the maximum effective height of German 20mm FLAK - so at that height they were minimising their exposure although not totally eliminating it.
Regardless of what they considered, that was not its maximum effective height - see post #65.
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and sometimes Spitfires level bombed from 10,000 feet too using ground-based radar direction!
Still doesn't make it right :)
There are all sorts of tactical warfare aspects that TOAW must average out. This is just one more. High-altitude bombers were subject to low-altitude AAA some of the time.
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