Feature
How the US Army Air Forces protected B-17 and B-24 crews in taking the fight to the enemy


The peak strength. A tight formation of B-17Gs from the 398th Bomb Group heading to Neumünster, Germany, on 13 April 1945
At the end of the Great War and in the interwar period, the idea that “the bomber will always get through” held sway. As described by Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin in 1932, it believed well-armed bombers would be able to defend themselves and reach the target.