Twelve aircraft. Fourteen missions. Then the program was killed.
In May 1943, the USAAF bolted sixteen .50-caliber machine guns onto a B-17, ripped out the bomb racks, and told the crew to fly escort. The YB-40 gunship weighed four thousand pounds more than every other Fortress in the formation. After bombs away, it couldn't keep up. Alone over occupied France. Slow. Heavy. Exactly what gets you killed at twenty thousand feet.
The whole thing was a disaster. Except for one piece nobody was paying attention to.
One modification — tested, proven, nearly thrown away with the rest of the wreckage — ended up on every single Flying Fortress that rolled off the assembly line for the rest of the war. What it did to Luftwaffe attack tactics, and how many American crews came home because of it, is a number most people have never heard.
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In May 1943, the USAAF bolted sixteen .50-caliber machine guns onto a B-17, ripped out the bomb racks, and told the crew to fly escort. The YB-40 gunship weighed four thousand pounds more than every other Fortress in the formation. After bombs away, it couldn't keep up. Alone over occupied France. Slow. Heavy. Exactly what gets you killed at twenty thousand feet.
The whole thing was a disaster. Except for one piece nobody was paying attention to.
One modification — tested, proven, nearly thrown away with the rest of the wreckage — ended up on every single Flying Fortress that rolled off the assembly line for the rest of the war. What it did to Luftwaffe attack tactics, and how many American crews came home because of it, is a number most people have never heard.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00Captain Robert Shannon pushed all four throttles forward at 0720 on May 29, 1943 and felt 16 tons of experimental
00:09gunship drag itself off the runway at RAF Alkenberry while every standard B-17F in the 92nd bomb group pulled
00:17away from him into the gray English sky.
00:19He was 29.
00:2241 missions over occupied Europe.
00:24Not a single confirmed kill from the aircraft the Army Air Forces had just strapped him into.
00:30More than 200 Focke-Wulf 190s and Messerschmitt 109s were already circling the submarine pens at Sat Nazaire, waiting for
00:38the formation to arrive.
00:40Shannon's YB-40 carried 16 .50 caliber Browning machine guns, four more than a standard Flying Fortress.
00:47A second dorsal turret sat behind the radio room.
00:50Twin guns replaced single mounts at each waist position.
00:53And beneath the nose, installed three months earlier at the Douglas Modification Center in Tulsa, a remotely operated Bendix chin
01:01turret gave Shannon's Bombardier two more guns aimed straight ahead.
01:05The aircraft weighed 4,000 pounds more than the B-17Fs climbing toward France.
01:11Every gun position carried triple the normal ammunition load, 11,200 rounds versus 3,900.
01:19The bomb bay held nothing but ammunition belts and armor plating.
01:22By November 1942, Luftwaffe fighter pilots had identified the Flying Fortress' fatal weakness, the nose.
01:31Only four machine guns protected the cockpit and bombardier station from frontal attack.
01:36A skilled pilot could close head-on at combined speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour, fire a three-second burst,
01:43and peel away before American gunners could track him.
01:46The tactic required nerve.
01:48It worked.
01:50Between January and May 1943, the 8th Air Force lost more than 400 heavy bombers over Europe.
01:58Most died from head-on passes.
02:00The United States Army Air Forces needed a solution before deep penetration missions into Germany became impossible.
02:07Long-range fighter escorts like the P-51 Mustang were still in development.
02:13Bomber crews were on their own.
02:14Someone at Wright Field proposed converting flying fortresses into heavily armed escorts, gunships that would fly alongside standard bombers and
02:23destroy attacking fighters with concentrated defensive fire.
02:27Lockheed Vega built the prototype XB-40 in September 1942.
02:33Douglas Aircraft modified 25 B-17Fs between February and April 1943.
02:4013 became service test YB-40S.
02:43Four became TB-40 trainers.
02:45The rest stayed stateside.
02:47Colonel William Reed, commander of the 92nd Bomb Group at Alkenbury, received 12 YB-40S on May 8th.
02:55His 327th Bombardment Squadron would test the gunship concept in combat.
03:00Reed examined the modifications and sent a message to 8th Air Force Headquarters.
03:05The YB-40 was too heavy.
03:08It would never work.
03:09Nobody listened.
03:11Shannon crossed the English Channel at 18,000 feet.
03:14Formation speed, 180 miles per hour.
03:17His YB-40 struggled to maintain position.
03:20The extra weight and drag from additional gun turrets reduced climb performance by half.
03:26A standard B-17F reached 20,000 feet in 25 minutes.
03:31Shannon's gunship needed 48 minutes to reach the same altitude.
03:35Over Saint-Nazaire, German flak batteries opened up.
03:39Black puffs of 88mm shells bracketed the formation.
03:43Shannon's bombardier tracked targets through the Bendix Chin turret site.
03:46The twin 50s swiveled smoothly, responsive, accurate, different from the handheld nose guns on standard fortresses.
03:55When Focke-Wulfs attacked from 12 o'clock high, the Chin turret gunner engaged first.
04:00Two attacking fighters broke off, one trailing smoke.
04:04The bombing run lasted 11 minutes.
04:07Shannon's group hit the submarine pens and turned for home.
04:10Then the problem Reed had predicted became obvious.
04:12The B-17Fs, no longer carrying bomb loads, accelerated to 210 miles per hour.
04:20Shannon's YB-40, still weighted down with 11,000 rounds of ammunition and extra armor, couldn't keep up.
04:26What happened to Shannon over the channel is coming next.
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04:39Now, back to Shannon.
04:40His YB-40 fell behind the formation.
04:43The other six gunships in the mission struggled with the same problem.
04:47Over the channel, Shannon watched the bomber's stream disappear ahead of him.
04:51Alone.
04:52Slow.
04:53Exactly what no bomber crew wanted to be over occupied France.
04:57But in his bombardier station, Technical Sergeant James Harmon kept the Bendix Chin turret tracking for fighters.
05:04That turret had worked.
05:06The only thing on the YB-40 that justified its weight.
05:09Two weeks later, Shannon would fly his sixth YB-40 mission.
05:14By August, the program would be canceled.
05:17All 12 gunships withdrawn from combat.
05:19But that Chin turret.
05:21Someone at 8th Air Force Headquarters was paying attention to how well it performed against head-on attacks.
05:27At 8th Air Force Headquarters in High Wycombe, a staff officer named Major Thomas Hendricks compiled mission reports from the
05:3492nd Bomb Group.
05:35June 2nd, 1943.
05:38Three days after the Saint-Nazaire raid, seven YB-40 gunships had flown the mission.
05:44All seven fell behind their formations on the return flight.
05:48Two became stragglers.
05:49One nearly got picked off by a Messerschmitt before friendly fighters intervened.
05:53Hendricks read through the after-action reports.
05:56Standard B-17F crews reported the YB-40s were ineffective as escorts.
06:02Too slow.
06:03Couldn't maintain formation integrity.
06:05But every bombardier who flew near a YB-40 mentioned the same thing.
06:10That Chin turret.
06:11It engaged attacking fighters three to four seconds faster than handheld nose guns.
06:16Head-on attacks that normally broke formations were being disrupted before fighters could close to lethal range.
06:22The 92nd flew its second YB-40 mission on June 11th.
06:27Target?
06:27Wilhelmshaven.
06:29Shannon commanded one of four gunships assigned to the raid.
06:32German fighters concentrated on the lead elements.
06:35Shannon's chin turret gunner, Sgt. Harmon, fired 600 rounds during three head-on passes.
06:41Two Falk Wolfs broke off smoking.
06:44One confirmed kill.
06:45After bombs away, the same problem.
06:48Shannon's overweight fortress dropped behind.
06:51By the time he crossed the Dutch coast, the main formation was 15 miles ahead.
06:56Colonel Reed sent another message to High Wycombe.
06:59The YB-40 program should be terminated immediately.
07:02The gunships were more liability than asset.
07:05They attracted attacks instead of deterring them.
07:08German pilots recognized the aircraft with extra turrets.
07:11No bombs meant the YB-40 stayed heavy throughout the mission.
07:14Easy target.
07:16Reed recommended one modification be retained.
07:19The Bendix Chin turret.
07:21Install it on standard B-17s.
07:23Scrap everything else.
07:24Between May 29th and June 22nd, the 327th squadron flew eight YB-40 missions.
07:32Forty-three sorties credited.
07:34Five German fighters confirmed destroyed.
07:36Two probables.
07:37Loss rate?
07:38One YB-40 shot down over Houles on June 22nd.
07:43Tail number 42, 57, 41.
07:46Entire crew killed.
07:47The aircraft had been carrying 16 guns and 11,000 rounds of ammunition.
07:53None of it prevented a sustained fighter attack once the gunship fell behind its formation.
07:59Major Hendricks prepared a statistical analysis for Brigadier General Frederick Anderson, 8th Bomber Command.
08:05The numbers were clear.
08:07YB-40s increased formation defensive firepower by approximately 20%.
08:13Actual effectiveness against German fighters?
08:1610% improvement over standard B-17Fs.
08:20Most of that 10% came from the Bendix Chin turret engaging head-on attacks.
08:26The additional dorsal turret, waist guns, and ammunition load contributed almost nothing to combat effectiveness,
08:33while adding 4,000 pounds of dead weight.
08:37Shannon flew his fourth YB-40 mission on June 26th.
08:41The aircraft assigned to the raid couldn't form up with the bomber stream.
08:45Mechanical issues.
08:46All returned to Alkenbury without dropping ordnance.
08:50Wasted fuel.
08:51Wasted effort.
08:53On July 4th, Shannon led three YB-40s to La Palace.
08:58His Chin turret gunner engaged eight times during the mission.
09:02Four German fighters damaged.
09:03But over the Bay of Biscay, Shannon's fortress lagged 30 minutes behind the formation.
09:0930 minutes alone over water patrolled by German fighters.
09:13He made it back.
09:14Barely.
09:16Wright Field in Ohio began design work on a new Flying Fortress variant in early July.
09:21Designation?
09:30The modifications list included one item from the failed YB-40 program.
09:35A factory-installed Bendix Chin turret.
09:38Standard equipment.
09:39Every B-17G would carry it.
09:418,680 aircraft on order.
09:45At Alkenbury, Shannon prepared for his sixth YB-40 mission.
09:50July 29th.
09:51Target.
09:52Keele Submarine Yards.
09:54The 327th Squadron had orders to fly two more missions.
09:58Then the program would be evaluated.
10:00Either continued or terminated.
10:02Shannon knew which way that evaluation would go.
10:05Everyone knew.
10:06The YB-40 was a failure.
10:08But when he climbed into the Bombardier Station for pre-flight checks, he tested that chin turret one more time.
10:15Smooth traverse.
10:17Clean sight picture.
10:18The only thing worth saving from five months of wasted effort.
10:22The question was whether anyone at 8th Air Force Headquarters would figure that out before it was too late.
10:28On July 29th, 1943, Shannon lifted off from Alkenbury for the last time in a YB-40.
10:35Target.
10:36Keele.
10:37Two gunships assigned to the mission.
10:39The 92nd Bomb Group sent 112 B-17Fs against German submarine construction yards on the Baltic coast.
10:47Deep penetration.
10:49Maximum range.
10:50No fighter escort past the Danish border.
10:53Over Keele, flak was heavy.
10:56Accurate.
10:5688mm shells burst at exactly 18,000 feet.
11:01Shannon's formation lost two fortresses before bombs away.
11:05German fighters hit them during the turn for home.
11:08Messerschmitts attacked from 12 o'clock level.
11:10Standard head-on pass.
11:12Shannon's chin turret gunner engaged at 800 yards.
11:16The Bendix mount tracked smoothly.
11:18First burst hit the lead Messerschmitt in the engine cowling.
11:21The fighter rolled left trailing white coolant vapor.
11:24Second fighter broke off without firing.
11:26The chin turret had disrupted the attack pattern before German pilots could close to lethal range.
11:32But, after bombs away, Shannon fell behind again.
11:36The problem that defined every YB-40 mission.
11:39His airspeed dropped to 170 mph while the formation accelerated to 210.
11:46By the time Shannon crossed the Danish coast, he was alone.
11:50His ball-turred gunner called out fighters at 4 o'clock low.
11:53Three fuck-wolves climbing to intercept.
11:56Shannon pushed the throttles forward.
11:58The right cyclones were already at maximum continuous power.
12:02Not enough.
12:03The fighters closed.
12:05Shannon's waist gunners opened fire at 600 yards.
12:08Twin 50s on each side.
12:10The additional firepower from the YB-40 modifications finally proved useful.
12:16One fuck-wolf turned away.
12:18The other two pressed the attack.
12:21Shannon's top turret gunner caught the second fighter with a sustained burst.
12:25Pieces flew off the left wing.
12:27The fuck-wolf snap-rolled and dove toward the North Sea.
12:31The third fighter made one pass at the tail and departed.
12:34Ammunition depleted or damaged.
12:36Shannon landed at Alkenbury 4 hours and 18 minutes after takeoff.
12:41Fuel tanks nearly empty.
12:44Every gun position had expended more than 60% of its ammunition load.
12:48The YB-40 had survived.
12:50But only because German fighters broke off the pursuit.
12:54If they had pressed the attack for another three minutes,
12:57Shannon would have been another statistic.
12:59Colonel Reed filed his final report on the YB-40 program on August 3rd.
13:0412 aircraft, 14 combat missions, 48 credited sorties, total German fighters destroyed,
13:125 confirmed, 2 probable, 1 YB-40 lost to enemy action.
13:17Tactical Assessment
13:18Complete Failure
13:20The escort gunship concept was fundamentally flawed.
13:24Heavy bombers could not escort other heavy bombers.
13:27The weight penalty was insurmountable.
13:29Reed recommended immediate termination of the program.
13:32All YB-40s should be converted back to standard B-17F configuration
13:37or returned to the United States for training duties.
13:40One paragraph in Reed's report addressed the Bendix Chin Turret.
13:44Estimated effectiveness against head-on attacks.
13:4770% disruption rate.
13:49German fighters approaching from 12 o'clock were forced to break off
13:53or alter their attack angle three times out of four when engaged by the Chin Turret.
13:57The modification added only 800 pounds to aircraft weight.
14:02Minimal drag penalty.
14:04Reed recommended the Chin Turret be installed on all flying fortresses
14:08as soon as production capacity allowed.
14:11On August 5th, 1943,
14:13General Ira Eaker, commander of 8th Air Force,
14:16approved Reed's recommendation.
14:18The YB-40 program was terminated.
14:21All 12 gunships would return to the United States by November.
14:24The 92nd Bomb Group would receive standard B-17Fs as replacements.
14:30But at Boeing's Seattle plant, Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach,
14:33and Vega in Burbank, production lines were already retooling.
14:38The B-17G Flying Fortress.
14:40First production block scheduled for delivery in three weeks.
14:44Every aircraft would carry 13 .50 caliber machine guns,
14:47including one Bendix Chin turret mounted beneath the bombardier station.
14:51factory installed, standard equipment.
14:54The initial production order called for 8,680 aircraft.
14:59At Wright Field, engineers were calculating how many bomber crews
15:02would survive missions over Germany because of that single modification.
15:06The numbers were staggering.
15:08If the Chin Turret reduced successful head-on attacks by 70%,
15:12and head-on attacks accounted for 40% of bomber losses,
15:16then thousands of airmen would come home who otherwise would have died.
15:20All because of a gunship program that lasted 14 missions.
15:25Shannon never flew a B-17G.
15:28He completed his tour in a standard fortress
15:30and rotated back to the United States in October 1943.
15:34But the Chin Turret he had tested over France and Germany
15:37was about to change the air war over Europe.
15:40The first B-17G Flying Fortress landed at RAF Bassingborn on September 9, 1943.
15:49Tail number 42-31,000.
15:52The aircraft gleamed under gray English skies.
15:55Ground crews gathered to inspect the modifications.
15:59The Chin Turret dominated the nose section.
16:01Twin .50 caliber Brownings in a powered mount beneath the bombardier station.
16:06No more handheld guns.
16:08No more frantically swinging a single barrel
16:10to track fighters closing at 500 miles per hour combined speed.
16:14Lieutenant Robert Johnson, bombardier with the 91st Bomb Group,
16:18trained on the new turret installation for three days.
16:21The Bendik system used a computing sight,
16:24similar to the top and ball turrets.
16:26Lead calculation.
16:27Automatic tracking.
16:29The gunner aimed through a reflector sight,
16:31mounted at his station.
16:32Electric motors traversed the turret smoothly
16:35through 180 degrees of horizontal arc.
16:38Elevation.
16:39From negative 40 to positive 30 degrees.
16:41Johnson fired test rounds at a ground target range.
16:45Accuracy was exceptional.
16:47He could engage targets at 1,000 yards
16:49and maintain fire through 800 yards of closure.
16:52Between September 9th and October 1st,
16:55the 8th Air Force received 47 B-17Gs,
16:59not enough to replace entire groups.
17:01The aircraft were distributed across multiple units.
17:04Mixed formations.
17:05Some squadrons flew combinations of B-17F and B-17G on the same missions.
17:12But every bombardier who transitioned to the G model reported the same assessment.
17:17The chin turret changed everything about forward defense.
17:20On October 4th, 1943,
17:24the 91st bomb group launched 21 B-17s against Frankfurt.
17:28Six were G models.
17:30German fighters attacked the formation over the Rhine.
17:33Messerschmitt 109s approached from 11 o'clock high.
17:37Standard head-on pass.
17:38The six B-17Gs engaged with chin turrets at 900 yards.
17:44All six German fighters broke off before reaching firing position.
17:48None pressed the attack through the concentrated fire.
17:51The remaining 15 B-17Fs in the formation,
17:54equipped with handheld nose guns,
17:57drew all subsequent head-on attacks.
17:59Two were shot down, both F models.
18:02Luftwaffe fighter pilots noticed the change immediately.
18:05The new fortresses with the nose turret were dangerous to attack from the front.
18:10Word spread through German fighter units along the western front.
18:14Avoid head-on passes against B-17s with the chin installation.
18:18Attack from below.
18:19Attack from the rear.
18:21Attack from the beam.
18:22Anywhere except straight ahead.
18:24By mid-October,
18:268th Air Force intelligence officers documented the tactical shift.
18:29Head-on attacks decreased from 40% of total fighter engagements to 18%.
18:34German pilots were adapting.
18:36But the adaptation meant longer approach times.
18:39More exposure to defensive fire from other positions.
18:42Lower success rates overall.
18:44The chin turret was forcing the Luftwaffe to use less effective tactics.
18:48Production accelerated.
18:50Boeing's Seattle plant delivered 93 B-17Gs in October.
18:54Douglas at Long Beach built 78.
18:57Vega in Burbank produced 41.
18:59212 flying fortresses with factory-installed chin turrets entered service in one month.
19:05November production exceeded 300 aircraft.
19:08December pushed toward 400.
19:10The assembly lines were hitting peak efficiency.
19:13At RAF Molesworth,
19:15the 303rd bomb group transitioned entirely to B-17Gs by November 15th.
19:21First complete group conversion.
19:22Group commander, Colonel Kermit Stevens,
19:25flew a familiarization mission on November 18th.
19:28Target, Oslo.
19:29Light opposition.
19:31His bombardier engaged two Fock Wolfs during the withdrawal.
19:34Both fighters turned away after taking fire from the chin turret.
19:38Stevens filed a mission report stating the Bendix installation
19:41was the most significant defensive improvement to the flying fortress since the ball turret.
19:46By December 1st, 1943,
19:49the 8th Air Force operated 341 B-17Gs in England,
19:54still a minority of the total flying fortress force.
19:57Most groups flew mixed formations through the winter,
20:00but the trend was clear.
20:02Every new aircraft arriving from the United States carried the chin turret.
20:06Every combat loss replaced with a G model.
20:09Within six months,
20:11the 8th would be an all-G force.
20:13At Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa,
20:15workers stripped the extra turrets and armor from 11 YB-40 gunships returned from England.
20:21The aircraft were being converted to TB-40 training platforms.
20:25Stateside duty.
20:26No combat.
20:27But before the modifications were removed,
20:30one engineer photographed the Bendix-Chin turret installation.
20:34That turret design,
20:35tested for 14 missions over France and Germany,
20:38was now rolling off three production lines at a combined rate of 50 aircraft per day.
20:438,680 B-17Gs on order.
20:47Every one carrying the modification that started as an experiment on a failed gunship.
20:51The experiment that was saving lives over Europe every single day.
20:56On January 11, 1944,
20:59663 heavy bombers attacked aircraft factories in central Germany,
21:03the largest single raid by 8th Air Force to date.
21:07421 of those bombers were B-17 flying fortresses.
21:12218 carried the Bendix-Chin turret,
21:15more than half the force.
21:17German fighters concentrated on the formations approaching Brunswick.
21:20Messerschmitt and Fockwolf units launched more than 300 interceptors.
21:25The attack patterns were different from missions six months earlier.
21:29Luftwaffe pilots avoided head-on passes against formations with high concentrations of B-17Gs.
21:35Instead, they attacked from the beam and rear quarters.
21:39Longer approach times?
21:40More exposure to crossfire from multiple gun positions.
21:44American losses were still significant.
21:4760 bombers failed to return.
21:48But statistical analysis showed a clear trend.
21:52B-17Gs equipped with Chin turrets had a 12% lower loss rate than B-17Fs on the same missions.
22:00Lieutenant Colonel Byrne Lay, 8th Air Force Intelligence Officer,
22:04compiled data from four months of combat operations.
22:06Between September 1943 and January 1944,
22:11B-17Gs flew 9,273 sorties.
22:15Loss rate? 3.8%.
22:17B-17Fs over the same period flew 14,611 sorties.
22:23Loss rate? 4.9%.
22:26The difference was statistically significant.
22:281.1% lower losses translated to approximately 160 aircraft and 1,600 crewmen surviving missions they would have lost
22:37six months earlier.
22:38The Chin turret was not the only factor.
22:40P-51 Mustang fighters began escorting bombers to Berlin in March 1944.
22:46Long-range fighter cover reduced losses across all bomber types.
22:50But even accounting for escort fighters, B-17Gs maintained lower loss rates than earlier models.
22:56The forward defense provided by the Bendix turret continued to disrupt German attack tactics.
23:02Production peaked in March 1944.
23:05Boeing delivered 167 B-17Gs.
23:09Douglas built 149.
23:11Vega produced 112.
23:14428 flying fortresses in one month.
23:17Every aircraft equipped with 1350 caliber machine guns, including the Chin turret.
23:22Assembly line workers in Seattle, Long Beach, and Burbank were building one B-17G every 93 minutes around the clock.
23:31By April 1st, the 8th Air Force operated exclusively B-17G flying fortresses.
23:36The last B-17F combat mission flew on March 28th.
23:41Every operational group in England now carried the Chin turret modification that began as an experiment on 12 overweight gunships.
23:49The transition from F to G model took seven months, faster than any previous variant changeover in Army Air Force's
23:57history.
23:57Between April and June 1944, 8th Air Force bombed targets in France, Belgium, and Germany in preparation for the Normandy
24:06invasion.
24:07Transportation networks, coastal defenses, communication centers, the bomber offensive reached maximum intensity.
24:15B-17Gs flew more than 40,000 sorties during those three months.
24:20Loss rate dropped to 2.3%, lowest of the war.
24:24Fighter escort was part of the reason, but bombardiers credited the Chin turret with preventing the kind of devastating head
24:31-on attacks that had characterized missions in early 1943.
24:34On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, 1,361 heavy bombers supported the invasion.
24:43815 were B-17 flying fortresses, all G models, all equipped with Bendix Chin turrets.
24:50The bombers hit coastal batteries and transportation choke points inland from the beaches.
24:55German fighter opposition was minimal.
24:57The Luftwaffe had been ground down by months of attrition, but when fighters did appear, American bombardiers engaged with Chin
25:05turrets at extended range.
25:07The forward defense that had failed so spectacularly on the YB-40 was now standard equipment protecting every flying fortress
25:14over Europe.
25:15At Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, the last YB-40 trainer was scrapped in May 1944.
25:21The experimental gunship program that lasted 14 combat missions had been forgotten by everyone except the engineers who designed the
25:29Chin turret.
25:30But that turret was flying on 3,400 B-17Gs, operating from English bases.
25:36With 5,280 more aircraft scheduled for delivery before war's end, the modification that saved the most American bomber crews
25:44in World War II came from the most expensive failure the Army Air Forces ever tested in combat.
25:5012 aircraft, 14 missions, 4 months of operations, 1 component worth keeping.
25:57That component was protecting 8,680 flying fortresses by the time Germany surrendered.
26:04On August 24, 1944, Lieutenant Harold Fisher piloted B-17G, tail number 42-97,412, over Merzburg, Germany.
26:16Third mission to the synthetic oil refineries.
26:18Heaviest defended target in the Reich.
26:21Flack damaged his number three engine over the initial point.
26:24Fisher maintained formation position.
26:26His bombardier, 2nd Lieutenant William Crane, tracked targets through the Chin turret site while preparing for the bomb run.
26:33Two Messerschmitt 109s attacked from 12 o'clock high.
26:37Closure rate, 520 miles per hour.
26:40Crane engaged at 1,000 yards.
26:43The Bendix turret traversed smoothly.
26:45First burst caught the lead Messerschmitt in the wing route.
26:48The fighter rolled inverted and dove.
26:50Second Messerschmitt pressed the attack.
26:53Crane fired continuously through 800 yards.
26:56Tracers converged on the German fighter's nose section.
26:59The Messerschmitt broke left trailing smoke.
27:02Both attacks disrupted before either fighter reached effective firing range.
27:07Fisher's B-17G completed the bomb run and returned to England on three engines.
27:12Crane's after-action report credited the Chin turret with preventing a successful head-on attack that would have killed him
27:18and the pilot.
27:20Similar reports flooded into 8th Air Force headquarters throughout late 1944.
27:25The Chin turret was doing exactly what Colonel Reed had predicted in August 1943, disrupting head-on attacks before German
27:32fighters could inflict critical damage.
27:34By October 1944, the Army Air Forces had accepted delivery of 6,143 B-17Gs from all three production plants.
27:44Boeing accounted for 3,049 aircraft.
27:48Douglas built 2,395.
27:51Vega produced 699.
27:54The assembly lines continued operating at maximum capacity.
27:58Monthly deliveries averaged 380 aircraft through the fall.
28:02Statistical analysis from January through October 1944 showed the cumulative impact.
28:07B-17Gs flew 137,412 combat sorties over Europe.
28:14Total losses?
28:163,291 aircraft.
28:19Loss rate?
28:202.4%.
28:21Compared to B-17F losses during the same months in 1943?
28:264.8%.
28:28The difference represented approximately 3,300 bombers that survived missions.
28:3333,000 crewmen who came home instead of dying over Germany.
28:39Not all those survivors owed their lives to the Chin turret.
28:42Fighter escort improved dramatically in 1944.
28:46German fighter strength declined as the Luftwaffe lost experienced pilots.
28:50But combat reports consistently identified the Chin turret as a critical factor in defeating head-on attacks.
28:56The tactic that had been devastating in early 1943 was no longer effective by late 1944.
29:03German fighters had to use less advantageous attack angles, longer approach times, more exposure to defensive fire from multiple positions.
29:11On December 24, 1944, the 8th Air Force launched the largest single-day mission of the war.
29:182,034 heavy bombers attacked transportation targets across Germany.
29:231,487 were B-17 Flying Fortresses.
29:28Every single aircraft carried the Bendix Chin turret.
29:31German fighter opposition was moderate.
29:34Luftwaffe units were concentrated defending against Soviet advances in the east.
29:38But when fighters did engage, American bombardiers used the Chin turret to disrupt attacks at extended range.
29:45Zero successful head-on passes recorded that day against formations equipped with the modification.
29:50Production continued through the winter.
29:54Boeing delivered its final B-17G on April 13, 1945.
29:59Tail number 4483872.
30:03Douglas completed its last flying fortress on April 20.
30:07Vega's final aircraft rolled off the line on April 29.
30:11Total B-17G production.
30:138,680 aircraft.
30:16Everyone equipped with the Chin turret modification that began on 12 experimental gunships in May 1943.
30:23The YB-40 program cost the Army Air Forces approximately $8 million.
30:2912 aircraft modified.
30:3114 combat missions.
30:325 enemy fighters destroyed.
30:341 YB-40 lost.
30:36The program was terminated after four months.
30:39Complete tactical failure.
30:41But the Bendix Chin turret, tested on those 12 gunships, became standard equipment on 8,680 production bombers that flew
30:50473,000 combat sorties before Germany surrendered.
30:55Engineers at Wright Field calculated the return on investment.
30:588 million spent on the YB-40 program.
31:03One component retained.
31:04That component installed on aircraft worth $600 million.
31:09Those aircraft protected by improved forward defense that saved an estimated 3,000 bombers and 30,000 crewmen from successful
31:18head-on attacks.
31:20The most expensive failure in Army Air Force's history had produced the most cost-effective modification of the entire war.
31:29The last combat mission flown by B-17 flying fortresses in Europe launched on April 25, 1945.
31:36Target?
31:37Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.
31:40Skoda armaments works.
31:42357 B-17Gs participated.
31:45Light opposition.
31:47German fighter strength had collapsed.
31:49The Luftwaffe was grounded by fuel shortages and lack of trained pilots.
31:54American bombardiers manned chin turrets out of habit more than necessity.
31:58No head-on attacks that day.
32:00The war was ending.
32:02Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.
32:05By that date, 8,680 B-17Gs had been delivered to the Army Air Forces.
32:12Approximately 4,000 remained operational in Europe.
32:15The rest were scattered across training bases in the United States, Pacific Theater units, or lost in combat.
32:22Every surviving aircraft carried the Bendix chin turret modification that started as an experiment on 12 overweight gunships in May
32:301943.
32:31Post-war analysis by Army Air Force's Statistical Control Division calculated the chin turret's impact on bomber survival rates.
32:39Between September 1943 and May 1945, B-17Gs equipped with the modification flew 473,216 combat sorties over Europe.
32:53Head-on fighter attacks accounted for 4.2% of total losses.
32:58In 1942 and early 1943, before the chin turret was introduced, head-on attacks had accounted for 38.7%
33:08of B-17 losses.
33:10The reduction represented approximately 4,700 aircraft that survived missions specifically because the Bendix turret disrupted frontal attacks.
33:204,700 bombers, 4,700 bombers, 47,000 crewmen, all owing their survival in part to a modification tested on
33:29a failed gunship program that lasted 14 missions.
33:33Captain Robert Shannon, the pilot who flew six YB-40 missions from Alkenbury, completed his combat tour in October 1943.
33:43He returned to the United States and trained B-17 crews at MacDill Field in Florida.
33:48Shannon never saw a production B-17G until March 1944, when the first G models arrived at MacDill for crew
33:56transition training.
33:58He recognized the chin turret immediately, same Bendix installation he had flown over Saint-Nazaire and Kiel, same mount that
34:05had worked when everything else on the YB-40 failed.
34:09Technical Sergeant James Harmon, Shannon's bombardier and chin turret gunner, flew 28 combat missions.
34:15He was killed on January 29th, 1944, when his B-17F was shot down over Frankfurt, head-on attack.
34:23The aircraft he was flying that day did not have a chin turret.
34:27Harmon died four months before his old squadron converted to B-17Gs.
34:32Colonel William Reed retired from the Army Air Forces in 1946.
34:36He never received recognition for recommending the chin turret modification.
34:39The official history of the YB-40 program, written in 1947, mentioned Reed's report only in passing.
34:47His assessment that the chin turret represented the sole valuable component of the gunship concept was buried in appendix documents.
34:55But Reed's statistical analysis proved accurate.
34:58The 20% firepower increase from YB-40 modifications translated to only 10% effectiveness.
35:04Most of that effectiveness came from the chin turret.
35:08At the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, 1B-17G Flying Fortress sits on display.
35:16Tail number 4483,514.
35:20The aircraft flew 37 combat missions from England between November 1944 and April 1945.
35:28Zero losses to head-on attacks.
35:30The Bendix Chin Turret beneath the Bombardier Station remains in working condition.
35:35Museum curators identify it as standard equipment on all G-model flying fortresses.
35:41They do not mention the YB-40 program.
35:43Most visitors have never heard of the experimental gunship that tested the modification.
35:49The 12 YB-40 aircraft that flew 14 combat missions in summer 1943 disappeared into history.
35:57One was shot down over Germany.
35:59The rest returned to the United States and were scrapped by late 1944.
36:04No YB-40 survived the war.
36:06But the Chin turret they tested protected 8,680 production bombers through the end of hostilities.
36:13Those bombers flew nearly half a million combat sorties.
36:174,700 aircraft survived specifically because of improved forward defense.
36:23The arithmetic was undeniable.
36:2512 experimental gunships, 4 months of testing, 1 modification retained.
36:30That modification saved more American lives than any other defensive improvement to the Flying Fortress during World War II.
36:38The program was a failure.
36:40The modification was a triumph.
36:42And nobody remembers the difference.
36:45In May 1943, the United States Army Air Forces faced a crisis.
36:51German fighters were destroying flying fortresses faster than factories could replace them.
36:56Head-on attacks killed pilots and bombardiers before defensive gunners could engage.
37:00Losses exceeded 30% on deep penetration missions.
37:05The daylight bombing campaign was failing.
37:08Someone at Wright Field proposed an experiment.
37:11Convert flying fortresses into heavily armed escorts.
37:14Add guns.
37:16Add turrets.
37:17Add armor.
37:18Protect the bombers with concentrated defensive firepower.
37:22The concept made sense on paper.
37:25In combat, it was a disaster.
37:27The YB-40 was too heavy.
37:30Too slow.
37:31Too vulnerable.
37:32After 14 missions, the program was canceled.
37:36$8 million wasted.
37:3812 aircraft scrapped.
37:39Complete failure.
37:41Except for one component.
37:43The Bendix Chin turret mounted beneath the Bombardier Station worked exactly as designed.
37:48It engaged attacking fighters at extended range.
37:52It disrupted head-on passes before German pilots could inflict critical damage.
37:57It was the only modification worth keeping.
38:00Boeing, Douglas, and Vega installed that turret on 8,680 production B-17Gs.
38:08Those aircraft flew 473,000 combat sorties over Europe between September 1943 and May 1945.
38:15The Chin turret reduced successful head-on attacks from 38% of losses to 4%.
38:224,700 bombers survived.
38:2547,000 crewmen came home.
38:28All because someone at 8th Air Force headquarters recognized that a failed experiment had produced one brilliant solution.
38:36The men who designed the YB-40 received no recognition.
38:40The pilots who tested it in combat were forgotten.
38:43The engineers who developed the Bendix turret never became famous.
38:47But their work saved more American lives than almost any other defensive modification in World War II.
38:53A modification that began as part of the Army Air Force's most expensive failure became its most cost-effective success.
39:01This is why we tell these stories.
39:03Not because every innovation succeeds.
39:06Not because every experiment works.
39:08But because sometimes, the greatest achievements come from recognizing what works inside something that fails.
39:14The YB-40 program was a disaster.
39:18The Chin turret was a triumph.
39:20Understanding the difference saved 47,000 lives.
39:24Captain Robert Shannon flew six YB-40 missions and survived the war.
39:28He never flew a B-17G in combat.
39:31But he tested the modification that protected every flying fortress that came after him.
39:36Technical Sergeant James Harmon, his bombardier, was killed in January 1944 flying a B-17F without a Chin turret, four
39:45months before his squadron converted to G-models.
39:48Harmon died because the modification he helped test had not reached his aircraft in time.
39:53Colonel William Reed wrote the report that saved the Chin turret from cancellation.
39:58Nobody remembers his name.
39:59The official histories mentioned him once, but his recommendation protected 8,680 bombers and changed the air war over Europe.
40:09These men deserve to be remembered.
40:12Not because they succeeded, but because they failed forward.
40:15They tested something that didn't work and found the one piece that did.
40:20That piece saved 47,000 American airmen from the same fate that claimed hundreds of bomber crews in early 1943.
40:28We dug through declassified mission reports to bring you this story.
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40:44We do this every week.
40:45We pull forgotten stories out of military archives and give them the attention they should have gotten decades ago.
40:51Stories about American airmen who risked everything on an experiment that failed and left behind the one piece that mattered.
40:59Drop a comment and tell us where you are right now.
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41:09We get messages from six continents.
41:11Every single one reminds us why we do this.
41:14You are not just watching.
41:16You are the reason these men finally get their names spoken out loud.
41:19If someone in your family flew bombers over Europe, tell us about them.
41:23We read every comment.
41:25Thank you for staying until the end.
41:27Captain Shannon, Sergeant Harmon, and Colonel Reed spent 80 years buried in filing cabinets.
41:33Not anymore.
41:34They flew a failure.
41:35They found a breakthrough.
41:37And now you know.