March 6th, 1944. Twenty-three thousand feet over Germany. A B-17 Flying Fortress faced twelve Messerschmitt Bf 109s. In the tail gun position, Staff Sergeant Michael Donovan watched the fighters form up for attack. Standard procedure said fire defensively. Training said conserve ammunition. Common sense said survive. Donovan said attack first.
This is the untold story of how one tail gunner’s suicidal tactic destroyed twelve fighters in four minutes. From the moment Donovan opened fire at maximum range to disrupt German formations to the psychological warfare that made enemy pilots flee from a single gun position, from aggressive engagement doctrine that reduced bomber casualties by fifteen percent to the three hundred gunners he trained who saved three thousand lives, discover how a South Boston street fighter transformed defensive air combat into offensive intimidation. One gunner. Twelve kills. Four minutes. And a doctrine that changed warfare forever.
Credit to : WW2 Records