battle of britain?

Question

many years ago i worked with an older man who flew lancaster bombers during world war2,he told me he knew of a few fighter pilots during the battle of britain that when they got into the air they emptyed their machine guns any where they could so they could get back on the ground quicker,he would not say if they were british,poles, australian or from canada has anyone else heard of this?its just a question not a judgment.

Answer 1

conrange i think is his name got this mostly right and i will just add a bit.Bomber crews would shoot off or jettison ammo AFTER their mission ,over the channel when they knew the coast was clear in order the assure a safe landing especially if the ship was damaged.Shooting off ammo in order to get out of going on a mission although feasable is VERY doubtful .If they did do this it would be very noticable and this crew would be in trouble.Another possibility is simply all bomber crews test fire there guns on the way to a mission to test the guns it is possible for someone to missunderstand the fact that someone test fired there guns and then got a engine malfunction and have to RTB.

Answer 2

Your question is not much seeing you have no verifiable facts to back it up, only hearsay, it has been said that bomber crews jettisoned their bomb loads over the channel so has not to fly over enemy territory such were the losses of aircrew.

Or the old guy was suffering from penis envy, seeing that fighter-pilots always were looked up to by the female population.

Normally pilot training would weed out any who would not make the grade.

Actual newsreel film of the time shows the British fighter pilots going up in groups, so any guy who fired off his ammo would have been spotted and reported

As for the Poles, they would have gone up and attack the German without guns by ramming the Nazis such was their hatred for the fascists.

Answer 3

I don't know about fighters, but I know from family that it was common for bomber crews to do that to save fuel on the way back to England. Polish fighter pilots were a main part of the Battle of Britain though.

Answer 4

Yes, this is true. All of WWII was a media drive-by gunning. The joooos blew everything out of proportion, just as they manipulate the hell out of socio economic structure today. Nazi technology and discipline were superior to that of the allies, causing panic for those actually involved. america is actually the true masters of mayhem. While the whole world fuddled over the nuremburg trials, US scientists were busy cleaning up the eugenics programs that the germans only made more efficient. The greatest expenditure during the war was a series of secret expeditions to south america and antarctica by the allied forces attempting to locate hitler (who never died in his mountain base) and countless technological devices being discovered during our time. Those missions were ABORTED after several attacks by nazi forces.