Why German Fighters Always Attack B-17 Bombers In Front

In the footage, we see B-17s under frontal and tail attacks by German bomber interceptors. But why do bomber interceptors tend to attack the formations in the front?

The Reason

During the first half of 1944, the 8th Air Force shot down a fighter for every 21,600 rounds fired in combat. These head-on attacks were adopted by the Germans, utilizing the 610 mph closing speeds as well as the struggles of the reaction time of the bomber’s gunner.

B-17s had a 2 to 1 disadvantage when under nose attacks according to a 20th Air Force document titled ‘Combat Losses and Damage in the Eight Air Force.’ Even with the Bendix chin turret, the disadvantage was 1.25 to 1.

Thus, this gave a fighter an advantage during the attack of the formation, especially if there were multiple fighters.

Then, the advantage shifted to the formation gunners in tail attacks because the deflection aiming was low, giving the gunners enough time to track, aim, and fire.

Moreover, the number of squadron rounds fired is 3.8x the number of rounds fired during a head-on attack. Fighters that attack from the rear low direction were more likely to be shot down than in any other direction.

This is likely because of the long closing direction while the fighter is in range. That’s why tail attacks on bomber formations were less frequent while frontal attacks were more frequent.