What Happens to a B-17 Flying Fortress Crew After a FLAK Hit

Video Description

What Happens to a B-17 Flying Fortress Crew After a FLAK Hit Allied bombers were being torn apart by German flak. This video explains how World War II aircrews turned the war upside down by hunting anti-aircraft guns themselves, and what it took to survive flying straight into flak fire. Throughout World War II, flak was the single deadliest threat to Allied bomber crews. Fighters could be chased away, outrun, or eventually neutralized by long-range escorts. Anti-aircraft fire could not. Heavy German flak belts, radar-directed guns, and timed airbursts filled the sky with steel, shredding bombers long before they reached their targets. Entire formations were lost without ever seeing an enemy aircraft. This video breaks down how the air war reached that point, why daylight bombing became so catastrophic, and how German flak defenses actually worked. From early bombing doctrine and the false confidence placed in bomber formations, to the brutal lessons learned over targets like Regensburg and Schweinfurt, this story follows how crews were slowly forced to adapt or be wiped out. You’ll see how the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved from an under-protected aircraft into a heavily armed machine, why machine guns were useless against flak, and how radar-guided 88 mm batteries turned bombing missions into calculated killing zones. The role of German fire-control computers, searchlights, and coordinated gun belts explains why flak became more dangerous than fighters by 1943. The video then shows how the Allies finally fought back. Long-range escorts, drop tanks, new fighter tactics, radar jamming, chaff, and eventually proximity-fused bombs changed the balance. Bombers and fighter-bombers began deliberately targeting flak positions, using airburst weapons to destroy gun crews without needing direct hits. These missions were classified at the time and remained largely unknown for decades. This is the story of how flak shaped the air war, why bomber losses were so extreme, and how technology, tactics, and brutal experience finally allowed Allied crews to survive missions that once bordered on impossible. Chapters: 00:00 – Why flak was the real killer 01:28 – Daylight bombing and the early disaster 02:45 – B-17 upgrades and the limits of guns 04:26 – Germany builds a layered flak shield 06:30 – Drop tanks and long-range escort fighters 08:02 – How 88 mm flak actually worked 10:22 – Radar, predictors, and coordinated batteries 11:39 – Chaff and jamming vs German radar 12:25 – VT proximity fuses and flak suppression