Fighter Combat

SECTION TACTICS, TWO-VERSUS-ONE 205Figure 5-3. The Bracketdouble attack maneuvering; or both fighters may choose to disengage fromthe attack together for a hit-and-run maneuver.Throughout World War II, fighting wing was the tactical doctrine of theU.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) in the European theater. A few highlyexperienced teams, however, recognized the limitations of these tacticsand developed their own variations, generally along the lines of doubleattack. Probably the most famous of these teams was made up of CaptainsJohn Godfrey (16.33 victories) and Don Gentile (19.83 victories). Thesepilots' success was so astounding, and their methods so revolutionary, thatLuftwaffe Reichsmarschall Herrmann Goering supposedly stated hewould trade two of his best squadrons for their capture. The followingencounter sounds suspiciously like a double attack bracket. Godfrey andGentile are flying P-51B Mustangs against the lone Me 109."Break! Break! One coming in at 4 o'clock to you!""Okay, break starboard," said Gentile.They broke together and the 109 made a head-on pass."All right, Johnny," said Gentile, "when he comes back around on thenext turn you break right and I'll break left."They circled and the 109 came boring in for another head-on attack. Helooked mean and vicious. He was bold enough to joust with two Mustangs.As the planes bored straight at each other's spinner, Gentile ordered thefoxing maneuver:"Now!"Gentile broke sharply to the left; Godfrey to the right. They honked theirsticks back, climbed and came barreling down on the 109's tail. 1Defensively, the engaged fighter—free fighter roles also can becomesomewhat blurred. Whenever one fighter becomes defensive, the otherfighter should immediately attack the bogey. In this case there will be twoengaged fighters until the bogey can be placed on the defensive, releasingthe original defensive fighter to become free. This situation is depicted inFigure 5-4. In this scenario the right-hand fighter is threatened by a bogeydetected at its six. The threatened pilot breaks to the right, away from hiswingman, to defend against the attacker. If the bogey continues to press