Why American Bombers Stopped Flying In Lines — And German Fighters Couldn't Touch Them

They called it "Black Thursday." 60 American bombers shot down in a single day. But out of this disaster came one of the most brilliant tactical innovations in aviation history — the Combat Box formation.

This is the true story of how American bomber crews discovered that flying alone meant dying alone, and how one formation turned the B-17 Flying Fortress into an actually unstoppable fortress.

🎯 What You'll Learn:
Why early B-17 formations were death traps for bomber crews
The specific blind spots German fighters exploited
How Colonel Curtis LeMay designed the revolutionary Combat Box
The genius behind overlapping fields of fire
Why German pilots called it "the wall of death"
How this formation changed the entire air war over Europe
The dark cost of survival that nobody talks about

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💬 COMMENT BELOW: Would you have had the courage to fly in a Combat Box formation knowing that falling behind meant certain death?

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FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: This video contains historical footage and images used under Fair Use for educational and documentary purposes.