In WW II B-17s returning from missions were issued a challenge phrase and had to come back with the proper response phrase to allowed to land.
That was the pilots’ duty. My dad was a bombardier and did not pay attention to that part of the briefing (or more likely slept through it).
After flak severely damaged the aircraft and incapacitated the pilot and co-pilot my dad took control of the aircraft and flew it back to England.
When presented with the challenge phrase, he could not come up with the proper response phrase. They threatened to scramble fighters and shoot him down. He responded with a string of obscenities. They let him land.
Upon debriefing he asked why they let him land. They told him that although a number of Germans were fluent in English, none of them were so good to string that many obscenities together in such a creative fashion.
In truth, they did scramble fighters and they confirmed that the tail number matched one that took off that morning. Also, if the Germans were trying to pull some kind of a trick, they wouldn’t do it with a B-17 that looked like flying Swiss Cheese.
In WW II B-17s returning from missions were issued a challenge phrase and had to come back with the proper response phrase to allowed to land.
That was the pilots’ duty. My dad was a bombardier and did not pay attention to that part of the briefing (or more likely slept through it).
After flak severely damaged the aircraft and incapacitated the pilot and co-pilot my dad took control of the aircraft and flew it back to England.
When presented with the challenge phrase, he could not come up with the proper response phrase. They threatened to scramble fighters and shoot him down. He responded with a string of obscenities. They let him land.
Upon debriefing he asked why they let him land. They told him that although a number of Germans were fluent in English, none of them were so good to string that many obscenities together in such a creative fashion.
In truth, they did scramble fighters and they confirmed that the tail number matched one that took off that morning. Also, if the Germans were trying to pull some kind of a trick, they wouldn’t do it with a B-17 that looked like flying Swiss Cheese.