The Hunt for Hidden Nazi Air Force Technology

The American B-24 Liberator bomber sat motionless on the airfield as though awaiting inspection or maintenance from an aircrew. The sky appeared clear, and suddenly a piercing shriek shattered the silence as an M2-262, the world’s first operational jet aircraft, burst onto the scene. Without hesitation, the Me-262’s Mk 108 cannon roared to life, and one of its 30-millimeter mine shells struck the midsection of the sturdy bomber. The projectile detonated upon impact, and hundreds of stainless steel shards tore apart the bomber’s fuselage, destroying it. Even more striking was the location where the event occurred. The B-24 had not been obliterated in Europe, but at Wright Field, Ohio, by a captured Me-262. The men in charge were the Watson’s Whizzers, an Army Air Forces intelligence team tasked with capturing as much Luftwaffe technology as possible during the last weeks of World War 2 and analyzing it before the Soviets could advance into the heart of Germany… -