Formation
As the US 8th Air Force bomber fleet grew in size it adopted a 4 Bomber Group formation called "Javelin", with each Group (18 planes) following the other at one and a half mile intervals stacked towards the sun. This made it difficult for enemy fighters to attack the rear most aircraft of the Group but it also meant that squadrons at the back had great difficulty keeping in formation.
February 1943 saw the introduction of the "Wedge" formation: the centr Group led wuth the top and bottom Groups ranged in echelon in opposite directions. This 54 aircraft Combat Wing formation was 1.3 miles wide, and 0.3 miles from front to back. Although it allowed better supporting firepower between aircraft, squadrons and Groups, it was still difficult to maintain position in a turn.