JP>-> And a LOT of people were killed by anti-aircraft fire.  It got so
JP>-> bad, that during the Normandy invasion, troops were forbidden to
JP>-> shoot at German aircraft with small arms.
JP>Interesting.  I was thinking specifically of the rounds fired in
JP>air-to-air combat, not ground to air fire.  Though I'm not real sure
JP>what the practical difference would be, come to think of it.
The tonnage fired from the ground probably outweighed the tonnage fired
in air-to-air combat -- most planes could carry only a small amount of
ammo, compared to what an AA battery could stock.
In addition, the numbers of weapons of all calibers on the ground was
much larger than the numbers that went up in planes.
JP>I can imagine it would have been real frustrating to be strafed and not
JP>be allowed to shoot back.
Well, if you're actually BEING straffed, the only thing you can do is
take cover.  The troops had a tendency to shoot at any aircraft they
thought was German -- often at ridiculously long ranges.
JP>Good thing we had air superiority over the
JP>beaches.
If we hadn't, the Nazis would rule Europe to this day.
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