BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
My 0.02 on this one
Retaining the armament and men to man it was more than worth it, IMHO. Firstly, it give more pairs of eyes to look for nightfighters and then call for evasive action. Secondly, the gunfire might not be accurate but it might at least put the NF pilot off his aim and cause him to miss. Finally, as has already being noted, the presence of armament must surely have been good for morale. It gave the bombers a chance to shoot back, even if this fire wasn't fully effective. I think these points would outweigh the potential benefit in weight saving realised by removing defensive armament.
Retaining the armament and men to man it was more than worth it, IMHO. Firstly, it give more pairs of eyes to look for nightfighters and then call for evasive action. Secondly, the gunfire might not be accurate but it might at least put the NF pilot off his aim and cause him to miss. Finally, as has already being noted, the presence of armament must surely have been good for morale. It gave the bombers a chance to shoot back, even if this fire wasn't fully effective. I think these points would outweigh the potential benefit in weight saving realised by removing defensive armament.