Ball Turret Gunner Statistics

While b 17 crews had a 30 mortality rate the ball turret gunners had a 60 mortality rate although because of the peculiar armory in the turret itself they had the lowest wound rate on the plane.

Ball turret gunner statistics. Nasm si 80 20353 aerial gunnery training had a make do try anything quality resulting in the design of 16 types of outdoor ranges. The space inside the turret was very small and cramped. The ball turret was a feature of the bomber aircraft a b 17 or b 24 made of plexiglass and set into the belly of the plane. A tail gunner for instance had a life expediency of four missions that s two weeks.

Of course a lot depended on what you did. The ball turret like this one on a b 17 in england in 1943 was designed small to reduce drag so its gunner usually was the shortest man in the crew. Keeping in mind that the average age of a b 17 pilot when metcalf entered the war was 22. Gunner mason howe survives these harrowing missions while operating one of the plane s most innovative defenses.

He felt a need to enlist in the army and defend his country. Nevertheless statistics at the time showed that each crew member had a average of a 1 in 4 chance of making it or about 12 to 14 missions. Alan magee decided to join the us army after japanese attacked the american fleet at pearl harbor. At the height of world war ii allied bombing missions often include hundreds of boeing b 17 flying fortresses that strike deep behind enemy lines.

He was considered a perfect fit for the b 17 s ball turret. Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. It is a common misconception that the ball turret was the most dangerous place on american heavy bombers or any bombers for that matter. A ball turret was a spherical shaped altazimuth mount gun turret fitted to some american built aircraft during world war ii the name arose from the turret s spherical housing.

The average age of these gunners were 18. The ball turret gunner from b17 42 31377 pot o gold crashed on 22 feb 1944 tells in ball turret about his job. It was a manned turret as distinct from remote controlled turrets also in use. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s coffin.

Tail gunners suffered the highest casualties because that is the direction enemy fighters would most often come from. Now he is 87. The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii. See much more from sgt lester schrenk.

The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights. The ball turret gun.