Ball Turret Gunner Stories

With kevin costner casey siemaszko kiefer sutherland j j. It was a manned turret as distinct from remote controlled turrets also in use. 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.

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Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane.

Ball turret gunner stories. Briol pictured with my mother marcella wrote while flying on b 17s during wwii. In this story you ll learn about a machine gunner stationed in one of the most perilous and cramped positions on the b 17 bomber plane. Crewmen are assigned to a certain position on the airplane because of their. Our losses were greater than the marines.

The emotional impact of combat is honestly portrayed in a diary my father john j. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s. Each bomber crewman is important. I have always said that i was the lowest man on the crew because i was the lower ball turret gunner and i was hanging beneath the bomber in that small round cage.

Frank delgado perez was born in los angeles california on january 14 1924. A courageous young world war ii gunner and aspiring cartoonist trapped in the belly gun of a b 17 aircraft with the landing gear destroyed has only his imagination as a force that might be able to save him. B 17 and the ball turret nbc2. As a ball turret gunner aboard the duchess a b 17 bomber in the 8th air force s 457th bombardment group death was something buczak faced constantly.

Gunner mason howe survives these harrowing missions while operating one of the plane s most innovative defenses. In god i trust. Directed by steven spielberg. Issue 30 31 13.

The ball turret gun. Personal stories of wwii ball turret gunners. 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. The story of wwii b 17 ball turret gunner frank perez frank perez wwii and 2010 kneeling next to the ball turret of a b 17 flying fortress.

The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights. Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted there was no hiding from enemy attack. He was a ball turret gunner of the 457th bomb group 748th squadron at glatton air field england. The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii.