Ball Turret Gunner Ww2

World war ii veteran hal millett describes what it was like to be a ball turret gunner in a b17 bomber in 1945. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s. From my mother s sleep i fell into the state and i hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

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I have been doing tons of research on ball turret gunners over the last few years and im interested in acquiring any items related to ball turret gunners during wwii especially photos and i d d medals.

Ball turret gunner ww2. Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted there was no hiding from enemy attack. Nasm si 80 20353 aerial gunnery training had a make do try anything quality resulting in the design of 16 types of outdoor ranges. Often known as tail end charlies they operated machine guns placed in the bombers rear and were tasked with acting as lookouts and primary defense for attacks from that direction. The death of the ball turret gunner is a five line poem by randall jarrell published in 1945.

The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii. Although it s not uncommon to see unique and rare guns and. Just wanted to share some cool pics of ball turret gunners from the 388th bomb group. The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights.

This was mainly because german fighters would target the gunners first. Video by kate irby the bradenton herald more from the bradenton herald. One of the highlights at this fall s big sandy shoot was a vintage ww2 ball turret with twin 50 cals that spectators could shoot. 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.

While the ball turret was the most uncomfortable station for aerial gunners the most dangerous one was that of tail gunners. It is about the death of a gunner in a sperry ball turret on a world war ii american bomber aircraft. It was common knowledge among soldiers that the b 17 ball turret gunners had a very high casualty rate. Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane.

Magee s friend don jenkins also a veteran of wwii said that being a b 17 gunner was not an easy job during wwii. 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.