What Is Ball Turret Gunner

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. The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii. As a child he spent time in los angeles where his grandparents lived and he would later write movingly about the city in the lost world one of his best known poems.

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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.

What is ball turret gunner. It is about the death of a gunner in a sperry ball turret on a world war ii american bomber aircraft. At a later date i put together a video to go with it the video was taken from news footage of the time. The death of the ball turret gunner is a five line poem by randall jarrell published in 1945. From my mother s sleep i fell into the state and i hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted there was no hiding from enemy attack. The death of the ball turret gunner by randall jarrell about this poet poet and critic randall jarrell was born in nashville tennessee. It was a manned turret as distinct from remote controlled turrets also in use. One of the poems the death of the ball turret gunner.

Our losses were greater than the marines. 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. The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights. 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.

A ball turret was a particular form of spherical form altazimuth mount movement manned aircraft gun turret accommodating the gunner with nearly all the needed equipment for defensive firepower except for the ammunition storage mounted either within or onto the spherical shell of the turret structure mounted on aircraft during world war ii the most common one was manufactured by the sperry. From my mother s sleep i fell into the state the academy of american poets is the largest membership based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. Inspired me to compose some music.

It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s. Nasm si 80 20353 aerial gunnery training had a make do try anything quality resulting in the design of 16 types of outdoor ranges. Randall jarrell s poem the death of the ball turret gunner can be found in many anthologies and is his most well known work published in 1945 it drew directly from his own involvement with military aircraft and airmen during ww2. The death of the ball turret gunner from my mother s sleep i fell into the state.