Wwii Ball Turret Gunner Mortality Rates

Wikipedia ball turret.

Wwii ball turret gunner mortality rates. Data for all branches of the us army including the air corps is army battle casualties and nonbattle deaths in world war ii here. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s. Hear the story of how william carter was drafted into wwii and became a b 17 ball turret gunner. From memory it is as you say the waist gunners with the ball turret gunner being one of the safest crew positions.

60 there s one incident of which i ve heard many times wherein a fort needed to belly land and the crew was unable to get the ball gunner out of his turret. It was a manned turret as distinct from remote controlled turrets also in use. It was common knowledge among soldiers that the b 17 ball turret gunners had a very high casualty rate. Wikipedia tail gunner.

Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. Again from memory iirc waist gunners suffered about twice the causalities of the next crew position but then there was usually 2 waist gunners. I believe in this book there is some numbers gunner isbn 1 55046 332 2. Maybe snopes is worth a look.

The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii. This was mainly because german fighters would target the gunners first. Mortality rate avg b 17 ball turret gunner 1943. Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted there was no hiding from enemy attack.

America s bomber boys who fought the air war against nazi germany 2007 war history online joem chiminiello shared the horrors of living in the dangerous ball turret. And the ball turret gunner could not escape from his position unaided. Bomber crew survival rates during the war. Somebody told me this yet again just a couple of hours ago.

Huffington post november 11th 2015 my dad was a ball turret gunner in wwii. But i presently have no details. The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights. Magee s friend don jenkins also a veteran of wwii said that being a b 17 gunner was not an easy job during wwii.

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. Discussion in air war in western europe 1939.