Worst job ever.
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Michigan Badger
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Yep, I agree.
MB
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SC_hunter
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Noodle
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That top pic isn't too bad, in my opinion. Looks like a good aircraft to be attached to, plus some decent firepower. It just reminded me of an old friend who was in WWII. He was a gunner on one of those itty bitty planes, and his bubble was about one-third that size. First one down is YOU in case of a mishap. And that was frequent. I pray for them all...
GL
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Ball Turret Gunner was the the guy in the belly of the bomber totally encased in a steel and plexiglass sphere with two machineguns and his knees in his face. The circular window is between his legs and in that photo he would be on his back looking out through his feet. It was without a doubt the least desirable position for any bomber crewman and it was given to the smallest man. If the plane were to be mortally wounded, the ball turret gunner would have to position the ball in such a way that it could be opened so he could climb out, don a parachute(there was no room for one inside) and then find an exit. Needless to say they typically died. They were also on the bottom looking down while the anti aircraft guns were shooting up at them. If flak(explosive shells) were to detonate within 20 feet of the ball the crewman was usually a dead man. Zero armor, zero hope of escape and zero help if it were to be damaged. Add to that the seclusion of being away from the rest of the crew and you had to be a mans man to fill this thing.
It fills me with dread just looking at one. I couldn't imagine being literally trapped in one while in combat.
Second worst job on the bomber:
Tailgunner. He was pressed into a narrow slot in the rearmost area directly under the rudder with a full round view made of plexiglass and sheet aluminum riveted to aluminum ribs and nothing else for armor. Most of the space was taken up with guns and sighting equipment. He fired through a crude heads up display made of mirrors and prisms and glass plates. His head was maybe 6 inches from the outer skin of the plane in any direction. Now imagine being chased by six Messerschmidt Me109s as you are seemingly going in reverse at 200mph and they are firing on the bomber. You are looking directly at their tracer rounds as they fly by. It would appear as if they were shooting directly at YOU.
Modern pilots and crew have no idea what this sort of combat is like. Hopefully they never will. I am a HUGE fan of WW2 veterans and some of the things they did were nothing short of miraculous in terms of bravery. Ball Turret gunner being #1 on my list of bravest, craziest and scariest jobs ever done.
It fills me with dread just looking at one. I couldn't imagine being literally trapped in one while in combat.
Second worst job on the bomber:
Tailgunner. He was pressed into a narrow slot in the rearmost area directly under the rudder with a full round view made of plexiglass and sheet aluminum riveted to aluminum ribs and nothing else for armor. Most of the space was taken up with guns and sighting equipment. He fired through a crude heads up display made of mirrors and prisms and glass plates. His head was maybe 6 inches from the outer skin of the plane in any direction. Now imagine being chased by six Messerschmidt Me109s as you are seemingly going in reverse at 200mph and they are firing on the bomber. You are looking directly at their tracer rounds as they fly by. It would appear as if they were shooting directly at YOU.
Modern pilots and crew have no idea what this sort of combat is like. Hopefully they never will. I am a HUGE fan of WW2 veterans and some of the things they did were nothing short of miraculous in terms of bravery. Ball Turret gunner being #1 on my list of bravest, craziest and scariest jobs ever done.
Lowbatts
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Know an old B-25 tail gunner, he said he was very happy the war got over just before he deployed. Had to be terribly scary in there in every way. Noise, smell, and seeing the rounds come in.
Father in law did 20 years subvet. He was on the Tinosa from early on. They called him Ski and I wonder if there were any WWII movies about subs that didn't have a "Ski" in them. Remember him talking about the harbor there in Tokyo or Nagasaki on one of their trips in, and the mines, one after another going off around them on one occasion. He had trouble hearing after that.
He also was a terrible teacher to his daughter with regards to cooking skills. Another tragedy of war-time food habits.
When you see one of those movies with the old sub running from a destroyer in some narrow straights with a hot torpedo stuck in the tube halfway out and armed while being depth charged, that happened on War Patrol #4 in the Tinosa.
Since top surface speed on the GATO class subs was 20 knots and enemy patrol craft usually topped out at 19 knots they often had running gun battles on the surface at night. The two would be equally armed but the cargo ships were what the subs were after. That had to be one hairy ordeal also. He served on SS-283 during the war, several boats afterward and his remains went out on the last run of Tinosa SSN-606 when it was struck.
Father in law did 20 years subvet. He was on the Tinosa from early on. They called him Ski and I wonder if there were any WWII movies about subs that didn't have a "Ski" in them. Remember him talking about the harbor there in Tokyo or Nagasaki on one of their trips in, and the mines, one after another going off around them on one occasion. He had trouble hearing after that.
He also was a terrible teacher to his daughter with regards to cooking skills. Another tragedy of war-time food habits.
When you see one of those movies with the old sub running from a destroyer in some narrow straights with a hot torpedo stuck in the tube halfway out and armed while being depth charged, that happened on War Patrol #4 in the Tinosa.
Since top surface speed on the GATO class subs was 20 knots and enemy patrol craft usually topped out at 19 knots they often had running gun battles on the surface at night. The two would be equally armed but the cargo ships were what the subs were after. That had to be one hairy ordeal also. He served on SS-283 during the war, several boats afterward and his remains went out on the last run of Tinosa SSN-606 when it was struck.
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