ball turret gunner
These capsules were intended to be waterproof, but firsthand accounts of such water landings show they were not. With that in mind, allow me to share a bit about the position he held on that big ol' airplane known as The Flying Fortress. It was a manned turret, as distinct from remote-controlled turrets also in use. Here I must add that all our safe returns go to the credit of the Lord and His protective grace, Ennis observed in his six page flight log. The American writer Randall Jarrell published "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" in 1945, the final year of World War II. Right Waist Gunner: 4. They were still over Germany. The gunner released the latch and removed the cover which allowed space to clear the action. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. The pilot and the co-pilot must be able to start and to land the machine well and safe. But, he said, Magee only spoke to him three times about the events on Jan. 3, 1943. Co-Pilot: 9. Manage Settings 4 Likes, 0 Comments - Chris l Taggart (@christaggartart) on Instagram: "Ball turret gunner 117 https://pixels.com/featured/ball-turret-gunner-117-chris-taggart.html" Small windows allowed them to see under the plane, but not above. When not in full operation, the turrets still stuck out of the bottom. $15.95. Thanks for the post, and the personal info. Indeed, a very rare circumstance but also possible. The crew was unhurt, but ball turret gunner Hamill recalled, "We climbed out of our wreck realizing that we had ruined two precious Spitfires. Once training was complete, aerial gunners were sent out to operational bomber units as crewmen, serving as waist gunners, tail gunners, or most physically demanding, as ball turret gunners. He wrote, When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.. Armed with two machine guns, the ball turret gunner was protected only by flak jackets and Plexiglas. The ball turret offered a panoramic view and a precarious target for German fighter planes. The gunner held two joysticks in either hand, one to pivot the ball and the other to trigger the firing mechanism for the machine guns. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Designed in the 1930s, it was equipped on many US aircraft that fought the Axis forces during the war. They include "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," not his best but certainly. Michelle, In 1942 my father was classified as 4F due to a heart defect. Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of the airplane. Left Waist Gunner: 5. Armed with two .50-caliber machine guns and capable of rotating 360 degrees, the ball turret's gunner was responsible for protecting the otherwise-exposed underbelly of the flying fortress. The poem in length is very short, but in meaning it is miles long. [1] The name arose from the turret's spherical housing. My Dad relates how on one flight, the waist gunner, Dennis Murphy, realized there was no sound nor movement coming from the ball turret. I remember my mom once telling me that Dad felt burdened by the number of men he no doubt killed during combat. He talked about the terrible flak that ripped holes in the plane. This provided some incredible firepower in a small space. After dropping their bombs, the B-17s headed back to England. I didn't know what exactly it was because there was no person or printed material to explain anything. Frank returned to California and earned a Degree in Agriculture from California Polytechnic University. Then he called anyone. No answer. My dad was never in the war because of his health history and being 4F. My uncle, Frederick Raymond Restle Jr., was a ball turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator, who served in the 13th Army Air Force in the Pacific.His death is probably due to the design flaw, and inexperience of pilots with the B24. The landing gear was stuck also, and being after a mission the aircraft probably low on fuel. Two joysticks pivoted the ball around and around, up and down. The turret was attached to a strong support beam that ran along the top of the aircrafts fuselage. In fact, Jarrell came to fear that his reputation would come to rest on it alone.[3]. The ball's door was located directly behind the gunner, so with the guns at 0 degrees of elevation the turret could technically be entered from the outside while the B-17 was on the ground. It was mounted above and in front of the gunners head, so its reticule would be in line with his eyes. My British father-in-law served in the 8th Army under Montgomery and saw action at Dunkirk, Normandy and throughout Europe. Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of the airplane. With this information, the sites reticule would automatically adjust to the lead required to hit the target. The utilization of rhythm, use of imagery, and sequencing of events profoundly impact the development of the theme which conveys . The primary target was Oranienburg, Germany. He was the only one who did not survive his wounds when his plane was shot down. He was posted to the 360th Bomb Squadron and the 303rd Bomb Group as a Ball Turret Gunner on a Boeing B-17 Bomber known as "Snap! Small, tight, difficult to escape from and with minimal visibility, the ball turret was a sphere of danger. I have a question for the forum members to ponder. The secondary target was the Kumarkische-Zellewolle Viscose Fiber factory at Wittenburg, Germany. Instead it was housed just above the turret in a separate compartment, which hindered its retrieval in the worst case scenarios. Ball Turret Gunner: 3. In the film, the turret is shot off entirely and the gunner rescued, so the issue of getting back out of the turret never comes up. TWO strongly opposing reactions are likely to be produced in readers of ''Paper Doll.''. The last aircraft shot down by a defensive gunner was in 1972, where a B-52 tail gunner shot down a MIG-21 over Vietnam. It was critical that the ball turret gunner assume a particular position for belly landings, otherwise the sphere would hit the ground far before the landing gear and pose a threat to their safety. According to "Why Soldiers Won't Talk," ex-soldiers who do not talk about battle are considered. A good friend of mine was a flight engineer on B-17s. However, since there was only 40 cm between the ball and the runway, gunners would wait until the aircraft was in flight before entering. A diagram depicting how a gunner sits inside a Sperry A2 ball turret. He did not endure the cramped cold that your father did. heroic. [2], Due partly to its short length, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" poem has been widely anthologized. On the ends of the grips were the buttons to fire the guns. If a B-17 did have to be belly-landed with a man trapped in the ball turret, I am pretty sure they would have also picked a field to land on rather than a concrete runway. The gear on the B-17 is electrically powered, not hydraulic. He understood. Ramey found the turret in a surplus shop many years ago. In the 1941 B-17E model, the tub was replaced with the famous ball turret. Once training was complete, aerial gunners were sent out to operational bomber units as crewmen, serving as waist gunners, tail gunners, or most physically demanding, as ball turret gunners. He would put on a safety strap and close and lock the turret door. 'The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner' is Randall Jarrell's best-loved poem. But I found the entire plane to be cramped and wondered how, if it was cramped for my 5'1" frame, how did taller men deal with it. There were plenty of positions during World War II that put a servicemans life at risk. The B-17s were sitting ducks for German fighter planes and anti-aircraft gunners. After all, he had trained with them in Biloxi, Mississippi. Injuries from flak accounted for more loss of life among the B-17 crews than any other factor. Among the earlier designs was the Martin 250SH bow turret of the PBM-3 twin-engined patrol flying boat which had many points of similarity in design and action. The Sperry Corporation designed ventral versions that became the most common version; thus, the term "ball turret" generally indicates these versions.[4]. He saved my life and up until his death, I kept in regular contact with him. Perhaps the other crew members were bigger men, but Dad wasn't small. He felt a need to enlist in the Army and defend his country. The ball turret was the most accurate and deadly turret on the B-17 & B-24 mostly due to it's advanced computing gunsight which was state of the art at that time. Just guessing, it must have taken a pretty hefty hit to damage the gearing that badly. I have spoken to Bob in the past. Just a great site you have, and will be returning many times. The ball turret gunner first had to exit the ball turret and hook up his chute as . The Ball turret itself has inspired works like Steven Spielberg's The Mission. There was a pre-recorded show on A.F.T.N. I mean just like a movie, but going like that [he snaps his fingers]. Our bomb bay doors were open and we were on our final approach. Early models had very different defensive setup. "We had a 10-man crew and we were all terrified.". Faith in God was of great importance in the hearts and minds of many people, both militaryand civilian, who livedthrough WWII. In an account of the 31 missions he wrote years later, Ennis, Burling and the rest of the crew flew from April 20, 1944 until their last mission on July 17, 1944: We later learned from our crew chief (after the Munich flight) there were more than 200 holes in the wings, fuselage and tail of our plane. The spherical manned ball turrets, deployed mainly on the bottoms of B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers, were very small in order to . And once very 30 days, a three or four day pass to London (and the British pubs). (LogOut/ The ventral turret was used in tandem in the Convair B-32, successor to the B-24. A reflector sight was hung from the top of the turret, positioned roughly between the gunner's feet. $5.39. Links are encouraged. The turret also rotated 360-degrees, allowing the gunner to locate targets and stay on them, regardless of their position. Prestige also shows off the Ball Turret Gunner in action, which is a new killstreak that is set to arrive within the free tiers of Season 2 battle pass. Director Steven Spielberg Writers Steven Spielberg Joshua Brand John Falsey Stars Kevin Costner Casey Siemaszko Kiefer Sutherland Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" from, Time and the Thing-in-Itself in a Textbook. Franks B-17 was hit by flak and began tumbling and rolling out of control as it quickly lost altitude from about 30 thousand feet. To enter in flight, the gunner had to manually traverse the turret so the guns were pointing directly down, which provided access to the door at the rear of the turret. I couldnt open my hatch and escape into the plane and I could swivel my turret around. Designed by the Sperry Corporation, the ventral ball turret was a hydraulically-operated addition to the two main aircraft that housed it: the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. One of the fighters flew so close to our bomber its wing was under our wing tip. April 19, 1944, Frankssecond combat mission, he rejoined the Connolly crew. It was able to turn on two axis; 360 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically. Needless to say, my Dad made it through the war. The target was the German U-boat pens at Saint-Nazaire, France. separation from his new bride back home in England. (LogOut/ "[1] Most commentators agree, calling the poem a condemnation of the dehumanizing powers of "the State", which are most graphically exhibited by the violence of war. Lines 1-2. Pilots navigated. I had it transferred to reel tape and eventually onto CDs.I sent a copy of all the cds to Buffalo college in New York to Dr. Lydia Fish and I should still have a copy in my originals. He handed it to me, Bob said. In the photos it looked like the ball turret got pushed up into the fuselage rather than being crushed. Ball turrets were eventually abandoned in later aircraft in favour of remote controlled systems, and then radar aimed turrets in aircraft like the B-52. I hope he is well and I want to let him know how much I enjoyed reading his story.. 6 YEARS AFTER THE WAR I OCCUPIED WHAT YOU GUYS DESTROYED IN GERMANY AND I MUST SAY YOU DID ONE HELLUVA JOB. Former Staff Sgt. I'll keep digging for an actual bellied in incident. Greg Allen/NPR This Veterans Day, we're hearing. All combat missions were fraught with danger, but Frank spoke of a particular mission to Ludwigshaven, Germany, that became a test of his faith. The poem was written later in Jarrell's service career. Small windows allowed the gunner to see below the aircraft, but not above. But when Lowell first met the pilot of Take It Easy, he knew what the officer was thinking. B-17 models A and B had blister canopies on the waist section of the fuselage armed with machine guns. . Those brave guys endured things we can't imagine. The poem, written in first person, gives the deceased turret gunner a 'live' voice. Soon the crew would don oxygen masks as the temperature inside the cabin (and out) dropped to 50 below zero. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. By the first sign of daylight, the flying fortresses were on their way. A ball turret was a spherical-shaped, altazimuth mount gun turret, fitted to some American-built aircraft during World War II. Jarrell, who served in the Army Air Forces, provided the following explanatory note: A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. Wow! Kassel targets included aircraft, heavy tank, locomotive, engine, and motor transport plants as well as railway works. 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