Tail Gunner--part two

Air Classics, Feb 2003 by Mitchel, Henry J

TRAINING AND OPERATIONAL MISSIONS IN THE REAR-MOST POSITION Of A BOEING FLYING FORTRESS

PART TWO

BY HENRY J. MITCHEL

STAGE THREE

Combat crews like us were treated differently in some respects. In our dress uniform we looked the same as ground personnel. Different on ours were our silver wings that indicated our "military specialty" - gunner, pilot, navigator, etc. We also had some specialized clothing and equipment.

Crews were issued .45-cal automatic pistols. These were usually issued only to officers in other branches of the army. The 2.5-foot carbines that non-flying enlisted men had would be a useless nuisance in the plane. In fact, I wonder what use the pistols were. Would we use them if we bailed out and landed in Germany? Unlikely.

But about the mess halls. We were allotted different rations from ground personnel. Certain items were available for combat crews, such as "fresh eggs" (cold storage eggs) that we had on mornings we had missions (Note - In the novel Twelve O'clock High, on which the same movie is based, there's a chapter titled "Eggs For Breakfast"). Ground crews got only scrambled dried eggs as did we on non-mission days. Willie always insisted on having his fried eggs well done and the cook would oblige. But aside from the differences in provisions there were practical reasons for separate mess halls.

The working hours of the two groups were much different. Ground personnel often worked all day and/or night on the planes. Their mess hall was often open around the clock. Flying crews ate at odd hours, depending on mission takeoffs and returns plus those who weren't flying a mission (not every crew flew every mission) were served at normal meal times. The officer's mess with essentially the same dual schedule, but fewer men overall, served both ground and flying officers (perhaps at different tables, I don't know: I was never invited).

There was also a psychological aspect. An air crewman could easily be annoyed after coming back from a rough mission to have to sit at a table where "ground pounders" might be complaining about some of their problems which would seem quite insignificant to the flyer. This could generate antagonisms and even outright fights. A flyer wouldn't mind eating with air crews that hadn't flown the mission. They would be someone to share feelings with and release "battle stress."

Military life tends to create an undercurrent of antagonism between various groups. Part of the animosity comes from jealousy due to rank's privileges. This also existed in the separation between AF ground and flying personnel. But since they were interdependent - especially the flyer's particular dependence on airplane servicers and armorers who loaded bombs and ammunition, etc. - the AF had to minimize chances of friction. As flyers, we sure had good reason not to antagonize our ground crew.

Ground crews worked under the Engineering Officer of each squadron. Each crew of five men had a plane they were responsible for. There were also specialists they called on to repair or replace items such as radio equipment, instruments or the oxygen system, etc. The planes were bomb-loaded by special men and armorers loaded ammunition and machine guns on board. When a combat crew was trucked to its assigned plane, it was to be ready to fly.

As a new air crew we flew any available plane. When one became available as their regular, that plane would be used by others when we were not flying. Our first regular plane was called Strip's Teaser after the crew chief whose name was Clyde Stripling - and it had painted "nose art" depicting a scantily dressed "stripteaser". The ground crew had mothered that plane for 83 missions without it having to abort (fail to takeoff or reach target) - until we got our hands on it, as I'll relate later.

I can't recall if our first mission was in Strip's Teaser. I recall the plane had the older style tail gun configuration like Strip's. This included heavy protective armor-plate in front of the gunner as he half knelt and half sat on a small stool, facing to the rear. To get to gun handles and triggers, you reached around this 18-inch wide plate. The two 50-cal guns stuck out of the rear through a canvas covering enclosing the tip of the tail compartment. These guns, unlike those in the electrically powered ball, chin and top turrets, were "hand-held" so aiming was "powered" by the gunner's muscle. Once aloft, he had to remember to advance the first round into the firing chamber so it would fire when he pressed the trigger button. If you failed to load before getting into high altitude, the charging mechanism could freeze up, but once a round was in the chamber, firing that round created enough heat and force to operate the mechanisms that kept feeding subsequent rounds in.

The ball turret was a little cocoon that I was glad I was not assigned to. But in the tail, things were tight enough. Ammunition boxes were on either side a bit behind me, the linked together .50-cal rounds strung out of them up to each gun. At my side were oxygen and intercom equipment from which wires to my ear phones and a flex tube to my oxygen mask hung. I had a steel helmet - like an infantry helmet but with hinged flaps that covered my earphones. Yes, we had earphones and a throat microphone. When above 12,000-ft we had our oxygen mask on. I was clothed in a nylon electrically heated jumper to which heated socks and heated gloves were connected, and that, of course. was all plugged into outlets at the side. Over this went outer clothing: Synthetic fiber-lined nylon jacket and pants and leather boots. All this made me about as mobile as a gas pump.