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Re: B-17 Door Gunner 

By: Beldin in GRITZ | Recommend this post (2)
Mon, 24 Mar 25 7:23 PM | 16 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Grits Breakfast of Champeens! 		Msg. 05926 of 06259
(This msg. is a reply to 05903 by De_Composed)
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Yeah, a chair or stool would have been in the way. The .50 BMG had a pretty wide range of motion at the waist gunner positions, so they were constantly moving around to aim their guns. After a lot of shooting, there would be a large build-up of spent casings on the floor (as you can see from this photo), which made footing difficult, so every once in awhile, they had to shovel out the casings.

The father of a good friend of mine was a gunner on a B-26 during the war. They kept sharp during their downtime on base shooting clay pigeons with shotguns. He was a helluva shot in skeet and trap competitions after the war. 




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: B-17 Door Gunner
By: De_Composed in GRITZ
Mon, 24 Mar 25 5:29 AM 		Msg. 05903 of 06259

ribit:

Re: “B-17 Door Gunner”Thanks, ribit. I saved that one for the family photo album even though it's not anyone we know. I think it says something about conditions these guys, including my dad, flew in.

You'd think they'd have at least provided the gunner a barber's swivel chair. Maybe it would have just been in the way.

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