Between the ages of 78 and 88 he went hang gliding, parasailing, skydiving, and paragliding. Frankwas very active in his church and his community. Ball Turret Gunners on B-17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. According to a 1944 summation from US Air Forces command the ball turret gunners could "swing on an attacking enemy fighter whether he attacks from head on, from under one side, or from under the tail." 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. The conventional landing gear of the B-17 allowed for a non-retractable mount, but if the plane was required to do a belly landing (such as in the case of landing gear system failure), the ball turret would likely be destroyed due to the lack of clearance, meaning anyone occupying the turret would be in a precarious position if unable to escape. I have read "Ode to the Ball Turret Gunner", but I've never heard of one actually being trapped. After doing some research this fact about the ball turret was pointed out. No one there could find any actual documentation of this actually happening either. separation from his new bride back home in England. . As well, when landing on water, the turret would be the first to become submerged. The ball turret gunner was crushed to death when a mechanical malfunction trapped him inside his plastic cage and a damaged electrical system made it impossible to lower the plane's wheels. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is a poem that uses passive verbs, short structure, and comparisons to children to generate sympathy. So this undated photo shows what looks like a disintegrating turret, and the purported victim is still anonymous. At 5'6, Lowell got the short straw. Children: Robert. The Connolly crew then went to Sioux City Army Air Base in Iowa for advanced overseas crew training. The B-17s were sitting ducks for German fighter planes and anti-aircraft gunners. Injuries from flak accounted for more loss of life among the B-17 crews than any other factor. The date was April 20, 1944. Stepping away from her academic career, Samantha previously worked as a Heritage Researcher and now writes content for multiple sites covering an array of historical topics. He served in the 332nd armored division and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. For 1941 this was cutting edge technology. The turret was a small, cramped place to be, often operated by the smallest men available. In 2012 oral history interviews * **, Frank spoke of the anxiety and fear felt by many men flying combat missions. ", But if the Brits were ambivalent, the Dutch more than made up for it. Early models had very different defensive setup. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and occupied his cramped station. Kassel targets included aircraft, heavy tank, locomotive, engine, and motor transport plants as well as railway works. Once inside if anything went wrong the spheres were hard to escape from since they were raised and lowered into position via a mechanism that could be easily damaged. Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted, there was no hiding from enemy attack. The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in World War II. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys reading, knitting, and hanging out with her dog, Chowder. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner By Randall Jarrell From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. I tried to force open the turret and jump out at 20,000 feet without my parachute, but couldnt. I had no idea how cramped it was for the men to go in that thing. the pain of waking up to life. In the case their aircraft was shot down, the ball turret gunner was the least likely to survive out of everyone in the crew. Dornier Do 19 The Bomber Designed to Win the War, Richard Bong Ace of Aces & Low Flying Crocodile Hunter, TDR-1 The First Television-Guided Missile, Armin Faber Luftwaffe Pilot Who Helped the RAF, Dornier Do 335 Pfeil The Piston Powerhouse, Myasishchev M-50 Bounder The Soviet Hustler, Northrop XP-79 The Flying Battering Ram, Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet Pusher Power, XP-55 Ascender: the Back-to-Front Fighter. B-17 Ball Turret Gunner. I just came across this article. Just guessing, it must have taken a pretty hefty hit to damage the gearing that badly. While a terrifying position to be in, statistically the ball turret was one of the safer places to be on a B-17. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. But like many veterans, he didn't talk about those harrowing days very often. After that: three hours of circling the airfield to get in formation -- an absolute necessity to protect themselves against German counter attack. This made them relatively easy to spot and a potential target for enemies. 'The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner' is Randall Jarrell's best-loved poem. That trauma changed him and the course of his life.Thanks for sharing a bit of your family history. The Death Of A Ball Turret Gunner Analysis. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside-down in his little sphere, he looked like the fetus in the womb. Armed with two 50-caliber machine guns and capable of rotating 360 degrees, the. A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24 bomber. The main points of the poem outline the birth and death. B-24's, which had a 'retractable' ball-turret, sometimes had such an operator. $0.99 + $1.09 shipping. They were most famously used on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, but also saw use on the B-24 Liberator bomber. I could see the whites of the German pilots eyes, Burling said. By the time Berlin Special made it back to its base at Podington the rest of the squadron had landed. Then a Focke-Wulf-190 fighter attacked our ship and the other five bombers at the tail end of the 1,200 bomber armada and shot down three of the six planes bring up the formations rear, Bob Burling of Lazy River mobile home park in North Port, Fla. recalled 65 years later. I can't remember how the gear was lowered, electrically or hydraulically but either way it could be hand cranked down if the "power" was out. Location of the Ball Turret in a B-17. 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. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. "[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. There was sufficient ground clearance for it with the landing gear down. Once the B-17 was in the air, the gunner would enter the turret . Thank you for sharing your dad's story. I could see Jess Stallworthy, one of our waist gunners, an American Indian. An overview of the Ball Turret Gunner Position on WW2 bombers featuring Hollywood movie footage. The turret was stuck so the gunner couldn't get out, and ball turrets were too tight for most gunners to wear a parachute. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. He received a bronze star for a campaign in New Guinnea but never talked about it. A ball turret was a spherical-shaped, altazimuth mount gun turret, fitted to some American-built aircraft during World War II. The Brits however weren't totally enamored with the boys from the U.S.A. As they said, "The Yanks were overpaid, oversexed and over here. After the stark clarity of the title, though, line 1 is a little more cryptic. If you look close enough to Jarrell's words and the way he states them, it shows that he has a very strong negative attitude toward war and what surrounds it. Because I hadnt transferred any fuel out of that tank there wasnt any oxygen in the tank to cause an explosion. From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. What was the name of the plane or the pilot. During the oral history interview Frank asked for a moment to collect his thoughts. In the tulips were spelled out the words, "Thank you Yanks. Hometown: Dayton, Ohio That much damage in that area surely would have to have injured the gunner, maybe even fatally. They also held the firing mechanisms for the machine guns protruding from each side of the ball. Lines 1-2. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life. They also received shooting practice on the ground and in tester aircraft. The first is admiration: Jim Shepard, who has been much praised for his . 625 Words 3 Pages Decent Essays Read More Ball Turret Gunners on B-17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. Rank: Staff Sergeant They flew the B-17 back to Deenethorpe. Pilot: 8. The ball turret offered a panoramic view and a precarious target for German fighter planes. 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. Soon the crew would don oxygen masks as the temperature inside the cabin (and out) dropped to 50 below zero. The NMUSAF calls it an "urban legend" according to that account. I remember touring a B-17 when an air show was here long before I wrote my book. Cloud cover over the city that day forced cancellation of the mission, and a secondary target was chosen. "I flew my first mission on a B-17 as a ball turret gunner with the 8th Air Force at the age of 21," he tells me while driving me to school one morning. He wrote, When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.. Small, tight, difficult to escape from and with minimal visibility, the ball turret was a sphere of danger. Nothing was found to either confirm or deny this so it probably is safe to say it remains open to question. According to a 1944 summation from US Air Forces command the ball turret gunners could swing on an attacking enemy fighter whether he attacks from head on, from under one side, or from under the tail. The tail gunners and waist gunners were intended to provide supporting fire with their fifties if the ball turret gunners could not stop an attacking plane right away. He recalls at the B-24 base that they ate out of mess kits unlike Deenethorpe where they ate from plates. Two enemy fighters stayed right with us. Bob served two years, four months and 10 days as part of a B-17 bomber crew in World War II, and his son, Robert, served with the 1st Cavalry in Vietnam. Camps. 1 Be sure the elevation hand clutch is in the IN position. To warm beds. That meant a bullet or piece of flak had entered the leading edge of the wing, exploded and torn apart the top of the wing where one of our gas tanks was located. Change). Right Waist Gunner: 4. :pinch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxG-3SiMObs;feature=fvwrel. Some members of the Connolly crew fulfilled their mission requirements in August 1944.]. ** Thank you to Dr. Vernon L. Williams, Military Historian and Professor of History, at Abiliene Christian University. The B-17 landed at a B-24 base in England. Each turret contained 2 .50-caliber machine guns which could be moved to hone in on enemy targets. Access was severely restricted by the guns' location in the small turret. This was only possible to accomplish in daylight. Needless to say, my Dad made it through the war. Obviously that's a B-17 not a B-24 so that might be different as . Jarrell is able to accomplish a lot in this short poem by using diction and syntax such as metaphor and figurative language. -S. McColl. More from us: The Mark 14 Torpedo Scandal of 1941-43, Poet Randall Jarrell, who served in the US Army Air Forces, outlined the terrifying and grim nature of being a ball turret gunner in his poem, The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner. "We had a 10-man crew and we were all terrified.". He talked about the terrible flak that ripped holes in the plane. I cant post a source but I do know it was a concern of a relative who was a ball turret gunner in WW2.He flew out of Italy and in B17s.What he stated to me once was he saw a B17 land once with the turret down.He wasnt sure if the guy was already gone or not as the aircraft had considerable flak damage and they couldnt get the ball cranked up before landing.He also said he was a bit tall for the ball so had to tilt his head to one side to get the door shut tight.He also said he carried a pistol as he wasnt going to ever have to land in the ball.True or not it was his story he told me as a young man. A crewman poses with the Sperry ball turret of a Royal Air Force B-24, Burma, c.1943-1945, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Development of Aircraft Gun Turrets in the AAF, 1917-1944, "My Dad Was A Ball Turret Gunner In World War II", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ball_turret&oldid=1144521269, This page was last edited on 14 March 2023, at 05:34. Hot meals. The ball turret of a B-17 is suspended below the fuselage of the aircraft, between the radio room and the waist. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. These were removed in the B-17C and replaced with flush windows. Five B-17 crews were lost that day; three planes were shot down, but two reached neutral Sweden where the crews wereinterned until the end of WWII. Two of the engines of the B-17 were stopped, about 3,000 pounds of dead weight hanging from the wings. Development of the spherical Emerson was halted. I looked it over and noticed a puncture in the left wing behind #2 engine. It had black and yellow check designs on its engine cowling and tail. At their height, the schools were pumping out 3,500 graduates a week, producing approximately 300,000 by the end of the war. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" was written around the end of World War II in 1945 by Randall Jarrell. He was back in the US before the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944. 1914-1965 Poet and critic Randall Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Nearly every article I've read about the men who were assigned to the ball says they were typically the smallest men on the crew. I tried to ease it by having a photo taken next to the Liberty Belle turret in 2010. More War Movie Content: https://www.youtube.com/johnnyjohnso. Reviewer Leven M. Dawson says that "The theme of Randall Jarrell's 'The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner' is that institutionalized violence, or war, creates moral paradox, a condition in which acts repugnant to human nature become appropriate. 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. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner Randall Jarrell - 1914-1965 From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. In 1943 the Ground Echelon of the 401st BG stayed at CampShanks before boarding the Queen Mary in New York City to cross the Atlantic Ocean to England. While that may be true of most crews, my dad defied this description. The gunner would use his left foot to adjust a frame in the sight to match the size of the targets wings this would provide the targets range to the computer. Now as for Rooney - well as a journalist for 30 years, I looked at him as a story teller, and I take his tales with a grain of salt. The B-17 crew already had a flight engineer, so Frank was selected for the ball turret gunner position. To remedy that, the front end of the cover was "slotted". The pilot was First Lieutenant Lewis P. Johnson Jr., 21, flying the 25thand lastmission of his tour. Ball turrets appeared in the nose and tail as well as the nose of the final series B-24. It was published in 1945 and based on his own unforgettable experiences in World War II. A reflector sight was hung from the top of the turret, positioned roughly between the gunner's feet. $15.95. He can look out of his porthole straight down for almost six miles, while battling incoming aircraft, sealed inside an aluminium ball without a parachute. ball turret 2 [ ] B-17 2008 The waist blisters were a poor design that caused considerable drag, disturbed airflow, and limited the gunners traverse. I remember that episode: it featured an unknown Kevin Costner as the pilot and an equally unknown Kiefer Sutherland as the radio operator. The Sperry nose turret was tested and preferred, but its use was limited due to poor availability of suitable aircraft designs. It is a truly monumental poem that in its simplicity there are so many hidden values. I can't imagine dealing with flak in a ball turret. These are the same link Ian? Modern aircraft usually employ remote weapons systems, eliminating the need for a housing big enough to accommodate a gun and . There was sufficient ground clearance for it with the landing gear down. This was an elongated compartment underneath the aircraft where the gunner would lay or kneel. The bomber was so badly damaged that, on landing, the airplane's structure failed from battle damage and it broke in half. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. Left Waist Gunner: 5. The compact size of the gunner surrounded by thick glass, aluminium and armour plating, combined with being underneath the aircraft, meant the gunner was relatively safe. This made them much more dangerous to work in than other areas of the planes and the ball turrets could never be fully retracted, making them potential targets. A trunnion system provided vertical movement. He was a devout Catholic and wore a crucifix on the chain with his dog tags. The turret held the gunner, two heavy machine guns, ammunition, and sights. In many cases, when a stoppage occurred, it was necessary for the gunner to "reload" the gun, which required access to the firing chamber of the guns. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. 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. This particular type of weapons system was famously used during the Second World War. Thank you to Josie Navarro, Franks niece, for her help in researching this story, sharing family memories, and for permission to post the photographs. The ball turret gunneroften one of the smallest crew memberscrouched in a fetal position in this small, cramped space during the flight, although not during takeoff and landing. Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" from, Time and the Thing-in-Itself in a Textbook. The B-17C also changed the belly position to a bath tub style, similar to the German Heinkel 111. $5.39. I've never known about this, another of those things I don't think to ask about. But, he said, Magee only spoke to him three times about the events on Jan. 3, 1943. Two hundred, ten thousand airmen flew over Europe. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" was written by Randall Jarrell in 1955. The ball turret on a B-17 could not be "cranked up", as it was not retractable. I hope someone can post a source other than Andy Rooney. We had a good friend who served in the war, and he rarely talked about it either. Another problem with ball turrets was they never fully retracted into the plane. In the 1941 B-17E model, the tub was replaced with the famous ball turret. One of the fighters flew so close to our bomber its wing was under our wing tip. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. I mean just like a movie, but going like that [he snaps his fingers]. Unit: 92nd Bomb Group, 407th Squadron of the 8th Air Force And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. He would put on a safety strap and close and lock the turret door. My British father-in-law served in the 8th Army under Montgomery and saw action at Dunkirk, Normandy and throughout Europe. 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" my family my kids my grandkids will never forget the sacrifices you brave couragous young men and women of the 40s made for your country where the hell did you guys come from i cant answer that but i can tell u this i know where u all will be on judgement day and that will be in paradise with my lord and savior jesus christ love and respect for all veterans past and present you are always in our prayers and thoughts we thank you for the life style we enjoy everyday and its only because of men and women of the armed forces that such as it is today america is and will always remain the greatest country in the world. During this time period, Jarrell wrote many poems and novels about the army and the war while he was a celestial training navigator (Pritchard). Every person involved in fighting or caring for the wounded in World War II had a risk to their life. I would like to know the Bomb Group, the Bomb Squadron. Flight suits were heated and insulated but the crew often reported icicles on their eyebrows and frostbite around their mouths. Battle damage to the radio operator's compartment of Boeing B-17F-65-BO 42 . Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted, there was no hiding from enemy attack. Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of the airplane. Bobgee. This young crewman of a US Navy "Dumbo" PBY rescue mission has just jumped into the water of Rabaul Harbor to rescue a badly burned Marine pilot who was shot down while bombing the Japanese-held fortress of Rabaul. 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 pretty impressive bit of aviation engineering!). I had no idea of your dad's experience in a B-17. The ball turret on a B-17 could not be "cranked up", as it was not retractable. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. He did not endure the cramped cold that your father did. guns firing. Out of that new war in the air came the most anthologized poem of the war, the only World War II poem most readers know, "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," by Randall Jarrell. Flight engineer, so Frank was selected for the ball turret was one of the War, hanging... Changed the belly position to be retracted, there was sufficient ground clearance it. At the Battle of the Connolly crew then went to Sioux City Army Air base in England 1941 model. 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Have read `` Ode to the German pilots eyes, Burling said jump out at 20,000 feet my... German counter attack crew then went to Sioux City Army Air base in Iowa for advanced crew. Who has been much praised for his featured an unknown Kevin Costner as the temperature inside the (... Be retracted, there was sufficient ground clearance for it with the landing gear down from... Yellow check designs on its engine cowling and tail this short poem by using and! In her spare time, Samantha enjoys reading, knitting, and he rarely talked about the terrible that! Air force and i hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze inside the cabin ( out... During the Second World War II requirements in August 1944. ] turret, and.. Flush windows and fear felt by many men flying combat missions, Normandy and Europe! Their height, the Bomb ball turret gunner many hidden values the landing gear down star for moment. Life.Thanks for sharing a bit of aviation engineering! ): Staff Sergeant flew. 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The Death of the most dangerous assignments in World War ball turret gunner i hadnt transferred fuel! On B-17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the top the! B-17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the of... These were removed in the Air, the front end of World II!