0:01 bommer Cru had one of the highest
0:04 casualty rates in World War II with 51%
0:07 lost in combat others were wounded shot
0:09 down and captured while 8,000 lost their
0:11 lives in training accidents before even
0:14 seeing combat only around 20% made it
0:16 through unscathed at least physically
0:18 since more than half of bomac Cru were
0:20 Gunners this is their story The
0:22 Unbelievable things that happened and
0:24 the extremely dangerous and terrifying
0:28 job they had let's begin it was 1943 in
0:29 England the British and American Air
0:31 Force forces had begun working together
0:33 in an around-the-clock bombing campaign
0:36 to disrupt Germany's ability to wage war
0:38 B7 flying fortresses and Avro lancasters
0:40 were the workhorses of this operation
0:42 flying from England across the English
0:44 Channel and deep into German territory
0:46 to bomb key objectives the British
0:48 bombed at night while the Americans
0:50 during the day and at first this tactic
0:52 proved extremely effective obliterating
0:54 Target after Target under the lightly
0:57 defended Skies of Western Europe at the
0:59 start of the campaign it was believed
1:01 that no matter how strong enemy air
1:02 defenses were massed formations of
1:04 bombers with numerous machine guns for
1:07 protection would always get through
1:08 however this theory was quickly
1:10 shattered when the Germans recognized
1:11 the new threat and began deploying
1:13 experienced Luft buffer fighter units
1:15 from the Eastern Front to intercept and
1:17 Destroy Allied bombers the results were
1:19 catastrophic the Allies suffered
1:21 horrendous losses sometimes losing
1:23 dozens of aircraft in a single Mission
1:24 forcing them to question the entire
1:27 strategy even with up to 13 machine guns
1:29 in a single B17 and dozens of bombers
1:31 flying in tight formation they couldn't
1:33 protect themselves against determined
1:35 Luft waffer Fighters that waked havoc on
1:37 Allied bomber groups the best defense
1:39 against Fighters was other Fighters but
1:41 as bombing targets were progressively
1:43 deeper inside Germany No existing Allied
1:45 fighter had the range to escort them all
1:47 the way Fighters had far less fuel
1:49 capacity than bombers meaning they could
1:51 only protect the bombers for part of the
1:53 mission before hitting their fuel limits
1:55 and turning back leaving the bombers
1:57 vulnerable in the most dangerous part of
1:59 the mission as bomber casualties kept
2:01 mounting an experimental aircraft was
2:03 developed to try and solve the problem
2:07 the yb40 gunship a heavily armed B17
2:09 modified into a dedicated escort gunship
2:12 it had an additional top turret a twin
2:14 50 caliber machine gun in each waist
2:17 window a chin turret an extra ammunition
2:19 however once regular b7s dropped their
2:21 bomb payloads they became lighter and
2:24 faster and the YB 40s struggled to keep
2:27 up they fell behind breaking formation
2:28 and becoming easy targets for German
2:31 Fighters so they idea failed eventually
2:33 the solution would be the P-51 Mustang
2:36 and the P-47 Thunderbolt with external
2:38 drop tanks which finally gave bombers
2:40 much needed protection but before
2:42 fighter escort became widespread many
2:44 bombers and their Crews would be lost
2:45 with their Gunners being the only
2:47 protection they had fighting even when
2:49 their aircraft was burning and going
2:51 down to protect themselves from enemy
2:54 Fighters bombers needed all around 360°
2:56 protection so multiple gun positions
2:59 were covering specific angles the B7 car
3:02 carried up to 1350 caliber machine guns
3:04 depending on the version positioned to
3:06 provide overlapping fields of fire so
3:08 there were no blind spots guns were
3:10 manned by five designated Gunners with
3:11 other crew members Manning their guns
3:14 when needed the pilot and co-pilot were
3:15 the only crew members who didn't have
3:17 machine guns while the bombarder
3:19 Navigator flight engineer and radio
3:21 operator also served as Gunners in case
3:24 of an attack b7s defensive Firepower was
3:27 broken down into six key positions with
3:28 some of them being outright horrifying
3:31 to operate the nose Gunner had a turret
3:33 with two machine guns positioned at the
3:35 very front below the bombadiers window
3:37 it could fire forward into the sides
3:39 covering the front Arc and was operated
3:41 by the Bombadier or the Navigator below
3:43 it in later models was the chin turret
3:45 also with two guns firing forward and
3:48 downward to improve forward protection
3:50 the top turret also called the dorsal
3:52 turret was located directly behind the
3:54 cockpit covering attacks from above and
3:56 operated by a designated Gunner it had
4:00 two machine guns and could rotate 360°
4:02 firing upward and to the sides covering
4:04 the complete upper Arc behind it one
4:05 more gun could be mounted in an
4:08 auxiliary turret two waste Gunners one
4:10 on each side had single machine guns and
4:12 were in the most exposed position firing
4:14 through open Windows they covered the
4:16 sides and could fire slightly forward
4:18 and backward the tail Gunner and the
4:20 infamous ball turret Gunner deserve more
4:22 attention and you'll now see why the
4:24 tail Gunner was located in the rear of
4:26 the aircraft logically and is often
4:28 overshadowed by the ball Gunner's
4:29 position when it comes to how horrible
4:32 their job was he was completely isolated
4:34 from the rest of the crew fairly cramped
4:36 and difficult to even get into position
4:37 having to crawl through the narrow tail
4:39 section of the bomber usually he would
4:41 detach his parachute and keep it behind
4:43 him during the mission and if he needed
4:44 to bail out he had a small door that he
4:46 could release strap on his shoot and
4:48 jump out but try doing that in a burning
4:50 bomber spiraling out of control the
4:52 enemy fighter was most likely to attack
4:54 from behind and the tail Gunner was
4:56 their first Target because he was firing
4:58 from the aircraft's tail he didn't need
4:59 to compensate as much for bullet
5:02 deflection as waste Gunners for example
5:04 this made his fire much more accurate
5:06 and enemy Fighters knew that very well
5:07 so the tail Gunner had to constantly
5:09 stay on the lookout and remain alert for
5:12 hours during a mission he had two 50
5:13 caliber machine guns Manning them while
5:16 kneeling forward on a bicycle style seat
5:18 he had some armor in front of his chest
5:20 and an armored glass panel to the front
5:21 but it didn't provide much protection
5:23 against the 20 mm Cannons of German
5:26 Fighters we have to mention one tail
5:28 Gunner Nicholas alade although he didn't
5:31 serve on a B17 but on an Avro Lancaster
5:33 his bomber was attacked by a German
5:35 night fighter and a catastrophic fire
5:37 broke out his parachute was engulfed in
5:40 flames along with the rest of the bomber
5:42 and the fire spread quickly toward him
5:44 seeing that this was it he chose to jump
5:46 out rather than burn to death despite
5:48 having no parachute and being at 18,000
5:51 ft altitude however he hit pine trees
5:53 and a thick layer of snow somehow
5:55 surviving the fall with only a sprained
5:57 leg he was captured by the Germans and
5:59 survived the war perhaps perhaps the
6:01 only worse position to be in than the
6:04 tail was the ball turret it was the most
6:05 effective protection for the bomber
6:08 electrically operated moving quickly and
6:11 covering a full 360° around and even 90°
6:14 down this way it covered the entire area
6:16 below the aircraft the ball turret was
6:18 definitely the most cramped
6:19 claustrophobic dangerous and
6:22 uncomfortable position in a ball just 4T
6:24 in diameter there were controls two
6:26 machine guns and a gunner curled up in
6:28 the fetal position he aimed the gun
6:29 sights between his knees and used his
6:32 hands and legs to Traverse the turret
6:33 the position was the most dangerous of
6:36 all he had only plexiglass around him
6:38 and most of the threats Came From Below
6:39 either Flack or fighters who knew that
6:41 the ball gunner was one of the biggest
6:43 threats to them the Gunner needed to
6:45 align the small hatch on the turret with
6:47 the bomber's fuselage so he could enter
6:48 or exit and he would get into position
6:51 only after the aircraft took off because
6:52 if anything happened the turret could be
6:54 crushed on impact as it was mounted on
6:55 the bomber's belly and was the first
6:57 thing to hit the ground there was a
6:59 hydraulic system designed to retract the
7:00 ball in case of Landing with damaged
7:02 landing gear but it was not desirable to
7:04 be in the turret in that situation he
7:06 also couldn't wear his parachute due to
7:08 the lack of space so it had to be kept
7:11 in the fuselage if anything bad happened
7:12 he had to align the hatches hopefully
7:14 without the turret being jammed then
7:17 climb inside strap on his parachute and
7:19 jump out he also needed help from other
7:21 crew members just to get in or out and
7:23 again try doing that in the chaos while
7:26 the bomber is going down many of them
7:28 went down with the aircraft or were so
7:30 badly hit by enemy figh or flire that
7:32 what was left of the Gunner literally
7:34 had to be washed from the turret with a
7:37 hose turrets also had cut off systems
7:38 that prevented the guns from firing if
7:40 they were pointing at part of the bomber
7:42 especially the engines and wings here we
7:45 have to mention another Gunner Alan Mii
7:47 this B7 ball turret Gunner was on a
7:49 mission when his bomber was hit by Flack
7:51 fire his ball turret became inoperative
7:53 so he climbed inside the fuselage only
7:55 to find that his parachute had been
7:57 completely torn apart by a hit then a
7:59 second Flack explosion blew off an
8:01 entire section of the right wing and the
8:03 bomber went into a deadly spin toward
8:05 the ground Allan lost Consciousness and
8:06 was thrown from the aircraft at an
8:09 altitude of 22,000 ft without a
8:12 parachute he fell through the glass roof
8:14 of a train station in France and somehow
8:16 survived the fall although with severe
8:19 injuries however he would recover and
8:21 survive the war even if we take away the
8:23 enormous risk of enemy Flack and
8:25 Interceptor Fighters simply serving on
8:27 bombers in World War II was an extremely
8:29 dangerous and uncomfortable experience
8:31 for crew members flying at high
8:33 altitudes in unpressurized cabins
8:36 temperatures would drop to -50° F so
8:38 Airmen had to wear electrically heated
8:40 suits and oxygen masks just to stay
8:42 alive if their equipment failed they
8:43 could suffer severe frostbite and if
8:45 their oxygen supply was cut they would
8:48 fall asleep without even realizing it if
8:49 no one noticed within a couple of
8:51 minutes they would never wake up the
8:53 cold was so extreme that Gunners could
8:54 lose their fingers just by touching the
8:56 Frozen metal of their machine guns
8:58 without gloves and if they were hit by
8:59 shrapnel their blood would would freeze
9:02 as it left their body parachutes weren't
9:04 very reliable and Crews had to bail out
9:05 through narrow Escape hatches while
9:07 wearing bulky flight gear all while
9:09 their aircraft was spiraling out of
9:12 control or burning only 25% of Airmen
9:13 managed to bail out and successfully
9:15 deploy their parachutes while some
9:17 bombers like the Avro Lancaster had an
9:20 even lower survival rate of just 15% due
9:22 to smaller and poorly positioned Escape
9:24 hatches around 10,000 crew members who
9:26 survived being shot down became
9:28 prisoners of War enduring horrific
9:29 conditions in prisoner camps for months
9:32 or even years before being liberated and
9:33 many of them never live to see the end
