Ball Turrets - In The Movies

[@ericboyle8296]

My father in law was a ball turret gunner in a B-24 flying out of Italy. He flew 25 missions. One mission over Germany flak took out an engine and ruptured fuel lines. The Captain gave the order to bail out and he discovered his harness did not match the chute he brought so they flew on and crash landed at a British fighter base in Italy, thanks to the flight engineer. He was the last living member of his crew and passed away in 2020 at 95. RIP.

[@clark3027]

Very cool my uncle who turned 100 not to long ago installed the weapon system on b24s maybe he helped install your father in laws ball turret lol

[@Average_Person_Yes]

:)

[@ALJZ]

RIP, at least he lived a long life while serving in an event which changed the course of history

[@heavystarch100]

Rest in Honor

[@cordaddio1486]

lmao i love how on every single one of these videos, there are at least 8 dudes claiming their grandpa/father/uncle was exactly what the video is talking about and had a crazy unbelievable story

[@weathermanwx9199]

Fun fact: the turret controls for the turret were reversed. Move the sticks right to go left. Move the sicks left to go right. Move the sticks back to elevate. Move the sticks forward to depress. The triggers were not reverse; Right gun to right trigger, left gun to left trigger. The left foot operated the gunsight ranging. The right foot activated the intercom mic. Due to the K4 computing gunsight, the ball turret was actually rather effective, with kill to encounter ratios as high as 57%. Captured Interceptor pilots indicated that they preferred to engage B-17s and B-14 from high instead of low to prevent from being killed by the ball turrets.

[@vasopel]

well to be fair....most people wouldn't call the turret controls "reversed", it's just the way a gunner would use a machine gun.

[@Alphacuremom55]

@@vasopel That is an excellent point.

[@DingoNovember]

@@vasopel never thought of that. Thank for pointing out. To make it this way, does it easier for operators to operate? And does it easier to produce?

[@bluex610]

@@vasopel I remember someone that plays video games inverted told me this. He said imagine if the joystick was behind the players head.

[@TephulioTX]

This makes total sense, I played fps games "inverted" because I saw myself turning. I moved myself, not the control or character. Think of this but don't move the ball, move YOU at the back of the ball. smart

[@Gunbudder]

my great grandpa was a bubble gunner! he got shot down twice (and made it back both times). he didn't talk too much about it, but he did tell me that the rotating part of the bubble would get stuck at times which freaked him out, and he also talked about the sound and experience of rounds hitting the bubble directly. he said it was basically a loud SPLAT sound and that the combination of the material being strong and the distance from the shooter meant the rounds wouldn't penetrate the bubble, but it also freaked him out to have a round stop inches from his face. most of his stuff from WWII was destroyed after he died, but i have one of his manuals from when he was going to school in the army for aviation. He was an amazing artist, and he hand drew a massive portrait of his wife that covered the back of the book. i've also got his e tool that he carried, and his M1911A1. the e tool looks brand new because i don't think ever needed to dig anything with it for the most part. he also never talked about specific missions, but i know he flew over germany and he did tell me he "probably killed nazis" during the war so i don't know exactly what he saw or did. he was a really intense guy, and did not bat an eye at violence. when he came back after the war ended he immediately started working as a collector for a bookie and he also became a master machinist. he was quite the guy. he died while taking a dump at 87 years old, which is a pretty good way to go i think

[@gglen2141]

One last push and off to heaven you go.👍

[@nimay13]

People who don’t talk about the war usually had a horrid experience or two. Make sense, you don’t have to relive the experience ever again.

[@nigelcarren]

Respect. 🇬🇧⚔️🇺🇲

[@residentelect]

@@nimay13 First question you tend to get asked when strangers find out you're a veteran is either "have you ever killed anyone?" and "is it like it is in the movies?" Such foolishness, along with the memories you're trying to suppress, is why you just smile and nod while they ramble on...

[@jrmarshall789]

That was a roller coaster of a story man!

[@SeanDahle]

I recently talked to a veteran who served in a B-17 ball turret. Scariest experience of his life. How he managed to fit in it at 6 feet tall I do not know. Just another reason why I'm highly grateful for our veterans. 🇺🇸

[@bigblue6917]

Interesting. I thought that only shorter men could fit in the ball turret.

[@SeanDahle]

@@bigblue6917 so did I at first I didn't believe it but was pretty slender I think that might be why he managed to fit

[@CountKibblesNBits]

I remember being a teenager going to a air museum and being allowed to crawl into a ball turret by the veteran who was manning the exhibit. I was 6ft at the time, to say the least I received a cramp almost immediately upon entering and was quite uncomfortable the entire time I was inside. I ended up falling out onto the ground in order to exit.

[@t.r.4496]

My uncle would rotate out from tail gunner to ball turret gunner. He made 25 bombing runs on Germany. He was a little guy at age 19. Before he died I never could have imagined a man his size to be able to fit in the turret.

[@thecooky7744]

In high school had to read a pome about the ball gunner it was quite gruesome . I have heard of a place you can use a ball turret in Nevada

[@RetiredWarriorHUAW]

I was a crew serve gunner in Iraq in a gun truck for multiple tours. Gunners have it rough, it's even rougher when they are 50-Cal gunners, as when combat starts, everyone is shooting at the biggest gun doing the most damage first. Like all gunners, life expectancy is short while in combat. I was going to write more, but a lot of memories come flooding back. Great video trooper. Hooah.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Much respect my man. Thanks for sharing that.

[@dsl32]

Thank you for your service

[@crownic]

respect dude hope you are well

[@richardsmith2684]

I rode with the gun trucks in viet,,,all ordance built on the scene,,,mixed in with tanker convoys,,amazing we got out of that place,,the old ma deuce,,also with the navy on gunboats for a while,,,,there was the old 50 again,,

[@Daniel4646]

There is an episode from the Amazing Stories (1985 TV series) - "The Mission" - which should have gotten a place in this clip. It's about a cartoonist locked inside his jammed Sperry Turret who finds a most marvellous way to save himself from his predicament.

[@thundergod111]

Directed by Steven Spielberg and Starring Kevin Costner as the pilot

[@Daniel4646]

@@thundergod111 A true star ensemble.

[@georgebenta3435]

I was hoping to see clips of this episode in this video.

[@dareka9425]

That was the only episode I remembered clearly from the series since I was into WW2 stuff back then. I don't remember any other episodes.

[@Daniel4646]

@@dareka9425 Yeah, that was the only one TV episode which even touched the Sperry hazard.

[@F4Wildcat]

For those intrested, WWII US Bombers channel on YT has very accurate information regarding WW2 US bombers & their defenses. The ball turret was incredibly important, not a highly survivable position & had the second most kills against luftwaffe aircraft.

[@warpartyattheoutpost4987]

The "WWII US Bombers" channel is very informative! I've been watching it a lot recently to research a story I'm writing that's set on a B-17 on a mission over Europe towards the end of the War.

[@AngelA-mk5ty]

I wonder if that statistic changes between Germany and Japanese fronts. Because the Germans I believed favor attacking from below but Japanese favored climbing high then swooping down on bombers.

[@F4Wildcat]

@@AngelA-mk5ty This is indeed correct. The channel is very dedicated and has uncovered many info the past years wich eluded the internet for long. Some people claimed the bombers were invurnable= they were not Some people claim the defensive guns on american & british bombers were useless= they were certainly not I am sure we will see more info in the future.

[@aquarius5719]

Attacking from below means exchanging speed for altitude which makes the German a sitting duck.

[@jackychan9236]

@@aquarius5719 Though, there's no turret at the bottom that would actually be a decent blind spot for ambush attack.

[@kyledunn6853]

Memphis Belle is my favorite bomber movie. I hope Masters of the Air will be an awesome addition to great cinematography for those who flew the most dangerous missions in WWII. I also got to look inside the B-17 from the Mighty 8th Air Force years ago before it crashed and exploded in Rhode Island a couple years ago.

[@ebee-uz1oz]

mine too. "shadow in the clouds" with Chloe moretz (and a gremlin like creature) got it super wrong.

[@gregbailey1753]

Give 12 O'Clock High a try.

[@MattKearneyFan1]

Memphis belle was okay but so many mistakes and inaccuracies to it

[@ebee-uz1oz]

@@MattKearneyFan1 each to their own, IMO. I've seen it quite a few times, have to look it up for errors. nobody's perfect.

[@MattKearneyFan1]

@@ebee-uz1oz it would have been better had they not altered the last target and the name of the crew

[@griffinjohnson3858]

Those veterans were so brave to get in that thing even. Once trained to the opposing force of where to shoot at the bombers, that ball turret was a literal target. Theres a song or poem about ball turret gunners that recalls talks about washing the mess of a corpse out of ball with a hose.

[@christopherwombles2867]

It's titled ( death of the ball turret gunner )

[@boejiden1113]

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

[@blackhawk1812]

Thumbs up for all these interesting topics! And the rare B-32!

[@syme9925]

My uncle was a ball turret gunner in a B-24 flying out of Italy. Completed 17 missions, 18th they crash landed in Switzerland and he "spent a few months learning to ski". His biggest fear at the time was that he might throw up in his oxygen mask and have it freeze, leading to asphyxiation. More afraid of that than flak and fighters.

[@thomasjoyce7910]

This video deserves precisely its fair share of recognition. Congratulations!

[@pendantblade6361]

The Star Wars LAAT is one of the prettiest goddamn scifi ships ever made. Somehow it hits the right balance of futuristic and ancient.

[@ratfink7205]

Years ago I got to talk to Wilber at the Chino CA planes of fame museum. Wilber was a B17 belly gunner during the war. Fascinating guy and a wealth of knowledge. Humble and generous as I remember. Maybe someone out there remembers Wilber. Oh yea, our tour guide said that at their company parties all the ladies just loved Wilber. He never lacked for a dance partner.

[@jameswolf133]

I’m irrationally happy that ‘Heavy Metal’ was included. The ‘B-17’ segment is vastly underrated.

[@donlarocque5157]

Yeah. I laughed when I saw that. If it fits. Went and saw HM 6 times back then.

[@tubbs2132]

Definitely the best part of the movie by a quite wide margin

[@muddyjeeper168]

I think it was the Amazing Stories tv show that had an episode about a damaged B-17 and its crew who could not get the gunner out of the ball turret.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

That's right! Sadly I couldn't find a quality copy...

[@kollow]

I remember seeing that as kid. It still gives me that claustrophobic feeling thinking about being trapped in there.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

I think I heard that one. Pilot ended up belly landing the plane with Ball Turret Gunner in it(?)

[@muddyjeeper168]

@@kollow same here

[@Thirdbase9]

@@TrickiVicBB71 No,the ball turret Gunner was a cartoonist and drew the plane with big cartoon landing gear. He went into a trance and those gear appeared, after he was saved they disappeared and the plane collapsed crushing the turret.

[@cashbrowning3385]

Thank you for putting the movie Memphis Belle in here, such an iconic movie of my childhood

[@thekhoifish0146]

these were something out of a different century, and they still make me uneasy and anxious

[@andreraymond6860]

Of course the best representation of the ball turret gunner and the hazards of that position was in Steven Spielberg's episode 'The Mission' in the Amazing Stories television Anthology series.

[@26ozkan]

I scrolled down to find this comment before I mentioned😊👍

[@iowa_lot_to_travel9471]

Yes. That episode came to mind. 💪👍👍

[@randybaumery5090]

In real life, they had to crush a ball turret man to death to belly land a B17.

[@crabbieappleton]

That's the first thing that comes to my mind. Good call.

[@bobbnick]

@@randybaumery5090only if they couldn’t get him out, which usually didn’t occur.

[@metas6755]

My late grandpa used to tell me stories of how he jumped down into the compartment of the ball turret. I was 11-12 I think. He shared such stories, with tears, as I slept. He also shared of times when he saw Merry Poppins flying down into Brussels as his plane flew past her. He said he really did. Now, 30, I figured he was high on meds and cracking things up back then.

[@woppysue]

My father was a ball turret gunner in TBF and TBM torpedo planes in WWII in the Pacific. He was in all but 3 of the major battles. He flew off of CVL 24 USS Belleau Wood

[@cptcosmo]

My Grandfather (RIP) was a B-24J turret gunner with the 459th Bomb Group based out of Italy (Coffee Tower) who survived 32 missions - I have his Air Service Medal with a silver oak leaf cluster.

[@SSGTStryker]

Another perfect example of a ball turret gunner in media is the Steven Spielberg series Amazing Stories, S1, Episode 5 “The Mission.” Starring a very young Kevin Costner, Keifer Sutherland and Casey Siemazko.

[@gcarraig]

Came here to leave the same comment.

[@burninglass]

My father was a Ball Turret Gunner on a B17G. Macons Bacon. He never really talked about it much. The thing is he did his tour then re-upped for a second tour. He did over 50 missions before the war ended. I don't think I could have done it. I'm too claustrophobic for that little Turret.

[@EricDaMAJ]

He was a brave man. Most bomber crews were sweating bullets just to get through the mandatory 25 missions before they could be rotated stateside. Many didn’t get that far at all. To do 25 missions then volunteer for another 25 was to spit in the Devil’s eye. I’m surprised they didn’t have him committed to an insane asylum for doing so. He must’ve volunteered when they were really hurting for warm bodies.

[@philthefriendlyfrog]

Cool you added HEAVY METAL on this ...i havent thought about that movie in years

[@airmackeeee6792]

Johnny - "From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose." The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner - RANDALL JARRELL

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks for adding this 🙏

[@yungpark6435]

it's a beautiful yet somber poem

[@matthewcaughey8898]

Just a few facts i wanna point out here. Ball turret gunners were typically about 5foot 10 or shorter. This made it somewhat more comfortable. Next the B-24 could and often did fully retract the turret for takeoff and landing. The mechanics of it were extremely robust. Only on the B-17 did it not retract ( this owing to the original pre war design of the Fortress which did not have either a ball turret or a tail gun. ) The B-17 acquired the ball turret at the same time it added a tail gunner position. The B-24 was actually more dangerous then the B-17 owing to its Davis wing and wing located fuel tanks being particularly vulnerable ( the burning gas would either explode the plane or melt the main spar both ending in destruction). Ball turret gunners if they could stand it often did wear chutes in the turret as it was easier to rotate the turret into a position to open the hatch to fall out. In many cases emergency hand hydraulic pumps saved turret gunners. Lastly the B-29s remote turret system often didn’t work and in the field it was difficult to service the computing gunsight. Frequently the gunners would aim right at a Japanese fighter only to have a wonky calculation system miss it completely. ( the parallax was usually off ). The other problem would be the system malfunctioning. This would cause the turrets to go 90 degrees vertical and rotate 70 degrees while expending the entire ammunition load on nothing but air. This was never fully worked out and most B-29s went into combat with only the tail gun ( was claimed removal of the defensive guns was due to lack of fighters and the need to pack more bombs). The other problem was if the remote turret guns jammed there was no way to physically clear them in flight ( why fighters used multiple guns in case one jammed )

[@carlevans5760]

My dad was 5 ft 3-and a ball turret gunner ETO. I have no idea how many missions he flew? but was credited with 2-3 partial shootdowns.

[@stinker43]

I am 6ft 200lbs and can fit in the Sperry ball turret of B-17. I think I could have carried a waist chute in there, but probably not for a whole mission.

[@johnm3907]

I read that being really skinny was just as Important, guy was saying that the gunner was 6.3 but an absolute rake

[@Droodog127]

"Amazing Stories" The Mission (TV Episode 1985) with Kevin Costner

[@rolfagten857]

Yes, crazy episode, cartoony !

[@noticedgamer9266]

Love your videos! Me and my friend yesterday were talking about the a 6 intruder as you were making that video. Keep up the good work!

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks man I appreciate the feedback :)

[@dsl32]

There was a TV show from The 1980s called Amazing stories, they had an episode called The Mission and it was about a B17 crew doing a mission during WW2 and the The ball Turret Gunner was stuck in there. It was an awesome episode.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I messed up not adding that. Really have to re-make this video.

[@boi7316]

Imagine having motion sickness and claustrophobia and then you're assigned to the ball turret

[@Jonnesdeknost]

Always get happy when i see you uploaded a new video, i don’t really often think about them but as soon as one pops up i’m hooked. Thanks for the amazing content.

[@yankeesforlife24]

Thank god I would’ve been too tall. God bless these courageous men who sat in these for hours on end.

[@croma81]

0:49 "Typically operated by small man" Samwise Gamgee entering in Memphis Belle's ball turret.

[@user-dh8nf9wr5w]

Hello, ! 🌟Thanks for watching::You have been shortlisted for the ongoing secret giveaway contact address above on telegram, ❤️💯🏆, Thank you!

[@71Splinter]

Thank you for having the memphis belle, my all time favourite film

[@peterlee9691]

I've seen one on display in a military museum, it's so small I don't even think you could fit a hobbit in them.

[@irohaboat]

There was a story i heard: A B-17 was landing in [England]. It had battle damaged that prevented the wheels from lowering (or blown away). Either way, the crew could not get the ball turret in the right direction to get the gunner out. They had to belly land. And everyone rused to help the gunner. He didn't make it (Sorry for weird grammar, English IS my first language)

[@scottdunkirk8198]

There were a few 6 foot tall ball gunners we met over the years. The gunner didn’t get into the ball until they got to a certain area and got out prior to landing.

[@leecrt967]

Oooooh! Missed one. "The War Lover" (1962) with Steve McQueen as Captain Buzz Rickson, has a father-son relationship with his ball turret gunner "Junior" Sailen, who "wants to live." Great action sequences of Junior defending the B-17G "The Body" until hit by cannon fire from Bf-109Gs. Great use of vintage combat footage mixed in with the movies use of three real B-17Gs. A good scene before one of the missions is Junior asking Buzz if he could stay behind and "watch the house." Surprised you missed it.

[@DavidMartin-ym2te]

Post-war figures showed that the ball turret gunners suffered fewer casualties than any other gun position, strange as that may seem. Still took cojones of steel though....

[@judsongaiden9878]

2:06 I'm GLaD you included that scene from Heavy Metal. That segment, alone, would make for a great video game! Or its own movie. 4:30 'Gremlins' meets the 'B-17' segment of Heavy Metal. That means someone else must have thought what I thought, but focusing on the belly gunner instead of the pilot being stranded on an island of zombies.

[@k9turrent]

Gotta have some extra-large sized balls to be a ball gunner

[@noticedgamer9266]

I don’t think they would fit…

[@garfieldsmith332]

Balls made of steel.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@garfieldsmith332 You need them. As armor, because the Ball Turret only has armor on your back. It will only protect your a$$.

[@robertd7073]

I think its scary to be the tail gunner. "All eyes on you"

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@robertd7073 "Tail End Charlie". I managed to crawl thru a B-17 at an airshow. The tail ginner was just as cramped as the ball turret gunner. Both of them shoe horned into their positions and vey little chance of getting out if the plane was hit. Even the opening to the bombardier's compartment was a tight sneeze. All of these men who served on a B-17 had balls of steel. We owe them a lot for what they did; as we do to all the brave men who served and fought the Axis powers.

[@rolfagten857]

Actor Eric Stoltz the red haired radio operator from "The Memphis Belle" (1990) also played a good role in "Code name Emerald" (1985) as an Overlord US officer. Too bad we don't hear much about it these days.

[@richardcutts196]

In 2009 I had a conversation with a WW2 vet. We were outside one of the few airworthy B-17's (Aluminum Overcast) that had landed at the local airport. He had been a ball turret gunner in Europe and later was a gunner on a B-29. The main thing I remember is that he said that the ball turret was designed to be detached if they needed to lighten the airplane, something I had not read in any book about the B-17, nor mentioned anywhere that I had heard of before or since.

[@siegfriedmaiolino5880]

Yes it was.... but not for that reason. I Wonder if it was not in case of crash landing and if thé gunner couldnt go back to thé plane.....

[@kingofwingo]

There was an episode Spielbergs of "Amazing Stories" about a ball turret Gunner trapped in the turret. Surprised not to see it mentioned.

[@leecrt967]

Yep! Good catch. Bomber ended up landing on a cartoon landing gear, saving the ball turret gunner.

[@bigblue6917]

Any bomber crew member deserves our respects. Any one who was a ball turret gunner deserved every medal they had. Climbing into a ball turret knowing that the enemy knows you have no protection against the Germans cannons, firing AP and explosive shells, and that if anything happens there is a good possibility you would not get out. Not sure how they measured is but life expectancy for a ball turret gunner was supposed to be just 37 seconds and some six out of ten would not survive. One B-17 was so badly damage and it had to get back on just one engine. To lighten the load as much as possible the jettisoned the ball turret, minus the gunner. They managed to get home.

[@bismarck3055]

i love your videos keep up the good work 👍

[@flomisa6866]

Love your videos

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks for the kind comment Flomisa

[@jodypitt3629]

Hi Johnny, the ball turrrets of B-24 Liberators could be retracted into the fuselage. Heaven help the B-17s ball turret gunner in the event of this aircraft having to belly land!

[@obsidianjane4413]

Ball turret gunners got out of them for take offs and landings. What was dangerous about the position was that they couldn't wear a parachute. So if the bomber went out of control or broke up, its unlikely that they would be able to get out and put one on.

[@Eldanogrande]

There was an episode of Amazing Stories that had a B-17 BTG trapped in his turret and the landing gear shot out. He was a cartoonist, so he drew landing gear on the window of his turret and then went into a trance. When he was in the trance, the gear he drew materialized and the plane landed safely. Kevin Costner played the pilot.

[@charlienotes981]

Love your content mate! You sound like Vlad tv so much it’s bugging me out 🤣🙌🏼 Great work fella, love from the uk! 🇬🇧

[@javidaderson]

Being trapped inside of a ball turret during a belly landing might be one of the worst ways to die in WWII

[@digitalworms]

The plane part on Heavy Metal was one of my favorite parts of the movie!

[@chris.3711]

Next to the tail gunner, it was as said, very dangerous. These things are insane. You sit with your knees to your ears and shoot the gun between your legs. Wild.

[@renegadeleader1]

The most dangerous positions were the waist gunners who were essentially manning exposed open windows with no armor protection outside of the flak jackets they wore. Second worse for casualty rates were the bombadier whose position was in the exposed plexiglass nose cone which placed him directly into the path of the German's preferred attack route. It wasn't until very late in the B-17F's production run that the remote control chin turret that became synonymous with the B-17G as standard did the bombardier get adequate protection. Up until then the crews would jury rig what ever guns they could fit in the nose so they could defend themselves. The twin fifties in Memphis Belle's nose at the USAF Museum in Dayton are a good example of this.

[@rps215]

I remember that mission in Medal of Honor. Two of the player's crewmen manning these turrets were shot later on and the player have to juggle between 3 of these stations to protect the bomber, though the bomber will inevitably shot down in a Fission Mailed event.

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

@@rps215 this was CoD United offensive.

[@frenchguitarguy1091]

My great grandfather was crew in one of these turrets during WW2, part time protecting London and later part time bombing Germans. Worth to note this was in RAF,. Can't remember what fighter he was in?

[@IQsveen]

Hey, could you do a "behind the scenes" video where you show how you work on these videos? I am genuinely curious on how you find/record all these clips from old movies to video games...

[@stevensonsteven5965]

My great grandfather was a ball turret gunner on the b24 in ww2. Although dangerous as hell, he called it the best seat in the house

[@geordiedog1749]

Randall Jarrels poem is so amazing.

[@ebee-uz1oz]

in shadow in the clouds, imdb states the barrels have to be pointing down, however when i saw part of this movie, the crew put her in while the barrels were parallel with the hull....and the guns were operated differently than Memphis belle. Another movie with a ball turret is with Kevin Costner (as pilot)and Keifer sutherland, where the turret operator is trapped, due to no landing gear (Amazing stories i think)

[@JacKal-yy3do]

Love the videos keep them up

[@gwillard19]

Two misconceptions quoted in the video were size and safety of the gunner. Crew as large as 6’ or even taller could comfortably fit inside the B-17 ball turret. I’m 5’11” and have plenty of extra room. The ball turret was actually the safest crew position. Extensive studies were done during WW2 on injury and death on each crew position. These can be found online with a bit of looking.

[@真-g4b]

Check "The Mission", the 5th short episode of Amazing Stories that spots on B-17 ball turret gun and its gunner. Ep. directed by Steven Spielberg!

[@Perfusionist01]

Entertainment trivia: in 1985 NBC started the series "Amazing Stories" and one of the episodes, titled "The Mission" centered on a ball turret gunner in a B17. That episode was directed by Steven Spielberg and featured young stars Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland among others. The story had an interesting ending.

[@malandar5218]

That was one of my favorite episodes of that show.

[@gglen2141]

The most impressive part of being a gunner in a formation of bombers would be not shooting down all the other bombers in your group. Especially in the fog of war while freaking out in a tiny space.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

While I'm sure there are examples of crew gunners accidentally hitting their companion bombers (especially once a formation had been somewhat broken up by flak, fighters or weather), gunners received training to avoid this. Moreover, that brought bombers down wasn't so much machine gun fire but HE autocannon fire and flak. Bombers are much more heavily built than fighter aircraft and a few stray "friendly" FMJ rounds from a .50 BMG would not be sufficient to bring one down. It would have to have been intentionally directed at vulnerable parts of the aircraft such as the cockpit and the like. Nope, not a likely thing at all.

[@OutdoorsWithChad]

​@@chuckschillingvideos Bombers aren't really more heavily built. Still just sheet aluminum over thin ribs and spars. The aircraft designers had to balance airframe weight with useful load (bombs, fuel, crew). In some ways a bigger airframe can take more of a beating, but in many more ways its actually MORE fragile than a smaller aircraft.

[@josh656]

Being both short and claustrophobic, I’m glad I missed out this era.

[@scarletcrusader5431]

2:08 LOVE the Heavy Metal inclusion. Will always be one of my favorite movies, it's really good while on acid too

[@flyingfortressrc1794]

My Dad's B-17 was shot down on 10/10/43 and his ball turret gunner was KIA along with the right waist gunner. These were definitely brave men in the 8th air force.

[@seancushing1113]

Getting stuck in the ball turret is a myth perpetuated by Rooney and Spielberg

[@xtr3m3fLx]

It's simply astounding that so many of these videos do not know this. As you most likely know, turrets were ejected, usually over the channel, before a belly landing was attempted. Belly landing on a ball turret would hump and break the air frame in half, thus likely killing all onboard. Gunners were never crushed.

[@Covah86]

Little known fact but the dimensions of the ball turret itself is based off the size of the balls of ball turret gunners themselves.

[@cyberleaderandy1]

There were suggestions early Lancaster or other British bombers experimented with ball turrets. But they were deemed unnecessary and didnt make it past early prototypes, despite there being a readily available supply of them. Its also been said some Lanacasters had remote controlled belly guns as well.

[@gusfarnell1974]

My grandpa was a B-17 pilot in the pacific theater. I don’t know much as he died when I was 2. But according to my dad he flew a mission in which all of his crew became casualties besides his co-pilot, and that he barely managed to land. Makes sense as the most armored part of the plane was the cock-pit. I can only imagine the guilt and horror of walking through the bomber after a sketchy landing to view the mutilated bodies of your friends/crew members. It’s no wonder his PTSD was so bad.

[@arnijulian6241]

Spherical type Altazimuth mount gun turret is the technical name of a ''ball turret''. Ole Rømer a Danish astronomer invented the Altazimuth mount in the late 17th century that was for mounting telescopes ever since! Ole was a clever Dane that even Danes don't give enough credit.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Ha my man Arni giving me facts I never even considered looking up 🙏

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq What we Engineers do. We are the fabled keepers of musty writings & technical drawings from our predecessors! Great works deserve to be remembered is all. See you next video johnny.

[@BeingFireRetardant]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Surprised you didn't mention TIE fighters being designed directly from Sperry turrets, or the use of almost the same in Oblivion.

[@thomasjoyce7910]

He got less than credit than he deserved and also less than his fair share. The worst of both worlds!

[@arnijulian6241]

@@thomasjoyce7910 He still got some credit as he did get a satellite named after hm that never launched & was once on a Danish note for some time. A moon crater was named after him, but the vast majority of his recognition-honours was after his death!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

An excellent post, a great tribute to aircrew...nice one, Johnny...

[@toddjones5742]

...deserves more than it's fair share of recognition...

[@Predator42ID]

The reality was that despite the false reputation, the ball turret was the safest part of the aircraft. Furthermore, B-17s when badly damaged would jettison the Ball turret in order to reduce weight and drag.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

That's right statically not a horrible place to be. Just a horrible place to be.

[@richardvernon317]

The Turret was actually quite strong, as was the support structure around that part of the airframe. Doing a wheels up landing with it down on the B-17 risked breaking the aircraft's fuselage in half.

[@janloncaric3621]

Solid video, good work

[@malakiblunt]

the Tie fighter was just a ball turret with solar panels

[@j.peters1222]

My father tried restoring a B17 ball turret many years ago. He got about 25% of it by the time the parts started to become hard to come by. He ended up selling what he had completed to a guy down in Texas with much deeper pockets and no doubt better connections.

[@patrickkenyon2326]

Texas is home to the Commemorative Air Force. Your turret may have been installed on a flying aircraft.

[@j.peters1222]

@@patrickkenyon2326 Supposedly most of the parts were used on an air worthy B17

[@carlevans5760]

@@patrickkenyon2326 Confederate Air Force. They renamed it to the limp commemorative which I thought was stupid.

[@patrickkenyon2326]

@@carlevans5760 That is the name I remember. It is sad that kids these days are so concerned about words.

[@carlevans5760]

@@patrickkenyon2326 Exactly. Those of today wouldn't know how to appreciate the movies of yesteryear. I'm glad both my parents loved good movies. I grew up with many of them.

[@johnsouto5221]

I’m surprised that you didn’t have any scenes from, The War Lover, it had some good moments with the Ball Turret gunner.

[@fod1855]

Catch 22 (the series with George Clooney and Hugh Laurie) has some cool ball turret scenes (I think) definitely lots of bomber action. Quite a fun watch.

[@krammer590]

Memphis belle will always be one of my childhood favorites

[@sonofjack6286]

One of my coworkers great-grandfathers was apparently a ball gunner.

[@genkinType]

Being in a ball turret without a parachute is like extra veteran mode on call of duty

[@pingwenhung8327]

Call of duty United Offensive : "Ball Turret....Bloody Uncomfortable!" "I believe he's sitting cross legged, hoping not to get them blown off!" Best line in the game.

[@baron7755]

that Shadow in the Clouds movie was hilarious

[@paleoph6168]

*enters dorsal turret of B17 "Splendid, now that our dorsal gunner has so graciously decided to join us, we can do the weapons check. Sound off." "Left waist, all set!" "Right waist ready!" *"Ball turret......bloody uncomfortable!"* "I believe he's sitting cross-legged, hoping not to get them blown off!" (CoD United Offensive - Mission 5)

[@rtpfixit]

I just stumbled across this channel and now I'm addicted pls halp

[@pyro1047]

The Sperry ball turret does have an armored seat as part of the back plate, it's just so short it only covers your cheeks and the top of your thighs. The gunners legs would be between the receivers of the two Browning for a little more protection. But from straight ahead, behind, or the sides of the turret you've got nothing. The turret itself is just thin aircraft metal, the back plate is facing down since you sit on your back and is mainly for flak so unless you're pointing down the back of the turret is unarmored. And I belive the glass is just Plexiglass and unarmored. So if Flaks bursting to the sides instead of below, or a plane is strafing and hits the turret you've basically got no protection except for the 2 .50's. The channel WWII US Bombers covers a lot of this and other aspects of the planes.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks for adding this 🙏

[@882952]

Chloe Moretz? That's enough of a reason to see any movie, sold!

[@protennis365]

1:46 "He could rotate the ball as fast as an enemy aircraft could fly past a bomber." ME262: Let me introduce myself.

[@Clear224-77]

Extended family member of mine was in a Ball turret during WW2. One of the kindest men I've ever met

[@averageguy388]

There’s a passage in the book “Masters of the Air” by Donald Miller that actually discusses a story of a ball gunner in a B-17 being crushed to death after a landing as he became stuck in his turret. It was a witnessed account by Andy Rooney. There appears to be a lot of speculation on the story and it being changed throughout the years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen at least a couple times with how much damage those planes took on. Source: I read the book and good ole Google

[@stulynn2005]

Actually it was probably the most protection any member of the crew had with the armor plate and the guns on either side of the gunner. I almost got into one last year but ended up having an even better bucket list week with a 17

[@stinker43]

Stulynn2005, did you attend Bomber Camp in Stockton? I did that in 2015 and posted a few vids I did then on KZbin.

[@elultimo102]

A half-joke I read from the time explained the elimination of the ball turret gunner: "The men had balls so big, they couldn't fit into the turret."

[@BuckeyeStormsProductions]

When you talk about belly landings, I'm reminded of the Amazing Stories episode where the guy is a ball gunner unable to get out due to damage, and they can't get the gear down. He is a cartoonist in his life back home, and he draws a cartoon of the plane landing safely with giant stylized landing gear. Literally at the last second, when they are about to land on the belly, and likely kill him, giant cartoon landing gear pop out, and he is saved. As soon as they pry him out on the ground the gear disappear, and everyone who saw it happen is just left with this unbelievable (amazing, even) story.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Sadly I couldn't find a good copy of that to add it in but I'm tempted to try again and remake this at a later date to include it. Good stuff.

[@Heavy_weapons07]

I like to think this is a fallow up to the b-17 video. And it be cool to talk about the willy jeep johnny. Another amazing video

[@mmarsh1972]

Actually the ball turret was not the worst position to be in a WWII bomber, the worst position was the Tail gunner because that's where the enemy fighters would be and the silencing the tail gun would be their first objective. Plus, on many airplanes (like early British bombers) there access was as isolated and the crewman was essentially on his own

[@jedi_yt365]

If you make to many good videos I’ll run out of compliments Johnny!

[@herbferguson]

Been mentioned before in the comments, but my favorite Amazing Stories episode was The Mission. Story revolved around the ball turret gunner.

[@lorenzofalasca7223]

my great grandpa was one of the pilots who flew over italy and were stopped by padre pio