Dec 24, 2025 · Rare and striking photos reveal the life of the ball turret gunner, one of World War II’s most dangerous and demanding roles aboard B-17 and B-24 bombers.

The ball turret gunner was thus often the only man of the crew to not have a parachute on or next to him, though some gunners wore a chest parachute inside the turret.

May 20, 2022 · Arguably one of the worst was being the ball turret gunner. Small, tight, difficult to escape from and with minimal visibility, the ball turret was the definition of danger. Designed in …

While some gunners were small enough to wear their parachutes in the turret, most left their chutes in the main cabin. If the crew had to bail out, the ball turret gunner would hope to have …

Ball turret gunners squeezed into the fetal position to man their turret and protect the bomber against attack from below. The ball turret gunner was usually the shortest crewmember.

Mar 23, 2015 · Outfitted with turret mockups, the motor pool at Florida’s Buckingham Army Airfield gave students a chance to fire their machine guns on the go.

The ball turret was located on the underside of the aircraft, not very far from the ground. Generally the ball gunner was one of the shortest or smallest men on the crew because of the cramped …

Jan 18, 2025 · Among the 10-man crew, a lone warrior was suspended in a fragile sphere beneath the aircraft—the ball turret gunner. This position, equal parts peril and importance, …

Mar 11, 2024 · Lester Schrenk, a WWII Veteran and B-17 Ball Turret Gunner, sat down with the American Veterans Center for an interview. Here are 5 things we learned from him:

Nov 11, 2025 · At 102, Wallace Goldfarb of Farmington still recalls what it was like to survive one of the most dangerous jobs in the military during World War II: ball turret gunner.