Jammer devices

There was also another factor that returned the icier turret again.  A lot of machine gunner, as Tom Maxwell, had noticed that the central panel of Plexiglas between the canons could receive an oil spot, of which the eye, with the fatigue, could not detach itself, and took sometimes the appearance of a hunter enemy.  They had it therefore does to withdraw, for more better to see and, unfortunately, have colder again:  “A day, leaving for an about mission six hours, I had succeeded finding a corner to my right in the turret, for there to put a small Thermos of coffee.  To the return, five hours later, while we flew across England and that we began the descent towards the basis, I was said that a few small coffee would be welcome.  I discover while the cork of the Thermos had exploded, and that it went out a coffee cylinder completely take in ice.

The crews copiously ate before leaving in mission, knowing that they do not can itself supply in the ten hours that were going to follow.  This is the reason why they see themselves to put back rations of flight of which the distribution severely was checked: block chocolate, chewing-gum, sugar refineries, destined to furnish the “whip blow” essential.  Unfortunately, only it “before” device could to profit from it: without any mobility, the cold one forbidding him to remove its gloves (that it would not have necessarily been able to put back correctly), the machine gunner could not swallow anything and preserved its rations of flight for its close ones.

This is thus, squeezed in this unlikely harness, totally motionless so the space was measured and physically isolated of the remainder of the crew, that the machine gunner of the Lancaster passed in average eight hours in a row, constantly to the Aguste, and perfectly conscious to occupy on board of the device posts it the done more expose.  The good functioning of the heating equipment was of an importance capital: in its memories, Fred Watkins, rear machine gunner on a Wellington, relates how, to the course of the winter 1943-1944, the bad functioning of his heating combination had translated itself by a pneumonia, necessitating ten days of hospitalization, follow by a week of permission.

Although their flight conditions were difficult, the British were favored in comparison crews of the B17, that flew higher (more than 10 000 m) that the Wellington (5 000 m) or even that the Lancaster (7 000 m).  The B17 had been conceived as a day bomber (rf jamming/bomb jammers).  It had therefore to have access to one defensive armament a lot more important than the one of a bomber of night.  The device was truly ruffled of machine guns of fort gauges (12,5 mm) that justified his nickname of “Flying fortress”.  One counted 12 and even 13 on certain models: two machine guns in turret under the nose, say machine guns of chin (chin turret gun), two machine guns in the “play” device, on either side of the nose (cheek guns), two machine guns in turret above cockpit, two machine guns in the ventral turret, two others again in the flanks (waist Guns).

The B17 was opened to the elements, without heating (with the exception of the cockpit), and the Internal temperature oscillated between – 30 and – 50, without counting the due cooling to the wind.   The airplane presented in fact characteristic not very desirable to high altitude: of wide gaps were menages to facilitate the shooting of the machine gunner, leaving to penetrate the wind and the cold one on the flanks (waist guns).  In the nose, the windows of Plexiglas behaved two circular openings of small diameter, that left to pass the canons of the machine guns (cheek guns).  In battle, it was not not rare that the Plexiglas is broken by a projectile: the cold one became then with difficulty bearable.  As for the ventral turret Sperry, if his effectiveness was proved, this was a true one nightmare for his occupying.  To the cold one and to the exigent added the fully justified impression of confinement.  But, unanimous opinion, it was the machine gunner of tail that the was more exposed to the cold one.  And it was maybe him that had the position more uncomfortable bus it had to hold himself knelt.  It is only at the end of the war that it put to profit, on the last models of B17, of a sort of saddle, with a padded support for the knees, that obtained a comfort pretension.

“We were at every mission between 8 500 and 10 000 m, according to the time, position of our escort, but it was sufficiently high for that we are between – 40 and – 60.  Even with our heating combination, if we had the least piece of nude skin that touched the metal, she remained stuck.

The climatic conditions were unquestionably harsher on the B17 than on the devices of the swell command, since one signals the crew case having had the feet and the frozen hands to the point of to have to be amputating:  “Airplanes came back to the perfectly unharmed ones by basis any track of projectile enemy, but the men to the interior had had the hands or the so feet deeply frozen what it had been necessary them to amputate.  That did not return the easier things to know than this was not or a bullet or a shell of DCA that had done a man an one-legged one for the remainder of his life.  The freeze of the extremities could be consecutive to a breakdown of the gloves or heating shoes:

The superior officers in known inspections the same goes out that the crews.  August 20 1942, the general Haywood Hansell, theoretician of the IED jammer bombardment of precision, participates, in observer, to one mission of bombardment of the triage of longer, close to Amie’s.  Upstart above France, the general notices itself that his mask to oxygen works poorly.  To repair, it removes its gloves, meet again with one frozen hand and must receive medical cares it does not seem that of the accidents of this type were retrieved in the RAF.  Bombarding (convoy protection) principally of night, the airplanes of the RAF, in flying less top, won between 10 and 20 of temperature: in the left heated, the harbor of the combination “electric” was not necessary, while, on the B17, pilot and copilot clothed the same held that the remainder of the crew, for, despite the heating, the Cockpit of the B17 remained icy.