WW2 Rear Gunners
Channel: BlackBearSix.TV
Date: 2018-04-29

Rear gunners needed to be small in stature in order to fit into the firing position.  As a young man, I lived close to a 1940's era Vet that flew bombing runs: he was the Navigator.  But, he told me that rear gunners on the bombers were the most lethal position to serve, apparently because the fighter planes often approached from the rear.  

The bombers would often return all shot up, and many times the pilot would say, "Patch up the holes & wash out the Tail Gunner."   

My neighbor said that during formation, before a bomb run, he would stand on his tip-toes, in order to appear taller, so he could keep being the Navigator, rather than being selected to become the new tail gunner, given his small size.

As you watch this video, notice how they refer to the tail gunner as PeeWee, a reference to him being a smaller person.

Ronald Regan & Burgess Meredith star in this short early 1940's B&W film.  

The film shows stages of gunner training, equipment, night-fire, aircraft, and some actual combat footage.  

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