02 Apr Aerial Gunnery Training
Video Summary & Highlights
Learn how the aerial gunners of the USAAF were trained and about the role that Wendover played in preparing airmen to defend their bombers in combat from enemy fighters. Also featured are images of, and equipment used in, flexible aerial gunnery training.
For further research on the addressed topic, here are some recommended resources:
Videos:
Position Firing, USAAF, 1944 (Voiced by Mel Blanc): https://www.youtube.com/watch…
Aerial Gunner, Medallion Pictures, 1943: https://www.youtube.com/watch…
Sources:
John T. Brinkman Oral History. Historic Wendover Airfield. 2006.
Bowman, Martin W. USAAF Handbook, 1939-1945. Stroud: Sutton, 1997.
Craven, W.F. and J.L. Cate. The Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. VI, Men and Planes. https://www.ibiblio.org/…/AAF-VI-17.htm…
Steinbeck, John. Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team. New York: Penguin Books, 2009.
Army Air Forces Historical Studies No. 31, Flexible Gunnery Training in the AAF. USAAF Historical Division, 1945. http://www.ibiblio.org/…/AAF…/index.html
2:47 - Introduction to Aerial Gunnery
6:40 - Wendover Aerial Gunnery School
17:08 - Moving target ranges
30:50 - Wendover’s first gunnery school graduation
