Guncam footage - why aren't those gunners doing anything?

[TheSwede]

There is a clip of a 190 making a head on attack on a B24. Its just a quick burst but its completely concentrated in the cabin. :/

That 190 pilot showed signs of a true marksman as even in the slow motion, the closing speed is terrific.

[GnigruH]

I know this one, I was also amazed by his shooting skills (or how lucky he was).
Although he consciously killed 2 or 3 people with that burst.
I seriously doubt that 1st and 2nd pilot survived that.

[Kittle]

The thought of flying imperfect high performance fighter aircraft several miles above the earth at hundreds of miles per hour with lead flying in all directions trying to focus on bringing down a bomber loaded with death for your parents, children, wife leads men to perform extraordinary feats. Just getting a kill would be a remarkable achivement. And for the B17 crews, thousands of miles from home, in the cold emptieness of 25,000 feet, fingers numb, watching his friends fall from the sky in blazing infernos knowing full well you may be next. WWII was brutal, cold, death in every possible form waiting in ambush.

Any one of those men was both hero and villan, there are no real sides, just death.

[TheSwede]

Originally Posted by Kittle

The thought of flying imperfect high performance fighter aircraft several miles above the earth at hundreds of miles per hour with lead flying in all directions trying to focus on bringing down a bomber loaded with death for your parents, children, wife leads men to perform extraordinary feats. Just getting a kill would be a remarkable achivement. And for the B17 crews, thousands of miles from home, in the cold emptieness of 25,000 feet, fingers numb, watching his friends fall from the sky in blazing infernos knowing full well you may be next. WWII was brutal, cold, death in every possible form waiting in ambush.

Any one of those men was both hero and villan, there are no real sides, just death.

+1 mate.

I hope that in the future of mankind, no one should experience this situation again.

We can only try to keep the legacy of these remarkable young men alive and that what they did will never be forgotten.

[Art-J]

My bet is the ball turret gunner had been pulled out of the turret (pointing the guns 90 deg downwards gave access to the turret from the inside of the plane), maybe because of lack of ammo. Same for the rear gunner - there's quite some time between the last rounds fired by him and the first direct hit in his station scored by the fighter. I know I If was out of ammo, I wouldn't sit in the turret just watching the show and waiting for the bandit to get THAT close and kill me.

Of course, what happened next is another story.

Cheers.