And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Tail gunner Lawrence Benner, on a Lancaster bomber, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1943.
Actually in 1941 the British had contracted for 10s of thousands of .50 cal guns to be built in the USA to upgrade their bombers (they chose 20mm cannons for the fighters). Then Pearl Harbour happened and all the .50s were needed by the US. Eventually in the summer of 1944 a new tail turret (the Rose turret) with twin .50s was installed on less than 200 RAF Lancasters. Many tail gunners had the plexiglass center panel removed to prevent it fogging up. Al_in_Ottawa
www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/lawrence-benner-tail-gunner-tells-tale.html
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a monster from a horror flick at first.
ReplyDeleteIt is.
DeleteI'll bet he'd give anything to swap out the 303s for US 50 Brownings
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it matters much - most never saw the German night fighter that shot them down.
DeleteActually in 1941 the British had contracted for 10s of thousands of .50 cal guns to be built in the USA to upgrade their bombers (they chose 20mm cannons for the fighters). Then Pearl Harbour happened and all the .50s were needed by the US. Eventually in the summer of 1944 a new tail turret (the Rose turret) with twin .50s was installed on less than 200 RAF Lancasters. Many tail gunners had the plexiglass center panel removed to prevent it fogging up.
DeleteAl_in_Ottawa
“ We shot them under rule 303."
ReplyDeleteI wonder what he would think of the current Canadian government?
ReplyDeleteCanadian military.
ReplyDeleteI guess that explains the very old corrosion on the bullets….
fjf0351