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British turrets

Did the RAF bombers ever have a turret
that had 4 .303 guns in it? Most of the kits
I've seen and owned only had 2. Who made
these turrets and were they pedal controlled
like the Bendix?
Mike IPMS
Reply to
Mike Keown
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I thought all the RAF WW2 4-engine bombers had 4x.303 tail turrets? (Lanc, Stirling, Halifax)
Reply to
Graham Townsend
IIRC there were a number of them with all of the "heavies" having four gun turrets. Also there are some on other aircraft (the initial models of the Liberator in RAF service, for one) in the dorsal position.
And at the end of the day there are the Defiant and the fighter version of the Skua.
Bolton-Paul was one manufacturer. No idea on operation, though.
Cookie Sewell
Reply to
AMPSOne
Virtually all the RAF "heavies" had a 4 gun tail turret. The Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling, Sunderland, Wellington, Whitley all had them. Some marks (versions) of Halifax also had a four gun Boulton-Paul mid-upper turret. The Lancaster turrets were made by Fraser-Nash. The four gun turrets were hydraulically operated by a type of joy stick just in front of the gunners seat. HTH
Brian
Reply to
Brian McCarron
Don't forget that Lancs also got the Rose turrets with twin .50 cal Brownings
Aidrian
Reply to
Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton
The Lancaster had four in the rear turret and two in top and nose. I belive the Stirling and Halifax was simular
Reply to
Claus Gustafsen
You should find many resources on the old Fraser Nash turrets. Decided to have a search on FN20 and found the following;
I think at least 101 Squadron went over to two .5s in the rear turret as the narrative makes reference to in the video Night Bombers.
Richard.
Richard.
Reply to
Richard Brooks
I have a ref that says the B.Mk VIIs had a twin .5 in Martin turret in the mid-upper position.
Also saw a comment in a historical aviation magazine a couple of years ago that same was true of at least some of the Canadian Mk.Xs but can't confirm that. In general, I believe that the armament was installed in the Canadian-built ones on arrival in the UK. Also, interesting comment from the same source that the this arrangement was not popular because of the weight. I think I would have preferred the increased firepower.
Cheers,
Doc
Reply to
Doc Hopper
I think it states something to that effect in the URL I suppled regarding the canadian Lanc's.
We must not forget the removal of the plexiglass in the rear as well, because "they were hard as nails back then!" ;-)
Richard.
Reply to
Richard Brooks
I don't know if you've read the multi-part photo laden book series I think called 'Lancaster'. In one of those books there are stories where new recruits on some widely dispersed airfields had to build their own shacks by foraging from nearby farms. There are photos of some of these shacks - sorry, quarters which makes the room in the film Stalag 17 look luxurious. ;-)
As to the plexiglass removal it must have been a real problem with the condensation freezing on it.
Richard.
Reply to
Richard Brooks

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