My dad in the rear turret and his mate Les in the mid upper turret of a Lancaster at LFS RAF Syerston 1944.
Looks like the rear gunner might have gone for a 'Gransden Lodge modification' - taking a lot of the perspex off to reduce glare / improve visability - so in effect flying in an open cockpit. That is hardcore. Great pictures and nice you have them in the family
Good shot of the Tabo arms as well. They were needed as in the heat of battle witth the aircraft being thrown around it would be easy to shoot the tail off. Simple and effective solution.
Yeah you can see the gun taboo really clearly in that pic. Indiana Jones's dad could have done with the taboo when he shot the tail off the biplane his son was flying
I think those pieces of perspex were removed from about '43 onwards. I hadn't realised till recently but I read that not only were those turrets open, his turret and the Lancs in general were also prone to leaks.
Gransden Lodge is now home to Cambridge Gliding Centre https://www.camgliding.uk/ and was the venue for the first motor race held in the UK after WW2.
The rest of the crew minus the navigator who took the pics. Bomb aimer with the bike and in his blster, Charles Eldred from Portsmouth, Pilot Lew Yarrall from New Zealand, Wireless Operator Frank Robinson from Scarborough Yorkshire and Geordie Tommy Allen. The navigator lived about 6 miles from my dad, so that made 4 Northerners, a Southerner, a Welsh lad and a Kiwi in the crew. Apparently the original navigator had got them lost on a night training flight in a Wellington and they had to get in touch with ground control to get them down. So they replaces him with Jack Charnock from St.Helens who who Les said, was 1st class.
Doesn't ejection from an aeroplane bend the spine momentarily?? I love seeing the old sci-fi films from the 50's with Sabres and Shooting Stars mixing it with flying saucers.
I recall meeting a Canadian in Germany (in the seventies) who had ejected three times. The last time he said was an accident / set off by ground crew. He was no longer able to fly fast jets as that was his limit. I think it can shorten / compress the spine. I am not sure about the more modern seats as they have multiple motors to control the acceleration (and direction) but the plan it still to get you out quickly as the main priority I guess.
If the spine bends on ejection, it can be catastrophic. Compression is more likely but no less risky to spinal survival. The older cartridge fired seats were pretty horrendous, especially if the occupant wasn't sitting correctly and tightly strapped in and maintaining correct posture at the moment of initiation. Hard to do when your wing is falling off/someone shooting at you etc. Later rocket propelled seats were much more benign (comparatively), but it still remains the absolute most dangerous activity in aviation.