Tail gunner
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2008-06-09T02:44:30Z
GMan552
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{{Redirect3|Tailgunner|For the band of this name see [[Tailgunner (band)]]|ITALICS}}
[[Image:Action station (AWM ARTV04986).jpg|thumb|250px|[[World War II]] British poster depicting the rear-gunner of a [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifax bomber]]]]A '''tail gunner''' or '''rear gunner''' is a [[crewman]] on a military [[aircraft]] who functions as a [[gunner]] defending against enemy [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible [[machine gun]] emplacement on either the top or tail end of the aircraft with a generally unobstructed view toward the rear of the aircraft. While the term '''tail gunner''' is usually associated with a crewman inside a [[gun turret]], tail gun armaments may also be operated by remote control from another part of the aircraft.
[[Image:Lancaster tail turret.jpg|thumb|[[Avro Lancaster]] rear gun turret ([[Imperial War Museum Duxford]])]]
[[Image:B17 tail turret.jpg|thumb|[[B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17]] rear gun turret (Imperial War Museum Duxford)]]
[[Image:B29 tail turret.jpg|thumb|[[B-29 Superfortress|B-29]] rear gun turret (Imperial War Museum Duxford)]]
[[Image:B24 tail turret.jpg|thumb|[[B-24 Liberator|B-24]] rear gun turret (Imperial War Museum Duxford)]]
[[Image:B52 tail turret.jpg|thumb|[[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] rear gun turret (Imperial War Museum Duxford)]]
==General description==
The tail gun armament and arrangement varied between countries. During [[World War II]], [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] [[heavy bomber]] designs such as the [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] and [[B-29 Superfortress]] used a fixed gunner position with the guns themselves in a separate turret covering an approximately 90-degree rear arc. Typical armament was two 0.50 inch [[M2 Browning machine gun]]s. In contrast, [[Royal Air Force]] heavy bombers such as the [[Avro Lancaster]] and [[Handley Page Halifax]] used a powered turret capable of 180 degree rotation containing the tail gunner and four 0.303 inch [[M1919 Browning machine gun#International variants and derivatives|Browning machine gun]]s. A similar arrangement was used in the American [[B-24 Liberator]] heavy bomber (but with two 0.50 inch heavy machine guns.)
In [[Nazi Germany|German]] aircraft such as the [[Dornier Do 17]], [[Heinkel He 111]] and [[Junkers Ju 88]], the gun position covering the tail was often in the [[Gun turret#Aircraft|dorsal]] position at the rear of the crew compartment or part way along the back of the [[fuselage]]. This gave reasonable coverage above the line of the fuselage but might be supplemented by a [[Gun turret#Aircraft|ventral]] position that covered the rear arc from underneath the fuselage.
In smaller [[ground attack aircraft]] and [[dive bomber]]s such as the [[Junkers Ju 87]] and [[SBD Dauntless]], the tail gunner was seated right behind the pilot and operated a machine gun on a flexible mount, either enclosed within the [[Aircraft canopy|canopy]] or in an open position. In these type of aircraft, the tail gunner also usually served as the [[radio]] operator.
The tail gunner fulfilled a second role as a lookout for attacking enemy fighters, particularly in British bombers operating at night. As these aircraft operated individually instead of being part of a [[Combat box|bombing formation]], the bombers' first reaction to an attacking [[night fighter]] was to engage in radical evasive maneuvers such as a corkscrew roll; firing guns in defense was of secondary importance. The [[British slang]] term for tail gunners was "Tail-end Charlies", while in the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' they were called ''Heckschwein'' ("tail-end pigs").
The tail gunner was most commonly used during [[World War II]] and early [[Cold War]] years (on large [[bomber]]s), but the position has become largely obsolete due to advancements in long-range [[Aerial warfare|air combat]] weapons such as [[air-to-air missile]]s as well as modern detection and [[countermeasure]]s against such armaments.
==Partial list of aircraft with tail gun positions==
This is a list of aircraft to show the different approaches to tail gun positions.
===Germany===
*[[Focke-Wulf Fw 189]] - reconnaissance.
*[[Junkers Ju 290]] - long range patrol/transport.
*[[Junkers Ju 87]] - [[dive bomber]].
*[[Heinkel He 177]] - heavy bomber.
===United Kingdom===
* [[Handley Page V/1500]] (introduced 1918) - Heavy bomber; two [[Lewis gun]]s mounted on a [[Scarff ring]] in the extreme tail.
British bombers of World War II featured [[Nash & Thompson]] hydraulic or [[Boulton Paul]] electro-hydraulic tail turrets usually fitted with [[.303 British|0.303 inch (7.7 mm)]] [[M1919 Browning machine gun|Browning gun]]s.
*[[Armstrong Whitworth Whitley]] (introduced 1937) - [[Medium bomber]]; initially with a manually operated tail turret featuring a single [[Lewis gun]], it successively received 2- and then 4-gun Nash & Thompson turrets.
*[[Short Sunderland]] (introduced 1938) - [[Maritime patrol]] and [[anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine]] [[flying boat]]; 4-gun Nash & Thompson tail turret.
*[[Handley Page Halifax]] (introduced 1940) - Heavy bomber; 4-gun Boulton Paul tail turret.
*[[Avro Lancaster]] (introduced 1942) - Heavy bomber; 4-gun Nash & Thompson tail turrets: some late-war aircraft received [[Automatic Gun-Laying Turret|''Village Inn'']] automatic radar aiming.
*[[Vickers Windsor]] (first flew 1943) - Prototype heavy bomber; tail gun aiming position controlling [[barbette]]-mounted [[Hispano 20 mm cannon]] in the rear of the engine [[nacelles]].
===USA===
*[[TBD Devastator]] - Carrier-borne [[torpedo bomber]], rear of cockpit flexible gun mount.
*[[TBF Avenger]] - Carrier-borne torpedo bomber, featured both a dorsal turret and a ventral tail gunner.
*[[B-17 Flying Fortress]] - heavy bomber, fixed tailgun position.
*[[B-24 Liberator]] - heavy bomber, rotating tail gun turret.
*[[B-25 Mitchell]] - medium bomber.
*[[Convair B-36]] - post WW2 [[strategic bomber]].
*[[B-52 Stratofortress]] - post-WW2 strategic bomber, no other gun positions.
===USSR/Russia===
*[[Antonov An-12]]
*[[Ilyushin Il-28]]
*[[Myasishchev M-4]]
*[[Petlyakov Pe-8]]
*[[Tupolev Tu-4]]
*[[Tupolev Tu-14]]
*[[Tupolev Tu-16]]
*[[Tupolev Tu-22]]/[[Tupolev Tu-22M|Tu-22M]]
*[[Tupolev Tu-95]]/[[Tupolev Tu-142|Tu-142]]
==See also==
*[[Ball turret]]
==External links==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/43/a4365443.shtml BBC People's War - Bomber aircrew story]
[[Category:Military aviation]]