The Bomber Command Museum of Canada proudly demonstrates it’s beautifully restored Frazer-Nash FN-121 Mk.1 tail gun turret. This hydraulically powered FN-121 was used on several British Bombers such as the Stirling, Wellington, Whitley and of course the famous Lancaster. It’s four .303 calibre machine guns carried a sum total of 10,000 rounds of ammunition stored in boxes forward of the turret and supplied to the guns via ammo tracks. The turret was so cramped that even a moderately sized gunner had to stuff their boots into the foot wells before climbing into the turret and even then he was forced to leave his parachute hanging on a hook just outside the entry hatch. In the event of an emergency, the parachute was to be retrieved, put on, the turret turned 90 degrees left or right and the gunner was compelled to roll backward into the slip stream to escape the aircraft. Conditions on long night flights over central Europe where frigid, requiring the use of thick insulated flight suits. Despite the cold, many gunners opted to remove the central transparent canopy to improve vision as it often frosted over and obscured rearward vision. Once seated in the turret before startup, the gunners where often there for the entirety of the mission, adding an element of loneliness to an already ultra hazardous job.
Song: Brave Willing
Artist: Dolce Triade
Album: ラストエグザイル O.S.T.1
