This inquirery is primarily geared towards the gunner side of the house, but as always all replies are welcomed:
 
After mission debrief, and the flight gear was turned in / put away were the gunners responsible for the cleaning / lubing of their guns or was this accomplished by the ground armament section. Jumping a bit off topic, who pulled the guns off the bombers after the mission and put them back on the plane before the next mission?
 
After the mission was completed or when there were no missions flown, what was life like on the 99th bases as far as "off-duty" things to do?
 
 
 

John W. Wingfield, Jr.
U.S. Army Aviation (1990 - Present) (AH-1 and AH-64)

Son of S/SGT John W. Wingfield
15th AF, 99th BG, 416th SQ (Oct 43-May 44)

John...On my crew in the 348th, we dis-assembled the guns and I stowed them in the corner of the cockpit.
The guns were stowed on the aircraft and it was up to the flying crew to clean them and install them prior to the mission.

All four officers..pilot, copilot, nav and bomardier and the radio operator went to pre-mission briefing, and the rest of the crew, cleaned and installed the guns.

After my walkaround preflight check of the aircraft,including checking the fuel tanks to be sure that the ground crew had filled them completely, and making sure the fuel caps were secured...( a loose cap could siphon fuel completely from a fuel tank in a minute or two due to siphoning, after takeoff)
I then cleaned and loaded my top turret guns.

Prior to the next mission, my crew drained a small amount of 100 Octane fuel from the aircraft and using an extra .50 metal liner for the ammo box, we washed the internal parts until they turned white..then applied just enough gun oil to turn the color back to normal...this applied a VERY light coating of oil to the gun, for lubrication,  but not enough to keep the gun from operating at the -40 to -60 F temps at 27,000 to 29000 ft for the mission.

On days when we were not scheduled for a mission, the enlisted crew was assigned to "police" one of the B-17s, to clean it and it's guns.

We encountered a "Rusty Gun Report" on one of the two chin turret guns...just one...not both. I started thinking and asked the Operations Officer is this was the norm...he said it was the same on all the aircraft in our squadron.

I thought some more, and then asked him if he flew..he said Yes, he was a Navigator.....I then asked him how he disposed of the small quart size pasteboard container, that the Bombardier and Navigator used in flight to relieve themselves....he answered "Oh, we put it down in the chin turret well and turned the chin turret to the side.....OH....I see what you are getting at....that will cease immediately" and an order was given to cease jettisoning the contents overboard and to save the contents and empty the containers at the side of the hardstand AFTER the mission.

We encountered no more Rusty Gun Reports on the chin turret guns after that.

When we were not assigned to a mission, our time was our own, unless we were scheduled for a test hop for an engine change, or has some addtional ground school to attend.  We coiuld hitch a ride to Foggia, or possibly to the nearby town of Manfredonia on the Adriatic a few miles to the east, to swim.

One time, I was not scheduled to fly for three days, so I hitched a ride on a army  6x6 truck carrying filled O2 cylinders to a nearby base where I visited my cousin, where I stayed overnite. He was in the POL section and pumped gasoline to the base...via the fuel pipeline from Naples, where it was off loaded from tankers....(POL= Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants).

From other accounts I Ihave read, there were differences in proceedure depending on the squadron, bomb group, and even the Air Force. (8th versus the 15th).

Jim :-)

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)

Jim:
 
Your correct about the differences between the Air Forces.  Since my dad was in the Eighth Air Force.  I asked hin what he did when he wasn't flying and he told me mostly he went into town.  When I asked him who took care of the guns?  He stated that they had a ground crew that took care of the Air Plane and that included the guns.  He stated that anyone that was on flight status didn't have to do really anything on the ground.  He stated that they where told they where there to fly the Air Planes and that was it.

Ron Hodges
Son of Tech. Sgt. Raymond Hodges
702nd Bomb Squadron
445th Bomb Group
8th Air Force

I did my tour about 2 years before Jim. The procedures he describes was the same during my time, except that i don't recall any ground school.

Jules Horowitz, B-17 pilot, 99th BG, 50 missions/sorties
My tour was from 7/19/43-2/13/44

John,
We were in the 8th AF so maybe what happened with us may not be what you wanted to know, but...
 
As to the guns, the combat crews were responsible to clean and oil each gun prior to installing in the plane.  After the mission the gunners removed the guns, cleaned and oiled and racked in the little shed alongside each hardstand.
 
Off mission days were a mix of ground training, training flights and free time.  We had no normal GI duty responsibilities.  On free time we could go to local towns and villages during the day and evening (but not overnight) with our permanent Class B passes.  We also had on base the Aero Club (Red Cross) and the Senior NCO club.
 
After about 10 days on flight status we were given a Class A pass for 36 hours where we could travel 100 miles or less overnight.

Bob Gilbert
Ball Turret Gunner, Goldin crew
381st Bomb Gp., 533rd Bomb Sq.
US 8th Air Force

Jules..One ground school I recall, was when I was checked out on the Radar Upper Turret Gunsight.

There were five B-17s assigned to the 99th BG that were equipped with the Radar Gunsight.
44-6691,44-6694,44-6695, 44-6696,44-6698.
 
44-6696 was assgned to the 348th and I flew one mission on that aircraft.

At the time, I asked about the B-24s and was informed by the MIT civilian who checked me out, that
there was also one B-24 BG ...(the 461st I Think) that had the lower ball turret equipped with the radar gun sight.

Years later, I was sent a copy of the AN/APG-5 Tech Order which covered the radar gunsight.
As mentioned on another post, to use the word radar was a NO-NO, and that is why it was listed under the AN/APG-5.

Jim :-)

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)