However, I wanted to make damn sure the unsung and under-appreciated air gunners got the attention they deserved.
During training and prior to committing anything to cameras, we used a crawl, walk, run approach.
Then it was time to get specific with a special emphasis on the performers who would portray air gunners.
In this article, Dale Dye describes his time as a Senior Military Advisor for the World War II series “Masters of the Air.” Dye previously worked on “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific”.
Training B-17 Gunners Where To Begin
We started training them on the real.50-cal.
Browning M2HB, with four blank-adapted guns on a firing line at our training site.
They got a taste of taming that beast by loading and firing in short bursts from a flex-mount.
Capt. Dale Dye has a long and storied history as a military advisor as well as an actor for numerous films and shows. Image: Apple TV+
Touching the guns metal parts without thick gloves would lead instantly to frost-bitten and useless hands.
machine gun in a vibrating aircraft at extreme altitudes.
[Learn more in this article onHow Effective Were B-17 Gunners?]
Waist gunners demonstrate their nearly back-to-back positions aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress. Image: NARA
And so did he when we were shooting long, continuous scenes of an aircraft in flight.
Training like this brings understanding, and understanding pays dividends on camera.
On offense were the two pilots, bombardier, navigator and radio operator (RO).
This 8th Air Force ball turret gunner is seen servicing his .50-cal. weapon during June 1944. Image: NARA
Its not an exact analogy, as in some B-17 models the RO was equipped with an AN/M2 .50-cal.
But, manning those weapons was secondary to their primary missions.
Identifying and calling out enemy fighters was another challenge.
The author, Capt. Dye, ensured that the actors in the show understood the perils and difficulties the men they were portraying faced. Image: Apple TV+
OK, I guess.
Good practice if youre having a baby or getting a prostate exam.
With engagement ranges of airborne targets beginning at about 600 yards and these powerful .50-cal.
Prior to shipping out in World War II, crewmen would learn the basics of gunnery in training machines like this one. The sign reads “Charge your guns on the ground. One in the chamber.” Image: NARA
guns, thats a recipe for fratricide.
While they were balky at first, they eventually ran like Swiss watches.
We wound up with mounds of .50-cal.
In this candid photo shot on set, the author provides instruction to one of the actors in “Masters of the Air”. Image: Author
casings to sweep out of fuselage sections at the end of every shooting day.
An enemy aircraft destroyed (versus damaged) was often claimed by multiple gunners in multiple aircraft.
Additionally, a crash or bail-out by an enemy fighter pilot had to be verified by a second observer.
This Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress waist gunner wears heated gloves and boots and a flak apron. Spent .50 BMG cases litter the floor, making it difficult to maintain one’s footing. Image: NARA
Confirmation was often arguable and hard to come by in over-heated post-mission briefings.
[Dont miss Tom Laemleins article,Americas Unknown Gunner Aces of World War II.]
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Masters of the Air
“Masters of the Air” put the viewer in the middle of the harrowing air war above Europe during World War II. Image: Apple TV+
This is a training aid mockup of a Sperry top turret found on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Image: NARA
Training the tailgunner for a B-17 took a lot of work. A gunner knelt in a cramped position accessible via a narrow tunnel. Their perspective of the battle was reversed from the rest of the crew. Image: NARA
The author worked on “Masters of the Air” as a technical advisor, offering training and insight into military operations. Image: Apple TV+
The 8th Air Force developed their own schools and tools for air gunner training, using the latest in film and projection technology coupled with realistic settings for the gunner trainees. Image: NARA
During October of 1944, these 8th Air Force gunners train using “camera guns” by firing at projected targets. The speakers behind them pipe in mission noise. Image: NARA
The gunner’s eye view above a Browning .50 caliber AN/M2 machine gun in a U.S. bomber. Image: NARA
Capt. Dye served as the Senior Military Advisor for the “Masters of the Air” miniseries on Apple TV+ and trained the B-17 air gunners. Image: Apple TV+.
