VCCS Litonline Introduction to Literature English 112 (English Composition II)

Callahan page

What's a "Ball Turret"?

In the context of this poem, it's a sphere of steel and plexiglass built into the floor of a B-17, a bomber used during World War II. The turret swivelled 360 degrees to look and shoot all around; it also arced about 120 degrees to look and fire below the plane where the tail gunner, nose gunner, and side gunners could not fire.

The crewman entered from the top through the small door in the top (shown at right) after the plane was airborne. The door had to remain shut when the turret was in use so that it could be tilted forward and back by the gunner who had hand controls inside the turret. If the gunner were much taller than about 5'4", it would be a pretty tight fit. So the smallest crewman was usually trained for this duty. He needed to be in the turret during the danger of fighter attack; early in the war, this would be from the time the bomber group crossed the European coast toward and coming home from their raid.

The Phil Callahan photo at left shows the back of the turret removed from a B-17 on the ground. You might be able to see the center circular window, which was the gunner's main portal, and the back of the gunner's chair in the right center of the photo. A few other small windows are visible above the circular window and behind and to the right of the gunner's chair. It would have been a constant struggle to track targets in a battle and to fire without hitting the other bombers and sometimes friendly fighters in the bombing group.

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