B 17G 42-37718 - Alstrup, Samsø - Ammo Photo from Niels Henrik Nielsen Updated: 05 JAN 2011
Efter en samtale om
B17-42-37718 der styrtede ned i Alstrup på Samsø, sendte
Kongemærket for
Kong Christian X blev fremstillet til hans 70 års fødselsdag
i 1940. Det blev Sgt Lester Schrenk, 87
år, tidligere bugskytte fra B17
42-31377 har skrevet om arbejdet i After a
conversation about B17-42-37718 which crashed in Alstrup
on Samsø,
The CX-pin "The
King Pin" commonly worn in your buttonhole during the occupation of
Denmark to show that you were a patriotic Dane, refers to
King Christian X
and was produced for his 70th anniversary in 1940. In this photo they help to show the size of the projectiles. Sgt Lester Schrenk, 87, former Ball Turret Gunner from B17 42-31377 has written about his job in the BALL TURRET and made this comment:
"The ammo shown is from American ammo used in our
.50 cal machine guns. They would be12,7 MM. The projectile points shown are
what we called Ball type Ammo. They comprised most of what was fired.
Another type would have had a black tip. This type
was an armour piercing projectile. Yet another type would have had a red tip
which would be a tracer type burning
white as it was fired. When we were flying they did not allow this type to be used as it burned very hot and with being attacked by many enemy planes it caused gun barrels to burn out and jam. I saw several gun barrels where the projectile had burst through the side of the gun barrel making a long split. As metal gets very hot it expands and the projectiles tend to corkscrew." See B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner*ID + Les Schrenk and video, 19 guns! |