The "Ace" on a WWII Heavy Bomber Crew for 13 Missions
His Story as Told by Daughter, Alice Haston Norton
Dad and the crew were sent on a B-24 Heavy Bomber called the Liberator. They flew on 13 missions over Burma and China. He was the youngest and the smallest member of the crew. As the youngest, he was the last one living prior to his passing. Being the smallest, it was logical that he be the “belly gunner.”
We have a diary that he wrote in for a few months. It tells of the pilot landing their plane in rough winds and scraping the wing tip, and that the pilot did a beautiful job and recovery, building roads with cut palms because it was so muddy, playing basketball, building their housing because it was up to each crew as to the quarters they had and several pages of what appears to be instructions for the gunners. The tent area was in a palm grove, so they had some shade, and the nights were cool.
They were stationed at Morotai, Dutch E. Indies and fought in the Battle of Morotai.
World War II's Ill-Fated Ball Turret ("Belly") Gunners
Every person involved in fighting or caring for the wounded in World War II had a risk to their life. But, when it came to American bomber planes, the risk was far greater for some than for others. While the pilots were given the best position on the aircraft, the gunners had to hold some precarious positions in order to effectively defend the aircraft. The worst position by far was held by the ball turret gunners.
The B-24 Liberator Bomber was designed to improve on and replace the B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-24 was supposed to fly faster, higher, and carry more bombs over a longer range. However, both of these heavy bombers were equipped and armed with a ball turret (belly) gunner.
View this 6:53 Min. Video to Appreciate the Heroism of Horace Haston
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
BY RANDALL JARRELL
From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
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One thought on “WW2 Belly Gunner – Horace H. “Ace” Haston, Part 2 – Duplicate – [#41530]”
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