New Nimrods arriving

Nothing new in using American aircraft! My father in law was an upper gunner in a RAF B17 involved in early electronic counter measures in 1944/45. Like many, he would say little about his experiences, the only thing he ever told us that afrer one mission all they found of the rear gunner were his boots. Very brave young men, FIL was only 18, sadly he died quite young, before what they did became public knowledge.

My grannys brother was on bombers from 1939 to 1945

I did the probabilities once

It was like playing russian roulette 36 times in a row

He was the only guy left in his squadron at the end of the war

Never said a word about it, ever

Thread drift alert

What probability did you put on getting shot with a six shot revolver an one round? If it was 6 to 1 against you were wrong. With a conventional revolver, 1 round loaded and held upright the odds of the round being under the hammer when the trigger is pulled are much less than 6 to 1 This is because the single round unbalances the chamber and it will naturally tend to stop at the bottom.

Robert G8RPI.

That'll depend on the cartridge and the revolver. A heavily built small-calibre revolver such as (say) a Ruger Single Six or S&W K22 will return odds closer to 6:1 than a lightly-built heavy calibre such as (say) a .455 Webley or .45 Long Colt.

Design of revolvers also forces different techniques, which will again change the odds. Single-action gate-loaders have a half-cock position allowing free cylinder rotation in one direction; swing-outs are usually much more difficult to spin with the cylinder closed and have to be spun when open and snapped shut, as in the Deerhunter film. I can't remember whether or how it can be done with a break-top.

Edited By Mick B1 on 06/02/2020 08:55:34

Edited By Mick B1 on 06/02/2020 09:08:15

Aircrew in the Middle East in the 50s had to carry sidearms plus 6 rounds. My firearms skills were more throwing than firing, so I took 'someone's' advice that I leave the first chamber empty i.e. TWO pulls to fire. Did so for nearly two years before another 'someone' pointed out that we were issued with Colts OR Smith & Wessons ... they rotate in opposite directions! Probably wouldn't have mattered anyway - the ammo was issued from stock manufactured decades earlier and on the first range sessions I needed 11 'pulls' to get the first shot away!! Throwing would have been a good move!

rgds

Bill

Was it The Deerhunter?

They point the gun at the floor so the chamber spins on its axis

Edited By Ady1 on 06/02/2020 15:44:10

My father was a torpedo bomber pilot which could be mentioned in the same sentence as kamikaze, he survived the whole war. Luckily he was posted to Ceylon in early 1942 which was fairly quiet due to the threat from Japan not really materialising as the Americans kept them busy in the Pacific.

Mike

A friend worked in a MoD office in Gibraltar with an excellent high-level view of the straits. Though doing ordinary admin work, the office came with a an ancient tripod mounted brass telescope through which staff logged passing shipping, especially names. At the end of the day the log was loaded into a heavy leather briefcase and handcuffed to whomever had drawn the short-straw for delivering it. The volunteer courier was also required to sport an enormous Victorian Webley revolver, for which there was no ammunition, holster, or training. Apparently this routine started before WW1 when the office was a Naval Intelligence centre, and the gun was added to discourage spies during WW2.

I guess the telescope and civilians remained a useful double-check for other Intelligence, and no-one had bothered to review the need for handcuffs and artillery!

Dave

It's better to play Beerhunter than Deerhunter...

You shake up one of a six pack, shuffle them and take turns opening them by your ear...

Neil