jem3@pyuxf.bellcore.com (John E McKillop) (03/28/91)
From: jem3@pyuxf.bellcore.com (John E McKillop)
The following is from the article AERIAL GUNNERS-SECOND CLASS ACES?
by Dr. William Wolf in the Winter 1991 issue of FRIENDS JOURNAL
published by the Air Force Museum Foundation.
We have all heard of the American fighter aces, Eddie Rickenbacker,
Frank Luke, Dick Bong, Tommy McGuire, etc. But how many of you have
heard of the World War II aerial gunners who were aces?
The top ranked American gunner was Staff Sergeant Donald W. Crossley who
was credited with shooting down 12 German aircraft between May and
September 1943. Crossley was a B-17F tail gunner assigned to the 95th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force based at Framlingham and
Horham, England. He was a 25-year old Virginian who had honed his
shooting skills on civilian rifle ranges. Joining the 95th at
Framlingham in Apr 43, he scored his first two victories in May. On 11
Jun 43, his tail guns on the LITTLE LADY developed mechanical problems.
When the nose guns were damaged, he interchanged parts getting his tail
guns operational again and downed an attacking FW 190. On 13 Jun, he got
two more over Kiel making him an ace. He got four more in Jul; two on 12
Aug; and the 12th on his 22nd mission in Sep 43 after which he received
a Distinguised Flying Cross and cluster. After completing his 25th
mission, he was assigned to instruct, but died from injuries sustained
in a Jeep accident.
Three gunners, one in England, one in North Africa, and one in
China each scored nine victories. The three were:
1. Staff Sergeant Benjamin Warmer, a 6'6" (198 cm) 275 pound
(124 kg) former football fullback, was a Californian who wanted to
be a fighter pilot. He was too large for the cockpit but could
easily swing the .50 caliber (12.7mm) waist gun of a B-17. On 5 Jul
43, his B-17, assigned to the 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy),
Twelfth Air Force at Navarin, Algeria, was attacked by a large
group of Luftwaffe fighters during the invasion of Sicily. Warmer
downed two Me 110s in the first wave and then got five Bf 109s for
seven victories in one day. He later scored two more for a total of
nine.
2. The second aerial gunner ace with nine victories was Sergeant
Michael Arooth of the 379th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air
Force, based at Kimbolton, England. Arooth also flew in B-17Fs
while scoring nine victories.
3. The third ace with nine was the leading aerial gunner in the
Pacific. Technical Sergeant Arthur Benko was a B-25 top turret
gunner with the 308th Bombardment Group (Medium), Fourteenth Air
Force based at Chengkung, China. On 2 Oct 43, the former Arizona
skeet champion shot down seven Japanese Zeros during a raid on
Haiphong harbor in French Indo-China. He won a Distinguished Flying
Cross and Air Medal for this action. He later got two more aerial
victories and was credited with nine more ground victories. Benko
was killed when shot down over Hankow, China.
Two aerial gunners scored eight victories. There were:
1. Technical Sergeant Thomas Dye scored eight victories despite
failing a "refresher" gunnery course after shootng down his first
two aircraft. Dye flew B-17Fs with the 351st Bombardment Group
(Heavy), Eighth Air Force from Polebrook, England.
2. Staff Sergeant John Quinlan was the tail gunner on the B-17F
MEMPHIS BELLE assigned to the 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy),
Eighth Air Force based at Kimbolton and Bassingbourn, England.
Quinlan got five while on the BELLE and after returning to the U.S.
volunteered for combat in the Pacific in Twentieth Air Force B-29s.
Quinlan scored three more victories while flying in the B-29
MARIETTA MISS FIT.