Life expectancy was always dependant on position in the formation. Tail gunner life expectancy: 2 weeks (IL-2 Sturmovik Battle ... - YouTube Rear Gunners in Lancasters were given about 4o hrs flight time to live ! Do machine gunners have higher casualty rates than other ... - reddit In the period prior to D-Day, the fatality rate is close to 65%. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944 - EyeWitness to History Veteran World War Two tail gunner recalls his days in a B-17 European Theater of Operations, 1944-1945: average life expectancy of three minutes (from firing the first shots) - Donald Burgett, rifleman and machine gunner in Company A . In cases where the attackers were unaware of the existence of a rear gunner they could be highly effective - for example Bolton-Paul . Forrest Vosler, who had grown up in a small New York state town, was assigned to the 358th Bomb Squadron of the 303d Bomb Group, stationed at RAF Molesworth in the UK. . (Pinterest via bbc.co.uk) #11: Missions would often last for 8-10 hours. This is a late model G with the Cheyanne Tail Turret. Field jacket and bag owned by Sgt Larry Gardner, a Fifteenth Air Force tail gunner. In the ETO, amongst combat divisions, the ratio of combat to support averaged about 1 to 1.6 - only about 38.5 percent were front line combat types. He was a soldier in World War II - a proud member of the British Royal Air Force RAF 228 Squadron, where - when he was a very young man - he accepted the job of tail gunner. I remember their life expectancy was some rediculously short interval of time. Earlier models had a pivot mount for the rear guns. What was the average age of tank crews, in particular commanders, in WW2?