The Armaments Officer 04

…... about his guns if he knows that the giver has never been in the air. It takes some practice for an observer to get used to aerial firing, but the pilot has so many other urgent matters to attend to that he can only give a portion of his mind to the guns. And unless the gunnery officer has been up and tried it himself, he will never properly realise the pilot’s point of view and his difficulties. In fact, to be efficient, an armament officer should become a pilot.


One of the most useful sources of information as to gun trouble was from the pilots themselves. And to obtain this, tact and a knowledge of humans was indispensable. It is highly understandable that a pilot having gone up to 17,000 feet, waited there in intense cold and starved of oxygen, cruised about until fatigued in eye, mind and body, found his Hun, manoeuvred successfully for position, got it, dived on his quarry, and then had his guns fail, was not in a fit state to make a technical explanation, or submit to an irritating series of questions on his return. And what about the pilot who has had a Hun on his tail, been well shot up, and then succeeded in getting into an attacking position, only to find his triggers give no response? I used to try and be out on the aerodrome whenever machines returned from a flight, and I am surprised now, when I come to review it all, that none of them ever let me have a well-aimed burst of fire before landing. I think they might well have done so.


At this point I must pay a tribute to the pilots of No. 8 Naval. On no single occasion when a pilot returned with his guns having failed him, no matter how exhausting or trying his experience had been, did I ever receive one word of complaint. Only those who have a real knowledge of what the conditions were, can begin to imagine the fine restraint and utter sportsmanship required merely to report that the “guns had jambed,” and leave it at that. It was very necessary to be on the spot when a machine returned, because the pilot could give invaluable information, both as to whether the guns had fired or failed to function perfectly. In view of the continual overhauls and adjustments which had to be made, it was just as important to know whether the guns had fired, as to learn if they had not.


Pilots were expected to learn all about the guns, and how to use them, and they made noble efforts to do so. I received some of my most helpful hints and information from them. But it was neither fair nor reasonable to expect too much from them. I suppose to-day there is time for all fighting pilots to learn as much as is necessary about the guns, which are doubtless better adapted and better placed than they were in our time. But they had also had an intensive training, and if the Armament Officer found himself at times short of exact knowledge,

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