Collected Episode 25: The tail gunner

The Australian tail gunners who served in World War Two had a particularly dangerous job. They spent hours in cramped, freezing conditions, perched in Perspex turrets at the rear of bomber planes, vulnerable to enemy fire and often exposed to the elements. In Episode 25 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown a gun turret that survived the war and hears the stories of men who lived to tell the tale of bombing raids over Europe.

Credits:
Presented by: Louise Maher
Produced by: Louise Maher

Interviewed:
Emily Gibbs, Assistant Curator, Military Heraldry and Technology 
Shane Casey, Senior Curator, Military Heraldry and Technology
Dr Lachlan Grant, Senior Historian, Military History Section

Original music: Andy Heaney, Vice Like Grip

Collection items:
 

Portrait of a tail gunner

Collection Item C174579

Accession Number: ART25694

Photo of a tail gunner

Collection Item C27005

Accession Number: 005158

Photo of a damaged turret

Collection Item C252381

Accession Number: UK0389

Black cat lucky charm

Collection Item C1163364

Accession Number: REL35143

Owner of the lucky charm

Collection Item C1163350

Accession Number: P04935.001

Messerschmitt tail fin

Collection Item C151552

Accession Number: RELAWM35144

Extra content:
On Closer Inspection 
360 degree immersive experience. 
https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/on-closer-inspection/lancaster


Explore the Lancaster and take a closer look at it inside and out. See archival photos, watch videos, hear audio recordings, and uncover the stories behind one of the most famous bombers of all time.


Also available as a VR headset experience downloadable from the Steam store.
 

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