B-17 crew position abbreviations - can anyone help please?

[FalkeEins]

 

on the 12 May 1944 8th AF raid to Brux one of the 96th BG B-17 G posted as lost had the following abbreviations alongside the crew names

 

1/  Asst. ROBT,

2/  RORG 

3/  Asst. Eng. RW

 

(assuming BT is ball turret, RG rear gunner perhaps ?) 

 

can anyone identify these abbreviations in full please, cheers

[72modeler]

42 minutes ago, FalkeEins said:

 

on the 12 May 1944 8th AF raid to Brux one of the 96th BG B-17 G posted as lost had the following abbreviations alongside the crew names

 

1/  Asst. ROBT,

2/  RORG 

3/  Asst. Eng. RW

 

(assuming BT is ball turret, RG rear gunner perhaps ?) 

 

can anyone identify these abbreviations in full please, cheers

asst. ROBT: assistant radio operator, ball turret gunner

RORG: radio operator, tail turret gunner

Asst.Eng.RW: assistant engineer, right waist gunner

 

Enlisted flight crews, depending upon their training, could have ratings for more than one position. Traditionally, B-17 top turret gunners were the flight engineers for their airplane, and many crewmen  were trained as radio operators and gunners, as almost all B-17E-G aircraft had a .50cal gun mounted in the radio compartment. I think  I'm right, but don't quote me on this! (Just finished v1-3 of  We Were Eagles, on the 8th AF in WW2, and these dual ratings were mentioned several times.)

Mike

[FalkeEins]

thanks Mike, that's most helpful, cheers

[hairystick]

On 12/14/2018 at 10:36 AM, 72modeler said:

RORG: radio operator, tail turret gunner

I would have suspected "Radio Operator-Rear Gunner" since there is a top turret above that area of the aircraft.  Certainly not the tail gunner as they would be too far away from the radio room.

 

[72modeler]

1 hour ago, hairystick said:

I would have suspected "Radio Operator-Rear Gunner" since there is a top turret above that area of the aircraft.  Certainly not the tail gunner as they would be too far away from the radio room.

 

The rear gunner on a B-17 mans  the tail turret in both the B-17E/F/G early production aircraft and those that were fitted with the Cheyenne tail turret, as shown in the link below. Many gunners were also rated radio operators and could be found manning the dorsal, ball, waist, or tail gun positions. If an aircraft only had one rated radio operator, then he would be assigned to the radio compartment and manned the gun position located there.

Mike

 

http://01f15b4.netsolhost.com/b17_turret.htm