Thread: Spitfire Ammo

The eight deadly Browning machine-guns in the wings of the Vickers-Super-Marine Spitfire fighter are fed from belts holding 250 rounds each. This picture shows a team loading one of the guns.

Nice photo Jim.

These blokes loading the ammo were the unsung heroes of the war.

With-out these lads the pilots could not have done the job in the air.
They had to work very long hours-- sometimes all through the night-- to get the aircraft ready to fly

It seems a shame they barely get a mention by the press or historians. But of course people are interested in the "flying" side of the war, and not in dull ground jobs.

These tpye of jobs at the time didn't make for good reading, they do today thou.

The Cannon Armed Spits didn't really come in until the Mk V I believe. 4 Hispano 20 mm's ?

It seems a shame they barely get a mention by the press or historians.

Thats the sad thing about the war. Only the bad ones are remembered. The good guys, unless they die, fall by the wayside.

Originally Posted by Airborne

Thats the sad thing about the war. Only the bad ones are remembered. The good guys, unless they die, fall by the wayside.

Airborne, so very very true.

Yeah, I think that people tend to forget the people who loaded the guns and maintained the vehicles and aircraft. Its unfortunate, really.

It seems a shame they barely get a mention by the press or historians. But of course people are interested in the "flying" side of the war, and not in dull ground jobs.

The ground jobs wouldn't have made for very exciting reading, but it is sad that such important men were pretty much forgotten.