What did Hull MG Gunner's do?

[SpicyJuan]

What other jobs did hull mg gunner's preform in tanks other than man the mg in WW2? Did they vary by nation? Also, how critical were they, since it seems like the Soviets largely did away with them after the T-34?

[Carl Schwamberger]

Check oil, grease bearings, change tracks, clean battery connections, refuel, help load ammo from the ground or truck into the tank, stow equipment, unpack equipment remove empty propellant casings, clean off mud, clean the weapons, clean the turret basket, clean the gunsights, clean everything else, stand guard in lager, connect one end of the two cable when stuck or pulling.

People who think small tank crews are a good idea probablly did not crew a tank & participate in all the labor.

[SpicyJuan]

Check oil, grease bearings, change tracks, clean battery connections, refuel, help load ammo from the ground or truck into the tank, stow equipment, unpack equipment remove empty propellant casings, clean off mud, clean the weapons, clean the turret basket, clean the gunsights, clean everything else, stand guard in lager, connect one end of the two cable when stuck or pulling.

People who think small tank crews are a good idea probablly did not crew a tank & participate in all the labor.

How were the IS crews affected by this? Would it have been a big deal for the German's to omit this crew member in AFV designs?

[Sheldrake]

Check oil, grease bearings, change tracks, clean battery connections, refuel, help load ammo from the ground or truck into the tank, stow equipment, unpack equipment remove empty propellant casings, clean off mud, clean the weapons, clean the turret basket, clean the gunsights, clean everything else, stand guard in lager, connect one end of the two cable when stuck or pulling.

People who think small tank crews are a good idea probablly did not crew a tank & participate in all the labor.

How were the IS crews affected by this? Would it have been a big deal for the German's to omit this crew member in AFV designs?

It does make a difference how you can use armour. There are fewer people to share the workload and so maintenance may take longer. You have fewer crew to operate as relief drivers and commanders on long moves.

At a minor level, a single tank cannot deploy alone. You need a minimum of four to run a staggered sentry roster for any length of time for someone on the radio and someone as a sentry. British post war recce deployed in a sections of two cars.

Reams have been written by armour theorists such as Richard simkins.

[ROLAND1369]

Good point on the security aspect of the crew. In addition in the early part of the war on both the early M 3 Stuarts and the early m3 Mediums the radio was mounted in the sponson and operated by the bow gunner. In addition he has dual driving controls and served as a emergency driver.

[ROLAND1369]

This also applied to M5 light tank equipped with SCR 508 radios per the 1944 crew drill manual.

[Clive Mortimore]

Good point on the security aspect of the crew. In addition in the early part of the war on both the early M 3 Stuarts and the early m3 Mediums the radio was mounted in the sponson and operated by the bow gunner. In addition he has dual driving controls and served as a emergency driver.

The bow gunner was the radio operator in German tanks as well.

Check oil, grease bearings, change tracks, clean battery connections, refuel, help load ammo from the ground or truck into the tank, stow equipment, unpack equipment remove empty propellant casings, clean off mud, clean the weapons, clean the turret basket, clean the gunsights, clean everything else, stand guard in lager, connect one end of the two cable when stuck or pulling.

People who think small tank crews are a good idea probablly did not crew a tank & participate in all the labor.

Guess which crew member made the tea in a British tank, see how important he was.

[Yoozername]

I saw 'Fury' and wondered how they could over-look that the bow gunner (a total newbie) never handles a radio?

[nomis]

'Fury' is FICTION.

S.

[Mark Lawson]

Never use Hollywood as any form of reference on how things were done, Fury is one of the worst examples you could possibly think of but it did highlight American war crimes.

[KrankenPz]

In Commonwealth armies the most important role of a hull gunner (or in modern usage loader) is to brew up at every opportunity!

[Mobius]

The guy here talking at 8:40 says that NATO keeps the loader partially to help heavy maintenance. So the hull gunner would share the work load.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C7xxcAR5WU

[Yoozername]

The loader is generally considered 'low-man', or even the gopher, of the crew.

Actually, I think that sherman tanks had FM radios in the turret, so that the Bow-gunner's main combat role would be manning the MG, and observing as best he could. Likewise, the Firefly tanks deleted the bow-gunner altogether, and mounted the radios in the turret. Not so in German tanks for the most part. The German bow-gunner was the 'Funk' guy handling the communications primarily, but had the job of using the MG as a weapon and also for observation (1.5X scope). A little better than most shermans. There are cases of not having a bow gunner due to losses, etc. This applied to the T34 also. I suppose the T34 driver could man the bow MG if needed while stationary due to the rear transmission layout.

StuG loaders were the radio man also BTW. Making them a cut above most Panzer loaders. Being a radio man is a technical schooling, and they should know morse code (many didn't later in war), since morse code can be broadcast further than voice.

Bow gunners, and even drivers, would help move around ammunition if they could.

The main gunner was responsible for the weapons, the driver was the primary mechanic, but the whole crew would have to work together for all the non-combat tasks. Just 'bombing-up' (ammo) in a tank is a tedious heavy task later in the war. Doing first line PM and getting everything checked out and even digging a foxhole under the tank is drudgery.