Surviving Gun Turrets

I just posted a picture of my B36 gun turret i recovered in 1998 from the crash site of the aircraft in northern BC…Canada…does it qualify for your list.

Can anyone please point me in the right direction, for manufacturing drawings & construction info, for the early Scarff gun rings ?.

Cheer’s in advance.
Bob T.

Some NZ updates.
A couple of MOTAT’s are currently being worked on. Updates in this WONZ thread.

At a recent Open Day:
Turrets in workshop by Errol Cavit, on Flickr

And Subritzky’s
Anson turret by Errol Cavit, on Flickr

Airspeed Oxford NZ1332/AP414 by Errol Cavit, on Flickr

Hi Cees, No it was in Australia and was at one point considered to be a Lancaster turret! it was the subject of much debate on this forum, I avoided this debate luckily and after the dust settled it was offered directly to us at a reasonable price, it is infact an FN4A, no known history at this point we imported it recently to the UK. Fingers crossed for you on your turret, we also have an A-6 tail turret from a B-24 Liberator that came from Australia 5 or 6 years ago. The link below takes you to our facebook page where you can see photos of both turrets.

https://www.facebook.com/wingsturrets/?ref=br_rs

Red, is that the ex Stirling LK488 tail turret by any chance?
Cees

Here’s an unrecovered rear turret that may be of interest to readers.

RAF 357 Sqn Liberator KH326 failed to return from its Special Duties supply-dropping op to Malaya on 6 June 1945. The crew of eight, all RCAF, are missing. The Lib, with many of its unreleased drop containers still intact within the fuselage, was discovered by the Royal Scots Fusiliers during an Operation Unity sweep of remote, mountainous jungle on the Malaya-Thai border in May 1955, during the Malayan Emergency. A sizeable cache of recovered supplies, including intact weapons and medical supplies, were flown out by helicopter soon thereafter. The wreck was quickly forgotten again as the RSF continued its mission.

On a third attempt, in 2010, a team from the Malaysian Army Museum and the Malayan Historical Group (including Shaharom Ahmad, a member of this forum) reached the wreck, but only for a very quick visit. A second visit has not happened yet. The probability of ever recovering remains is low.

This photo shows the rear turret discovered back in 2010. The turret was lying on its back with the top pointing downslope. I have rotated the image so that the top of the turret is up, as would be seen on the aircraft in level flight. The direction of fire of the twin 50 caliber guns (removed by the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1955) and the location where R.278843 F/Sgt Reinhold Giesbrecht sat are indicated. This is definitely a Motor Products Corporation A-6B rear turret.

Will it ever be recovered? I don’t know. It is in a very rugged and remote location, although logging roads have made the site more accessible recently. Thai scrap merchants, crossing the border illegally a few years ago, salvaged – savaged – some of the wreck, which was once largely intact.

There was a Lanc/Linc rear turret at the ATC hall in Inverell ,NSW,Australia.

We have an FN4 turret at the Wings Museum, it needs a cupola but not holding my breath!! We have done a little work on it, we have renovated the gun mountings and have began fitting some replica .303’s to enhance the display.

Old thread, any new info to add?
If all goes to plan I hope to be the soon owner of a FN20 (without Perspex or guns), it’s on the list in this thread but no further info for the time being.
Cees

Another FN82 at North Yorkshire Aircraft Recovery centre…or at least there was….

Thanks for all the Frazer-Nash Information. As I thought, that will be a much longer list, thanks to all the surviving Lancasters, and the variety of FN turrets which found their way into the Lanc.

Bristol turrets seem to be simpler. The likely survivors seem to be just versions of the B.1 (Blenheim) and the B.17 (Lincoln dorsal cannon turret); unless any B.IV Beaufort upper turrets are still around. The RAF Museum’s only has the cupola.

A quick list, mostly off the top of my head would be

B.1 Dorsal 1/2 VGOs

1. RAFM Hendon In the Blenheim/Bolingbroke
2. Duxford in the Blenheim/Bolingbroke
3. Nanton in the Bolingbroke
4. Nanton displayed on a stand
5. Wellesbourne Mountford, displayed
6. Royal Army Museum Brussels, in the Bolingbroke
7. Canada in private hands (one at least)

B.17 Dorsal 2 x 20mm

1. RAF Museum Stafford Mk.1 in store
2. RAF Museum Hendon Mk.6 on display

Any more for any more ?

We have some additional Bristol Turrets in Australia, the list below is not complete.

Bristol B4 Mark 1E Dorsal Turret
Australian National Aviation Museum(ANAM) – Beaufort A9-13-see attachment
ANAM – Glasshouse Only
-Private

ANAM also a Bristol aft firing under-Cupola Beaufort turret for future restoration and installation in A9-13, turret model unknown?

Bristol B1 Mark V Dorsal Turret
Beaufort Restoration Group for Beaufort A9-141-see attachment
ANAM – Glass house only

Bristol B1 Mark VE Dorsal Turret
RAAF Museum – Turret Display – see attachment
Anson Museum Ballarat – fitted to Anson – see attachment
AWM – glasshouse only – fitted to Beaufort A9-557
Private – glasshouse only

Bristol B.17 Dorsal Turret
Queensland Air Museum (QAM)- see attachment
AWM
RAAF Heritage Centre Amberley
Lincoln Nitscke Collection
ANAM – Glass House only

Also seen in the last attachment are two more Fraser Nash turrets in Australia at the QAM and we have some others that I have also added below.

FN.5 Nose (Lancaster etc.)

1. Elvington Air Gunners Museum
2. RAF Wyton ex-Stirling on display
3. AWM Canberra In Lanc.
4. AWM Canberra ex-wellington on display
5. WA AHM Bull Creek In Lanc,
6. BBMF In Lanc.
7. IWM Duxford In Lanc.
8. East Kirby In Lanc.
9. IWM Lambeth In Lanc. nose
10. RAFM Cosford In Wellington
11. Soesterberg Holland, In store
12 – South Australian Aviation Museum
13 – Lincoln Nitscke Collection

FN.11 Nose (Sunderland)

1. RNZAF Store
2. RAFM Hendon In Sunderland
3. IWM Duxford In Sunderland
4. WA Aviation Heritage Centre (RAAFA) Bull Creek

FN.13 Tail (Sunderland)

1. RNZA in Sunderland
2. RAFM Hendon In Sunderland
3. IWM Duxford In Sunderland
4. Austalian National Aviation Museum

FN.120 Tail

1.RAFM @ Elvington Air Gunners Museum
2.?? QAM (model needs to be confirmed) see attachment

FN.121 Tail

1. RAFM @ Elvington Air Gunners Museum
2. AWM Canberra (ex Lincoln) in store unrestored
3. Queensland Air Museum (ex – Lincoln) see attached

Regards

Mark Pilkington

More Frazer Nash turrets

Another couple of FN turrets in the UK to add to the list:

FN.5 Wellington nose (recovered, complete with cupola, with wreckage of Z1206 on the Isle of Lewis in 2002)
FN.4 Whitley tail turret (incomplete, without cupola, but has the bottom of the Whitley tail with it)

Both with Midland Aircraft Recovery Group.

We also have a cupola for our Oxford (AW.38) and a few bits of FN.16. If anyone can help us find parts for the FN.16 Whitley nose or AW.38, please PM me. We’re struggling with these!

Frazer Nash drawings have been mentioned. We’ve looked, failed to find any and ended up doing our own 3D CAD model of the FN.5. This will eventually allow us to run off drawings. We’re considering casting some new turret parts and will certainly be laser cutting new FN.5 components, so if anyone has a need of parts or drawings, please PM me.

So do I..but where it`s all gone to is anybodys guess……………..

Unless anyone in some sort of authority got in first, which I doubt although I did suggest it to some of them, the police probably confiscated and scrapped it all.

So do I..but where it`s all gone to is anybodys guess……………..

Unless anyone in some sort of authority got in first, which I doubt although I did suggest it to some of them, the police probably confiscated and scrapped it all.

So do I..but where it`s all gone to is anybodys guess……………..

So do I..but where it`s all gone to is anybodys guess……………..

I hope that all of Ken Wards collection was saved.

I hope that all of Ken Wards collection was saved.

[ATTACH]208522[/ATTACH]FN 25 ventral turret,the only surviving example with its restorer,the late Clive Leach of restorations unlimited.

[ATTACH]208523[/ATTACH]Boulton Paul rear turret minus its cupola under restoration.

[ATTACH]208522[/ATTACH]FN 25 ventral turret,the only surviving example with its restorer,the late Clive Leach of restorations unlimited.

[ATTACH]208523[/ATTACH]Boulton Paul rear turret minus its cupola under restoration.