Eric Short
Airforce: Royal Air Force (RAF)
Rank: Sergeant (Sgt)
Duty: Bomb Aimer/Nose Gunner
Service number: 1319336
* 1923, Epsom, Surrey, United Kingdom
† May 28th, 1943, Witmarsum, Netherlands
Task during mission
The role of bomb-aimer was introduced in 1942 as the new heavy bombers required seven-man crews. The bomb-aimer took control of the aircraft when it was on its bombing run. He would lie flat in the nose of the aircraft, directing the pilot until the bombs were released and the bombing photograph was taken. The photograph was the proof that the operation had been completed, which meant the crew could count it towards their total number of operations carried out. The bomb-aimer could act as a reserve pilot in an emergency as he would have received some flying training.
Example picture of the bomb aimer thats also operating the nose gun