parachute positionning in a He111

[gilles collaveri]

here is a strange question:

I was told that in a He111, only the pilot had his parachute duly strapped on him (he was ready to bail out, then)

whereas the other guys had to grab their parachute somewhere in the fuselage, attach it, then they could bail out.

As far as you know, is this true ??...

Thanks guys

GC

[KennyK404]

From a "human" point of view, the radio operator/dorsal gunner, beam and ventral gunners all had space to wear their parachute. I have a pic of a beam gunner with his 'chute whilst manning an MG and scanning the sky, but I don't know if the picture is staged.

[Snautzer]

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/mil...age-heavy.html

bit in the middle

[gilles collaveri]

Thanks a lot;

GC

[KennyK404]

That's the pic I was referring to Small world sometimes!

[Snautzer]

There are combat movies with actual footage.

[KennyK404]

Oh! I've not seen the video/movie. I wondered if it was staged because the ventral gunner is not in position.

[gwdsoldat]

Hi Gilles- in the case of A1+LN both the pilot & Beobachter (Manfred's father) bailed out together- leaving the stricken aircraft via the open doors of the bomb bay, & landed relatively close together. So for me this suggests that both were wearing their parachutes prior to the aircraft encountering a problem.

[KennyK404]

From an He111? The bomb bay is/was typically split into 8 vertical sections, I don't understand how that's possible :/ Could the internal dividers be jettisoned?

[gwdsoldat]

Interesting point- all we have is the word of the Beobachter to his son (Manfred) some years ago who says this is how they left the aircraft. In addition- thinking of A1+LN - the Bordmechaniker did not manage to escape from the aircraft- & when his body was found it is my understanding he was NOT wearing a parachute. Also- I had always assumed that parachutes would be carried in a rack, & then strapped to the chest (as in the US B17 for instance). But the excellent picture above (together with other pictures I have seen recently that seem to show crews wearing chutes outside the aircraft) seem to disprove the wearing of chutes of that type. It seems to me that in the case of A1+LN that the pilot & Beobachter were either BOTH wearing - or not wearing- their chutes- they just landed too close together for there to have been much of a delay in leaving the aircraft. The question is- how long would it take to strap a chute (as shown in the above picture) on? Any thoughts anyone?