What It Was Like to Fight Inside a TBF Avenger’s Turret During a Carrier Strike in WW2

September 2, 1944. 8:30 in the morning. Four Avengers dive on a radio station at Chichi Jima, into some of the heaviest anti-aircraft fire their crews had ever seen. This is the story of one real carrier strike, told hour by hour from the seat behind the pilot: the glass turret of the Grumman TBF Avenger. Including the mission where future president George H.W. Bush was shot down, and the two men who flew with him. CHAPTERS 0:00 08:30 — Inside the Glass 0:35 04:00 — Reveille 1:51 07:00 — Into the Turret 3:04 07:15 — Launch 4:00 1942 — The First Men in This Seat 4:51 08:30 — The Dive 5:44 08:35 — Over the Side 6:26 12:30 — Finback 7:15 After — The Empty Seat Archive photographs: U.S. Navy / National Archives (public domain). Subscribe and climb into another seat of the Second World War every week. #TBFAvenger #WW2 #GeorgeHWBush #PacificWar #MilitaryHistory #Midway #WWIIHistory