Gun Cameras

[mexchiwa]

Just wondering about gun camera footage - any know of anything Japanese, Italians, French? (basically anything other than 8th AF, US Navy) What were the policies on carrying cameras? Any help appreciated, not asking for any reason, just wondering.

[tom d. friedman]

i know the japanese didn't carry gun cameras in their planes, that's why many of their ace's victory claims are still up to speculation to this day.

[Dan K]

Japanese gun camera footage is indeed rare. As Tom suggests, it wasn't used regularly by combat units to verify kills, but rather as an aid for fighter pilots-in-training. The only stuff I've ever seen is from early in the war.

Henry Sakaida's Naval aces book contains an interesting photo of an A6M rigged with one of those familiar "machine gun" cameras on the starboard wing.

I think if you search the internet you may find some Japanese and German footage has been converted to VHS and/or DVD.

Happy hunting!

[tom d. friedman]

u.s. german & raf footage is plentiful, just flick on the history or military channel on the boob tube. as to italian, french & russian, let alone japanese footage.... that is up to speculation & will require serious digging. i have 1 of those japanese ww 1 looking lewis machine gun style camera guns. they were used for training, & aerial recon. they took 8mm film. they were also mounted in the nose of the japanese irving twin engine night fighter w/ obliquely mounted cannons minus the hand grips. mine still works, but it is missing some accessories. pics of it are posted on an old wix thread pertaining to south american aviation, 1 of the members had a question regarding gun cameras, hope you find it!!

[mike furline]

Has anyone ever seen gun camera footage of B-25's or B-26's being the target? I only see B-17 & B-24's.

Regards,
Mike

[tom d. friedman]

good point mike.... somebody do tell!! i've seen camera footage/ pics shot from other allied planes, but no true gun camera footage of these types being shot at.