The gunner of a ground-attack aircraft
Rui’s Renditions
The gunner of a ground-attack aircraft poses for the camera. Of particular interest are the infantry steel helmets worn by both the gunner and the pilot, which I suppose would serve as extra protection against ground fire during strafing runs.
The machine gun is a 7,92 mm Parabellum MG14, and given what little can be seen of the aircraft, namely the shape of the gunner’s station and gun mount, the position of one of the wing’s support metal bars, and the low position of the upper wing in relation to the fuselage and the pilot’s cockpit, I believe it to be a Hannover Cl.II, III or IIIa, a low-level two-seat escort fighter, and/or ground-attack aircraft. If so, then this photo is dated no earlier than August 1917 when the Hannover Cl.II first entered service with front-line units.
Original property of Wooway1 Collection.