Jake the Collector Posted October 9, 2017 Share #1 Posted October 9, 2017 I'm writing a story in which the protagonist, a B-17 waist gunner in the fall of '43, is forced to bail out and parachute into Germany. My question is, what sort of survival gear, if any, would the average waist gunner (or any crewman) behind enemy lines have had on his person? A silk map? A compass? A knife? Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted October 9, 2017 Share #2 Posted October 9, 2017 can google AAF escape kit...there are several guys on the forum that specialize in escape and evasion gear.....the forum has many threads on survival items... 43 is early European air war...the escape kit most likely found would have been a small cloth bag with a cloth map, compass, European currency, pictures for fake identification papers...something that could fit in a pocket... different bases might or might not have had local escape kits made up with various items.... Then there was the E17 escape kit...not sure when this appeared in service....was a more extensive kit, but maybe not correct for 43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Collector Posted October 9, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted October 9, 2017 can google AAF escape kit...there are several guys on the forum that specialize in escape and evasion gear.....the forum has many threads on survival items... 43 is early European air war...the escape kit most likely found would have been a small cloth bag with a cloth map, compass, European currency, pictures for fake identification papers...something that could fit in a pocket... different bases might or might not have had local escape kits made up with various items.... Then there was the E17 escape kit...not sure when this appeared in service....was a more extensive kit, but maybe not correct for 43 Thank you for the info. In my research I did come across some information on those escape kits, but I wasn't sure if the average crewman would carry them. This helps a lot. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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