Regarding the add of the shotgun and the gunner with twin-50s on a PT Boat. When my late father was trained to be a nose gunner on B-24s, part of the training was ridding around in the back of a truck on the Harlingen, TX race course, shooting skeet as the truck moved. He said having used a pump shotgun shooting birds during the depression was quite helpful.
“When my late father was trained to be a nose gunner on B-24s,.......”
My late father was tail gunner on B-24’s. Navy, South Pacific. Shot down three times. Tore up his leg pretty good the last time, but he was OK. He lived to 87.