Why are Japanese gun crew pointing a baton at incoming American bombers?
This compilation of three movies (Midway 1976, Isoroku Yamamato 2011, Midway 2019) shows one man in a gun crew on I.J.N. aircraft carriers, pointing a baton at American bombers attacking them. 0:50.
But these gun crews aren't blind! They can't miss those American bombers diving at them! Why do you even need to point at them, let alone use a baton?
Best Answer
Defence of a ship from aircraft attack is intended to be a co-ordinated defence with the other anti-aircraft positions on the ship.
The gun crews can't just pick and choose which aircraft they are to fire at, they have to be directed to stay within their area of responsibility.
Equally, there may be many aircraft attacking and they have to be prioritised by someone, usually an officer.
So the officer will decide which aircraft are to be targeted and as he can't manually aim the gun himself he has to point. He just happens to be carrying a baton, probably as a sign of his rank, to he points with it to indicate where and at what aircraft to fire at.
Pictures about "Why are Japanese gun crew pointing a baton at incoming American bombers?"
Flak 8.8cm - The German Gun That Destroyed Bombers
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Elijah O'Donnell, Lukas, MART PRODUCTION, cottonbro