Originally Posted by
longer ron
Yes but at the outbreak of WW2 - the RAF did not have many observers and therefore we were short of navigators for multi crew aircraft,also partly why I posted the link about Ian Blair - his sqn were so short of Observer/Navs that an Air Gunner was acting as a volunteer Nav/Bomb Aimer,the pre war Air Gunners did sometimes act as Observer on the Biplanes etc but they were not given much (if any) formal training in that role.
I think you'll find most pre war and early war air gunners were ground crew who could volunteer for aircrew duties for extra pay. They had little if any formal training. Most were ordinary aircraftsmen.