As a kid, I loved anything military. One of my first drawings, when I was abt 6, was of a WW1 British Sopwith Camel. After that it was always Tiger tanks and Shermans (I built many, many models of them too) I never had any dreams though of being a war pilot or even a tanker - I wanted to be infantry: boots on the ground locked ' loaded.
Photos of a downed bomber's dead crew are very difficult to locate, regardless of the nationality. Throughout these photos we can visualize whether the crew survived or not. It might be a case that all were lost or perhaps that some were able to bail out in time. I think that in a number of cases, bodies had already been removed before the photographers showed up. Many folks will have seen any number of these photos before.
Stats & Info: RAF Bomber Command (various sources)
Most aircrew were aged between 19 and 25, although some were as young as 16, and at least one was in his sixties, with the average age being 21.
During WW2 a total of 364,514 operational sorties were flown and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate: out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, 57,205 were killed (a 46% death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Therefore, a total of 75,446 airmen (60 percent of operational airmen) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
Aircrew had to become accustomed very quickly to the casualty rate suffered by RAF Bomber Command squadrons because fellow crews were lost or in aircrew language, "bought the farm", "got the chop" or "failed to return" (FTR), frequently.
Squadrons would normally be given the task of dispatching 12–25 aircraft on a night operation, and at least one of their crews would be expected to be lost every two night operations. Squadrons losing multiple crews on a single night was quite normal, and on several nights during World War II some squadrons lost five or six of their crews in a single night.
Aircrew adopted a fatalistic attitude, and it was "not the done thing" to discuss losses of friends or roommates, although they would half-jokingly ask each other "can I have your bicycle if you get the chop" or "can I have your eggs and bacon at breakfast if you don't get back tomorrow?" or "if you don't get back can I have those black shoes" and similar comments.
Set 1.
1. Most of the bombers seen in this thread are contained in this illustration.
2.
3. This American B-17 was intentionally rammed by a German Messerschmitt, a tactic that the Germans began with the use of poorly trained, often young, German pilots who had barley enough ammo to fire continuously for 15 minutes.
4. The B-17 managed to return to base without loss of its crew.
5. Illustration of the ramming.
6. Some bomber formations were so tight that when one bomber unloaded it's payload, one or two of the bombs would hit another bomber below them.
7.
8.
9. Dead USAF airman.
10.
Photos of a downed bomber's dead crew are very difficult to locate, regardless of the nationality. Throughout these photos we can visualize whether the crew survived or not. It might be a case that all were lost or perhaps that some were able to bail out in time. I think that in a number of cases, bodies had already been removed before the photographers showed up. Many folks will have seen any number of these photos before.
Stats & Info: RAF Bomber Command (various sources)
Most aircrew were aged between 19 and 25, although some were as young as 16, and at least one was in his sixties, with the average age being 21.
During WW2 a total of 364,514 operational sorties were flown and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate: out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, 57,205 were killed (a 46% death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Therefore, a total of 75,446 airmen (60 percent of operational airmen) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
Aircrew had to become accustomed very quickly to the casualty rate suffered by RAF Bomber Command squadrons because fellow crews were lost or in aircrew language, "bought the farm", "got the chop" or "failed to return" (FTR), frequently.
Squadrons would normally be given the task of dispatching 12–25 aircraft on a night operation, and at least one of their crews would be expected to be lost every two night operations. Squadrons losing multiple crews on a single night was quite normal, and on several nights during World War II some squadrons lost five or six of their crews in a single night.
Aircrew adopted a fatalistic attitude, and it was "not the done thing" to discuss losses of friends or roommates, although they would half-jokingly ask each other "can I have your bicycle if you get the chop" or "can I have your eggs and bacon at breakfast if you don't get back tomorrow?" or "if you don't get back can I have those black shoes" and similar comments.
Set 1.
1. Most of the bombers seen in this thread are contained in this illustration.
2.
3. This American B-17 was intentionally rammed by a German Messerschmitt, a tactic that the Germans began with the use of poorly trained, often young, German pilots who had barley enough ammo to fire continuously for 15 minutes.
4. The B-17 managed to return to base without loss of its crew.
5. Illustration of the ramming.
6. Some bomber formations were so tight that when one bomber unloaded it's payload, one or two of the bombs would hit another bomber below them.
7.
8.
9. Dead USAF airman.
10.
. #25 is a Fortress though, not a twin tailed B24 Liberator .
