I really think Bombardiers really wished they were pilots but could not make it or were not selected. I think the movie gives bomber crews an out if they were asked if they really wanted to be pilots. I can't imagine someone turning down being a pilot to be anything in a flight crew. Any WWII flight crew people out there who could answer the question? I don't want to be disrespectful I just would like to know.
shareNot a WWII vet, but my father was in Navy flight training (V-5 program) in WWII, and I'm a big WWII buff. Most guys who wanted fly wanted to be pilots, of course, and fighter pilots in particular. Those that couldn't be fighter pilots were steered toward being bomber or transport pilots. Those that washed out of pilot training altogether were often offered to train as aircrew - navigator, bombardier, radio operator, gunner, etc. The pilot, co-pilot, navigator and bombardier were officers, the rest of the crew were enlisted men.
As you see in the film, one of the men training to be a bombardier washed out of the program and became a groundcrew ordnanceman. We first see him with staff sergeant stripes, then with technical sergeant stripes.
My Dad was a Bombardier in WW2. He didn't qualify for pilot training because he was color blind. He was assigned to the 22nd Bomb Group (Martin B-26s) in the SW Pacific from Aug 1942 to Jun 1944. He came back to the states and trained B-29 bombardiers at Victorville, CA until the end of the war. He said the training sequences in this movie were spot on - at least the parts with the bomb trainers in the hangar ..
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