MovieChat Forums > Command Decision Discussion > Bomb Crew Losses:

Bomb Crew Losses:

posted 9 years ago by jdemech02
2 replies | jump to latest

I heard a combat infantryman in WW II would rather take his chanches fighting fox hole to fox hole then be in a bomber. They knew the bombers suffered heavy losses & the Allied bomb crews spent yrs as pow's.
There was often strategy plan changes made throughout the war. Little did people know the bombings led to D-Day , preceded by the defeat of the German Air force. The bombing of Europe played the biggest part of winning the war. They paid the biggest price in death & capture. Around the clock bombing , night & day 7/24 weather permit.

mre Demech

[–] LeParas-1 8 years ago

I don't know the loss numbers from the USAAF in WW2, but the Royal Air Force Bomber Command lost 55.573 out of 120.000 men during WW2.

[–] fnj-07126 8 years ago

As you point out, RAF Bomber Command suffered 44.4% killed out of all those participating as flight crew. In contrast, the entire USAAF suffered overall "casualties" of 5.1%, compared to 10% for the rest of the US Army. Remarkably, the absolute numbers for just the RAF Bomber Command killed were higher than those for the entire USAAF.

45,520 USAAF airmen were KIA, and 6653 additional died as a result of battle (died of wounds, MIA and declared dead, and "non-hostile battle deaths"). 35,946 USAAF airmen died from non-battle causes (largely aircraft accidents, more than half of them in the continental US).

The peak strength of the entire USAAF was 2,411,294, only about half of them overseas.

At least the 8th Air Force's sacrifices were recognized and respected. Also KIA for the US but practically unrecognized and unrespected were 708 African-Americans, 800 Japanese-Americans, and 16 women who served in the armed forces. Also, 12,945 US POWs held by Japan died, and 1124 held by Germany.