Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Michael Williamson PAM
Date: 9/16/03 8:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

Erik Plagen wrote:
"ArtKramr" wrote in message

The common wisdom in WW II was that tail gunners and bombardiers suffered

the

highest casualties among bomber aircrews. Anyone have any actual

statistics on

aircrew casualties by position in USAAC bombers?



'COMMON WISDOM" OF WHOM?

Luftwaffe statistics-

Pilots 85%
Waist Gunners-8%
Dorsal und Ventral Gunners- 3%
Upper turret Gunners-2%
Navigators- 1 1/2%
Nose Gunners/Bomb Togglers.05%

Schematische Kriegsgliederung, RH 2. Has also been published in Kurt
Mehner's Geheime Tagesberichte der OKW, 12 vols.

Erik


Overall statistics may or may not be all that helpful- what were
the numbers of (for instance) waist gunners flying with the Luftwaffe,
and what were their casualty rates compared to the other crew positions
in the same aircraft? Different casualty rates for different aircraft,
along with the total numbers of each type involved in the overall
statistics, make it difficult to come up with a single, overall answer.

Mike


I don't think there is a single answer. Some postions in some planes are very
diffciult to get out of. The nose of a B-26 for example. But the A-26 Invader
had a trap door under the nose. One twist and you were falling through space.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer