Aircrew casualities

ArtKramr wrote:

Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Guy Alcala
Date: 9/18/03 11:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

No, I meant the fighters taking evasive action on the run-in, and preparing
to do

Never saw that once. Thyey would drop tgheior inside wing and their nose would
swing in toward us and we hten knew they had started their classic fighter
approach. And once they set up constant bearing, they never swerved, changed
course or took evasive action at all. They just bore in on their heading of
constant bearing firing as they came.

"Evasive action' was a poor choice of words on my part; involuntary flinching
before the breakaway, and doing the breakaway early for fear of collision/gunfire,
was more what I meant.


The USAAF bomber crew didn't have backpack parachutes either for quite a
while (it
seems to have been late in 1943 that they started to come in). Normally it
was a

The USAAF bomber crew didn't have backpack parachutes either for quite a
while (it
seems to have been late in 1943 that they started to come in). Normally it
was a

I wore a chestpack. The tail gunner and the top turrest gunners also had
chestpacks and we wore them in our positions with no problem. We never ever
flew missions with chutes off. And in 1943 both our pilot and copilot flew with
backpacks, the rest of us wore chestpacks and once in the air never took them
of except when I had to enter the bomb bays. I couldn't fit through the bombay
access door with a chestpack on.

Then it must have been 8th AF practice not to wear them, as numerous accounts exist
of crews trying to buckle theirs on in a hurry. The RAF bomber crews didn't
normally wear theirs either, aside from the pilots and the tail gunner.

Guy

Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Guy Alcala
Date: 9/22/03 2:51 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id: 3F6F6FE0.3067CB20@junkpo

Then it must have been 8th AF practice not to wear them, as numerous accounts
exist
of crews trying to buckle theirs on in a hurry. The RAF bomber crews didn't
normally wear theirs either, aside from the pilots and the tail gunner.

Guy

The mind boggles (sheesh)

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

Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Guy Alcala
Date: 9/22/03 2:51 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

"Evasive action' was a poor choice of words on my part; involuntary flinching
before the breakaway, and doing the breakaway early for fear of
collision/gunfire,
was more what I meant.

I never once saw that. It would be a foolish thing for the pilot to do. If he
bore in and came out the other side it was a clean getaway, But if he flinched
and turned away before he got to us he would expose his belly and vastly
increase his chance of being shot down by the bomber's gunners. I guess young
inexperienced pilots scared to death might do that. But not the old hands.
Anyway. if you are a gunner in a bomber and a fighter comes at you don't count
on his tuning way before his run is done.


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

ArtKramr wrote:

Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Guy Alcala
Date: 9/22/03 2:51 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

"Evasive action' was a poor choice of words on my part; involuntary flinching
before the breakaway, and doing the breakaway early for fear of
collision/gunfire,
was more what I meant.

I never once saw that. It would be a foolish thing for the pilot to do. If he
bore in and came out the other side it was a clean getaway, But if he flinched
and turned away before he got to us he would expose his belly and vastly
increase his chance of being shot down by the bomber's gunners. I guess young
inexperienced pilots scared to death might do that. But not the old hands.

snip

While the inexperienced pilots were more likely to open fire out of range or break
off too soon, experienced hands could also do so. It was often a question of
morale; the old heads had been in combat for a long time, and everyone only has so
much courage to spend. Many were very tired, combat fatigued if you will, and
there are many accounts by German pilots stating that this or that leader wasn't
going in with their former aggression (often not going in at all, but finding
something wrong with the a/c or themselves, breaking off and returning to base, or
at best hunting for stragglers). I'd really recommend you read Caldwell's "JG 26:
Top Guns of the Luftwaffe" for the German perspective of that unit's (and
individuals) changing behavior throughout the war. Leadership and morale varied
considerably, and both tended to deteriorate later in the war.

Guy

Subject: Aircrew casualities
From: Guy Alcala
Date: 9/24/03 12:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id: 3F71484E.B147DA0A@junk

courage to spend. Many were very tired, combat fatigued if you will, and
there are many accounts by German pilots stating that this or that leader
wasn't
going in with their former aggression

You coulda fooled me.


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