Did American bomber crews in WWII really get to go home after 25 missions? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The crews were men from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and occupied Europe, especially Poland, France, Czechoslovakia and Norway, as well as other foreign volunteers. So much so that the odds of a B-17 crewman surviving the 25 missions required to complete a tour were only one in four.. Until the 1944 introduction of the P-51 . Ellen: Of the 15 aboard, 14 died. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Boeing B-17, B-29, and 8 Other Great American Bombers of WW2 But Mighty Eighth War Diary shows no raid on 2/7/43. Robert A. Lewis. Beautiful Swiss German Words, Damage to the "waist-gunner" area of the bomber accounted 21.6 percent of all the hits the plane took. Battling flak and enemy fighters over the skies of Europe during World War II, the US Army Air Force Martin B-26 Marauder bomber named Flak-Bait? The pilot, co-pilot, bombardier and navigator, as commissioned officers, were seated at the front of the plane, with the navigator positioned at a desk below the cockpit. This was almost a suicide mission to say the least. Why the Stein crew posed in front of War Baby instead of Jerk's Natural is a bit of a mystery. How many B-17s were in the Pacific in 1942? Bomber crews needed to complete 25 missions before they were allowed to go home but that numberwas almoststatistically impossible in Europe. THEN TO JAPAN WHERE WE SUPPLIED ALL THE FAR EAST WITH CARGO GOING AS FAR EAST AS BANGKOK THAILAND, IN COUNTRY NAM, PHILLLIPINES, KOREA AND OTHER POINTS THERE IN. Wood Tv 8 Weather Forecast, P. S. Hes here to tell the stories. How many missions did ww2 bomber crews fly? All onboard were killed except the tail gunner when Hot Stuff crashed into mountain in Iceland on May 3, 1943. Your chances of completing all 25 missions, at least unscathed, were slim to none. The 328th. Did the Battle of Britain cripple the Luftwaffe? For the survivors, there wasn't much time for contemplation of those lost. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. God bless all of our heroes in WW2. As far as I can work out, 3086 were lost but have no figure to work with to find a percentage. He completed his initial training when he was 17, and was called up to active duty before he graduated from high school. During World War II, workers in factories signed milestone aircraft, such as 1,000th aircraft built, before they were delivered.
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how many ww2 bomber crews completed 25 missions