The Pathfinder squadron required 45 missions for a first tour in addition to any previous missions - and most of those selected for pathfinder duties would often be a fair way through the first tour to begin with (Bruce Lewis gives an example of a crew who flew all but 2 missions before volunteering for 617 Squadron, and that meant starting from zero all over again). These were called 'milk runs' and generally brand new crews or crews almost at the end of their tour tended to get more milk run missions, for obvious reasons.Īpart from that, milk runs were pretty unpopular as you needed to complete so many of them to constitute a tour. If you were forced to return to base without entering hostile airspace, this wouldn't count at all.įurthermore, missions like dropping mines in the North Sea, or missions that didn't involve entering German airspace would only count for 1/3rd of a mission. The definition of a mission wasn't always clear cut. This would be followed by a spot of leave and a six month stint flying non-operational duties (flying as an instructor and so forth), followed by a subsequent tour of 25 missions.
Ww2 bomber crew losses professional#
On longer missions, more than four hours passed before a wounded crewman’s aircraft landed and he received professional medical care.Yes, unfortunately I can't comment on the USAAF tours, but in the RAF a first tour was 30 missions. If an Airmen was wounded during a mission, the only medical help available was first aid kits like the one on display. These flak fragments damaged waist gunner TSgt Phillip Taylor’s B-17 on the fateful mission against Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943. Issued late in the war, the M5 helmet provided additional cheek protection.Īlthough the USAAF issued thousands of these anti-flak goggles, bomber crewman rarely wore them since they greatly reduced the wearer’s vision. Displayed alongside is the metal armor that formed the core of these helmets. This steel alloy has particularly high impact strength.ĭuring the Battle of Britain in 1941, the Luftwaffe also recognized the need for additional protection and issued bomber crews leather-covered armored helmets.
Ww2 bomber crew losses series#
The inside of the Grow Helmet and M4 series helmets contained five overlapping strips of manganese steel. More than 80,000 M4 series helmets were made during the war. This one was worn by Col (later Maj Gen) Fred Dent, 44 th Bomb Group commander, when he led the Eighth Air Force attack against Berlin on March 8, 1944.įirst produced in mid-1944, the M4A2 helmet was an improvement on the Grow Helmet, adding ear protection and replacing the leather covering with cloth. In 1943, the British Wilkinson Sword Company produced the “Grow Helmet,” which was worn over the standard leather flight helmet. Fortunately, he was not significantly injured and was back on flight duty a few days later. Pilot Frank Riggs was wearing this helmet when flak fragments hit him over Vienna, Austria, in February 1945. The M3 helmet was a modification of the standard M1 infantry helmet. Also, crewmen in confined spaces, like ball turret gunners, could not wear them. The wearer, bombardier Lt Arthur Rosenthal, only received minor wounds to his chest.Įarly bomber crews wore standard M1 infantry helmets but found them uncomfortable since their headphones fit poorly under the helmet. Plates from an armored vest damaged by 20 mm fragments. Sewn into the fabric, this gave some flexibility to the armor.Įighth Air Force bomber crewman wearing the body armor that saved his life and holding the piece of flak that almost ended it.
It could be quickly removed during an emergency by pulling the red release strap.īomber crew armor was filled with overlapping squares of 1 mm-thick manganese steel plates like the one on display here. Worn over clothing and gear, it weighed about 13 lbs. Typical body armor for a seated bomber crewman in early 1944. After the war, he became the US Air Force’s first surgeon general.
Malcolm Grow, Eighth Air Force surgeon general, saved many lives by developing body armor for USAAF bomber crewmen. Body armor and helmets helped protect against this threat and saved thousands of bomber crewmen from injury or death.Ĭol (later Maj Gen) Dr. A 1942 study determined that relatively low velocity projectiles such as deflected flak fragments or shattered pieces of aircraft structure caused 70% of bomber crew wounds.
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