WWII Facts

[Debrody]

If a force of 100 bombers has to replace 4 bombers after every mission, after 25 missions wouldn't they have gotten 100 bombers in total as replacements?

yes. But statistically, 36% will be still from the original 100 - not always the oldest ones get shot down first. So 36% of the crew is going to survive, while some are dieing on their first sortie.

I know, its odd to bring the statistics into this, still. Sad stuff.

[LCADolby]

That sub's toilet wasn't faulty, the Captain left a rather rotten one behind. Rather allow the able seaman trained in the loo flush do his job, he attempted to try it himself to avoid embarrassment.

Like a normal German tourist "Eet voz like zis ven I got in here, es va gebroken".

[uptown]

I can see it now. Everyone standing around going "oh cmon man!"

            12. The last marine killed in WW2 was killed by a can of spam.  He was on the ground as a POW in Japan when rescue flights dropping food and supplies came over, the package came apart in the air and a stray can of spam hit him and killed him.

[wpeters]

I can see it now. Everyone standing around going "oh cmon man!"

            12. The last marine killed in WW2 was killed by a can of spam.  He was on the ground as a POW in Japan when rescue flights dropping food and supplies came over, the package came apart in the air and a stray can of spam hit him and killed him.

Mommy how did Daddy die in the war...

        Well son he was hit by a stray can of SPAM 

[Karnak]

yes. But statistically, 36% will be still from the original 100 - not always the oldest ones get shot down first. So 36% of the crew is going to survive, while some are dieing on their first sortie.

I know, its odd to bring the statistics into this, still. Sad stuff.

I recall reading that statistically a bomber crew was most likely to get shot down on their first three or four operations.

[bortas1]

  its true at one time the shoulder patch of the 45th div was a swastika. they changed it (date I have no idea). however there is at least 1 national guard armory that still has the swastika still on the front of the armory. when I seen it I was stunned to say the least. 

[Widewing]

Wow those guys just couldn't catch a break. 

What is amazing is that they somehow survived....  Ying and Yang.....

[M0nkey_Man]

I wonder how the last one to use the toilet on that u boat could live with the knowledge that he basically destroyed a sub by defecation.

What the heck were they eating there?! 

[FLOOB]

yes. But statistically, 36% will be still from the original 100 - not always the oldest ones get shot down first. So 36% of the crew is going to survive, while some are dieing on their first sortie.

I know, its odd to bring the statistics into this, still. Sad stuff.

He's a witch!

[DaveBB]

I highly recommend a book called "Dirty Little Secrets of World War II".  It's filled with interesting facts just like in this thread.  Except its 300 pages long.  Its actually available online free as a PDF somewhere.  Written my Mark Dunnigan.

[DaveBB]

Here is a book called "Dirty Little Secrets of World War II".  Chock full of super interesting facts.  This is the free (but all content) PDF version.  Though its a heck of a lot better as a bathroom reader if you get the book.

http://www.nazi.org.uk/military%20pdfs5/Dirty_Little_Secrets_of_WWII.pdf

[Debrody]

I recall reading that statistically a bomber crew was most likely to get shot down on their first three or four operations.

I dont know anything about it, just was working with the given numbers.

At the Luftwaffe though, it was true. There wasnt an average fighter pilot, as most got shot down in the first couple of his sorties, while the surviving ones often could rack up 20+ kills. Same with the RHAF too, but with much smaller numbers.

[DurrD]

I believe the 8th Air Force alone lost more men (almost 24k KIA) then the entire USMC in WW2 (about 17k KIA).  By the way, every time this topic comes up, there always seems to be some Marine that thinks this is somehow a slight against the USMC.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is a simple fact, and does not detract from the heroism of the USMC in any way.  All services (even the USCG) pulled their weight in WW2, and all the losses were tragic, and staggering by today's standards.

Regarding the 45th Infantry Division swastika (a native Indian symbol in the US), its different from the Nazi one in that the 90 degree angles at the end of each crossbar go the opposite direction from the Nazi one.  They changed it nonetheless due to the possibility of confusion.  The 45th has an awesome museum open to the public in Oklahoma City that I highly recommend.

Regarding the fact that pilots that survive their first few missions tend to have much higher chance of survival overall, this is well known to the USAF.  This was the whole reasoning behind the RED FLAG exercises being implemented, in order to increase a fighter pilot's chances of survival by giving him his first 10 "combat missions" or at least the closest approximations possible in an exercise.  The other reason was to fix the abysmal kill ratio that was coming from USAF fighter units in Vietnam.  If you look at WW2 ace pilots, they tended to survive disproportionately.  Several of the top aces were killed in accidents, but relatively few in combat.  Richard Bong (top US ace) was killed testing an early jet, and the German ace often mentioned as the greatest by his peers (Hans-Joachim Marseille) was killed while trying to bail out of an airplane after an engine failure.  All of the top 3 overall survived the war, although #2 and #3 were shot down 17 times between them.  Erich Hartmann, the number one by amount of kills (even if you subtract the disputed ones, he still comes out number one by most reckonings) with 352, was never shot down although he had to crash land 14 times, again driving home the danger involved in aviation in WW2. 

[FLOOB]

I think for bomber crews experience wasn't much of a factor regarding surviving. You're going to out smart artillery? That's what made it especially bad, you had no control over your fate. Although in a way that would make it less stressful.

[Scherf]

In the RAF, you're going to weave all the way to the target and back. Your navigator is going to keep you in the stream, and on time. Not early, certainly not late. You'll climb as high as you can, despite the cold (and, if needs be, drop a bomb in the North Sea to do it). Your gunners are going to be on their guard all the time and your pilot will be ready, willing and able to corkscrew at a moment's notice.