And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
My father flew with the 96th Bomb Group. By the time he got to Snetterton Heath, the aircraft were unpainted as the clean aluminum added about 10KPH. When he flew, the group put up 36 aircraft for every mission and flew in 1000 plane raids. He seldom saw German aircraft; radar directed anti-aircraft artillery was the bane of his existence. The loss rate for the thousand plane raids was the same as that for the 300 plane raids the fellow in your photo flew in: about 30 planes. That was 3% of my father's attacking force and about 10% of the raiders in 1943 and early '44. Made the odds for completing a 25 mission tour in the early days poor. A 35 mission tour in the later part of the war didn't offer great odds, but certainly better as I am here to attest. V/R JWest
My father as well, with the 447th BG (square-K) hence my screen name. He flew his first of 35 missions on 02 Jan '45.
+1 on your comments, especially the anti-aircraft artillery which became ever more concentrated as the Germans were pushed back. No combat injuries were suffered by my dad's crew, but he later remarked "We came back on three engines more than once".
Boeing pre-MCAS.
ReplyDeleteI hate flak unless it's protecting me.
ReplyDeleteSquare-C. 3rd Air Division, 96th Bomb Group.
ReplyDeletehttps://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-39988-laces-aces-aka-the-iron-ass/
ReplyDeleteMy father flew with the 96th Bomb Group. By the time he got to Snetterton Heath, the aircraft were unpainted as the clean aluminum added about 10KPH.
ReplyDeleteWhen he flew, the group put up 36 aircraft for every mission and flew in 1000 plane raids. He seldom saw German aircraft; radar directed anti-aircraft artillery was the bane of his existence.
The loss rate for the thousand plane raids was the same as that for the 300 plane raids the fellow in your photo flew in: about 30 planes. That was 3% of my father's attacking force and about 10% of the raiders in 1943 and early '44.
Made the odds for completing a 25 mission tour in the early days poor. A 35 mission tour in the later part of the war didn't offer great odds, but certainly better as I am here to attest.
V/R JWest
My father as well, with the 447th BG (square-K) hence my screen name. He flew his first of 35 missions on 02 Jan '45.
Delete+1 on your comments, especially the anti-aircraft artillery which became ever more concentrated as the Germans were pushed back. No combat injuries were suffered by my dad's crew, but he later remarked "We came back on three engines more than once".
Break out the 300 mile-an-hour tape...
ReplyDeletePatch her up and keep flying. After a hit like that, nothing short of an act of God will bring it down......
ReplyDelete