information about losses - Aircraft of World War II

annecooper · 10-23-2008, 04:03 PM

hi i am daughter of a deceased decorated bomber pilot i would really be grateful for information-numbers and statistics of losses-planes and pilots[raf] per mission and total,also if possible bombers seperate statistics,[is it true that 80% losses occured through the war?]

pbfoot · 10-23-2008, 04:55 PM

80% chance of not making it sounds like it would be 2 tours or 50 missions. It would help if you gave the Squadron and possible dates of his career

Thorlifter · 10-23-2008, 07:58 PM

Welcome.

Yeah, a bit more info would be helpful. His name, where he was stationed, do you know what he flew.

Or are you just looking for RAF statistics in general?

mhuxt · 10-24-2008, 07:06 AM

Hi:

There is an archived version of the Bomber Command Diary here:

RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary

It has a day-by-day picture of targets, losses, etc.

It's taken from the "Bomber Command War Diaries" by Martin Middlebrook (I've also mentioned it in the other losses thread). In the appendices, the author says around 60% of Bomber Command became casualties, calculated thus:

Aircrew seeing active service: around 125,000

Killed in action or died as PoWs: 47,268
Killed in flying accidents: 8,195
Killed in ground battles: 37
Total Fatal Casualties: 55,500
Prisoners of War, including many wounded: 9,838

Wounded in aircraft, returned from ops: 4,200
Wounded in accidents flying or ground: 4,203
Total Wounded, other than PoWs: 8,403

Total Aircrew Casualties 73,741

You have to bear in mind that casualties were incurred at widely differing rates during the conflict. Here's a graph I whipped up from data off the Bomber Command website I mentioned in the other thread:

As you can see, for the better part of three years, overall losses (Failed to Return, lost in operational accidents) ran at about 5%. However, as about half of the total sorties were made in the last year of the war when the Luftwaffe had been nearly overwhelmed, overall rates end up being lower, around 2.7%.

Hope this helps.

Thorlifter · 10-24-2008, 08:29 AM

Quite a bit different than the 80% she mentioned. Thanks Mhuxt.

annecooper · 10-24-2008, 09:56 AM

hi thanks a lot that was what i needed,my father survived the war but was killed ironically in a car accident[the other drivers fault]his name thomas amiel cooper,also known as kuperman

annecooper · 10-25-2008, 07:41 AM

so total losses were around 6o%

Watanbe · 10-25-2008, 08:04 AM

Wow! Thats high, im glad you got what you were looking for!

10-23-2008, 04:03 PM	#1
annecooper Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5	information about losses hi i am daughter of a deceased decorated bomber pilot i would really be grateful for information-numbers and statistics of losses-planes and pilots[raf] per mission and total,also if possible bombers seperate statistics,[is it true that 80% losses occured through the war?]

10-23-2008, 07:58 PM	#3
Thorlifter Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 4,729	Welcome. Yeah, a bit more info would be helpful. His name, where he was stationed, do you know what he flew. Or are you just looking for RAF statistics in general? __________________

10-24-2008, 08:29 AM	#5
Thorlifter Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 4,729	Quite a bit different than the 80% she mentioned. Thanks Mhuxt. __________________

10-25-2008, 08:04 AM	#8
Watanbe Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Adelaide Posts: 522	Wow! Thats high, im glad you got what you were looking for! __________________

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10-23-2008, 04:55 PM	#2
pbfoot Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: niagara falls Posts: 5,962	80% chance of not making it sounds like it would be 2 tours or 50 missions. It would help if you gave the Squadron and possible dates of his career

10-24-2008, 07:06 AM	#4
mhuxt Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 215	Hi: There is an archived version of the Bomber Command Diary here: RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary It has a day-by-day picture of targets, losses, etc. It's taken from the "Bomber Command War Diaries" by Martin Middlebrook (I've also mentioned it in the other losses thread). In the appendices, the author says around 60% of Bomber Command became casualties, calculated thus: Aircrew seeing active service: around 125,000 Killed in action or died as PoWs: 47,268 Killed in flying accidents: 8,195 Killed in ground battles: 37 Total Fatal Casualties: 55,500 Prisoners of War, including many wounded: 9,838 Wounded in aircraft, returned from ops: 4,200 Wounded in accidents flying or ground: 4,203 Total Wounded, other than PoWs: 8,403 Total Aircrew Casualties 73,741 You have to bear in mind that casualties were incurred at widely differing rates during the conflict. Here's a graph I whipped up from data off the Bomber Command website I mentioned in the other thread: As you can see, for the better part of three years, overall losses (Failed to Return, lost in operational accidents) ran at about 5%. However, as about half of the total sorties were made in the last year of the war when the Luftwaffe had been nearly overwhelmed, overall rates end up being lower, around 2.7%. Hope this helps.

10-24-2008, 09:56 AM	#6
annecooper Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5	hi thanks a lot that was what i needed,my father survived the war but was killed ironically in a car accident[the other drivers fault]his name thomas amiel cooper,also known as kuperman

10-25-2008, 07:41 AM	#7
annecooper Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5	so total losses were around 6o%