Counting the Cost

[CRASHGATE3]

I dont know if any of you are aware of (or if any of you have seen) the American Air Force Memorial at Duxford Air Museum here in the UK.
Its called Counting the Cost and its by artist Renato Niemis.It consists of 52 glass panels each 6.5 feet high by 4 feet wide and etched onto them are every American aircraft lost flying from UK air bases in WW2.
It states..
8th AF....6346
9th AF....692
US Navy..24

Thats 7062....

The first panels are the most densely engraved remembering the 91st and 96th Bomber Groups of the 8th which together lost almost 400 B17s (each with an average ten men)
The panels that follow commemorate the fighters lost by the 8th.
The other side of the entrance commemorates the 9th Air Force and the 8th support groups and the Navy.
I think the Museum puts it well when it says "This Memorial contrasts the power of the aircraft inside the museum with the cost of their use"



When somebody says to you "Seven thousand and sixty two".....its just a number.But when you look at 7062 little aircraft it really hits you.

I just thought I would share this with you.....the pics are by me.

[comiso90]

Thanks for the info. It's nice to see our guys remembered. There is so much that is taken for granted.

I doubt there will be a monument depicting Humvees in Bahgdad.

[pbfoot]

What about the Canadians and Aussies and Kiwis or did we get lumped into RAF

[lesofprimus]

Lumped Im sure...

[Erich]

I wonder and in fact I know what an RAF monument in glass would look like .....

is this present anywhere in the UK gents ?

Crash thanks for this .............. ~

[brickhistory]

Actually, there are well tended German POW graves in many of the bases/posts in the States.


Not a monument per se, but then we didn't start this one!

[mkloby]

Thanks Crash

[Heinz]

Nice shots


a profound tribute to those brave souls..........

[amrit]

What about the Canadians and Aussies and Kiwis or did we get lumped into RAF

There is the RAF monument in Plymouth. The inscription reads:

ROYAL AIR FORCE
COMMONWEALTH & ALLIED AIR FORCES
1939 - 1945
TRIBUTE
TO ALL MEN AND WOMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN
AUSTRALIA, CANADA, INDIA, NEW ZEALAND
RHODESIA AND SOUTH AFRICA
BELGIUM, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, DENMARK,
FRANCE, GREECE, THE NETHERLANDS,
NORWAY AND POLAND
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS,
AND THOSE OF MANY OTHER NATIONS WHO SERVED
IN ALL COMMANDS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCES
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

THEIR COURAGE, SKILL AND DEVOTION TO DUTY
WAS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER,
BY WINNING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, THE MEN
SAVED THE COUNTRY FROM INVASION IN 1940.
"NEVER IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN CONFLICT WAS SO MUCH OWED BY SO
MANY TO SO FEW" CHURCHILL

COASTAL COMMAND PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN
KEEPING THE SEA LANES OPEN
THE COMMANDS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND
THE FAR EAST, MADE GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS
TOWARDS FINAL VICTORY.

FROM THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR THE BOMBER
OFFENSIVE STEADILY INCREASED AND AFTER
THE FORMATION OF THE PATHFINDER GROUP IN 1942
VERY SEVERE DAMAGE WAS INFLICTED ON THE
ENEMY BY THE CONSTANT NIGHT AND DAY
OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT BY BOMBER COMMAND
AND THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE.

CONTROL OF THE SKIES OVER EUROPE IN 1944
WAS A VITAL FACTOR TO THE SUCCESS OF THE
NORMANDY LANDINGS, THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF
TACTICAL AND BOMBER COMMANDS AND
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE THEN SPEARHEADED
THE ALLIED ADVANCE ACROSS EUROPE.

THE INSPIRED LEADERSHIP OF BENNETT, DOWDING,
HARRIS, PORTAL, SLESSOR AND TEDDER OF THE
ROYAL AIR FORCE AND ARNOLD, EAKER AND SPAATZ
OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, PAVED THE WAY
TO VICTORY IN 1945.
"NOW AT LAST THE BOMBER COMMANDS HAVE WON THE AIR BATTLES OF
EUROPE, OPENING THE PATH FOR VICTORY AND FREEDOM FOR THE
ENSLAVED COUNTRIES OF EUROPE" CHURCHILL 1945

HONOUR
107,000 MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
84,000 MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
42,200 MEMBERS OF THE SOVIET AIR FORCE
WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

THEY FLEW BY DAY AND NIGHT
AND GAVE THEIR LIVES TO KEEP FOREVER BRIGHT
THAT PRECIOUS LIGHT
FREEDOM

Pictures from: Roll of Honour - Plymouth - National Memorials, Naval, Marines & Falklands.

[Matt308]

Thankyou, Crash. We should all be humbled. A cause that truly was a world effort. I am passionate about the continued support of the WWII allies. However, some misconstrue this passion for US arrogance. I would like to believe that others beside myself would sacrifice well being and/or economy to help the allies again, God forbid, if such a situation ever arose.

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

52 panels? Wow. One panel looks like tons. I guess years of day to day bombing will do that.

107,000 MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
84,000 MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE


I didn't realize you Brits lost more than we did.

(Humbled)

[syscom3]

Does that 84,000 include the losses in the PTO and CBI?

[Wildcat]

..and how many of the 107 000 are "commonwealth" airmen?

[bomber]

For christ sake what's this crap about 'lumping in' or commonwealth airmen ?
Where in RAF does it mention England or Britain ?

Why can't we just respect the sacrifices made and leave it at that without being devisive.. ..

Raf Squadrons were cosmopolitan in their nature.. I quote

"Many of the newcomers, as the months passed, came from abroad. During 1941, 609 squadron had pilots from Belgium, France, Poland, Canada, the United stated, New Zealand and Rhodesia pass through its ranks. The most cosmopolitan squadrons distilled a new spirit from the mix of nationalities and it is noted that they were often the most happy and succesful"

and a bit more..

"Virtually every squadron was enriched by a dash of over seas blood. Of the 2,917 airmen who flew in Fighter Command between 10 july and the end of October 1940, 2,324 were British, 124 were Polish, 126 from New Zealand, 98 from Canada, 88 from Czechoslovakia, 33 from Australia, 29 from Belgium, 25 from South Africa, 13 from France, 11 from the United States, 10 from Ireland, 3 from Rhodesia and 1 each from Jamaica and Newfoundland"

and the cost ?

"Of the 2,917 men who fought in Fighter Command the air battles of the summer of 1940, 544 were killed, Another 795 died before the war was over."


Simon

[Cyrano]