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James M. Szpajcher University of Wolverhampton M.A. Dissertation, University of Wolverhampton, 2021. Abstract: The strategic bombing campaign over Europe during the Second World War, emerged as one of the major military campaigns of the twentieth century. Aircraft losses and aircrew casualties in Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force are poorly understood. The manner in which both major air forces prepared forecasts of aircraft and aircrew “wastage” is reviewed in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 examines a common statement of aircrew survival rates in Bomber Command. Additionally, data and analysis of a 1944 Eighth Air Force study on the survival rate of “original crews” from six B-17 bomb groups is assessed. Bomber Command and Eighth Air Force aircrew survival rates are evaluated for the period February 1942 through 19 April 1944, together with a more granular assessment using a case study for one of the groups which participated in the study discussed in Chapter 2. Statistics were compiled from squadron loading lists for the 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) for the period 7 November 1942 through 19 April 1944, categorizing aircrew into six distinct groups based on the date they began flying with the 91st Bomb Group. That unit’s statistics are assessed in the context of casualties and losses for Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force. Additional statistical tables are presented in the Appendices. Additional relevant material is also presented in the appendices, including a glossary of terms as used by Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force. |
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Bio: Retired from a career in the upstream petroleum industry. B.A. (Military History) - American Military University, 2019. M.A. (Distance Learning - Military History) - University of Wolverhampton, 2021. Currently continuing research on survival rates for aircrew in heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force and the medium and heavy bombers of Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force. |
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