April 15th... What's so significant about today?

[Guest]

[Roz]

My grandpa was an engineer on a bomber based in England in WWII and actually saved his crew when the plane was having problems and looked like they were going to take a plunge in the Ocean.  Actually they live in New Hampshire and he has an incredible scrap book from when he was in the Air Force.

I think your Grandfather can expect a visitor for tea tomorrow

I can't stand it when these liberal idiots we have in California sit on the street corners having there anti war protests.  I usually roll the window down and give the old  F*$&  @!F greeting.  In my opinion the anti war protest is anti troops, too.  I guess that is thier right, but I am always tempted to clip one of them with the front end of my car....opps must have walked out in front of me...sorry now I am just being mean.

Ha ha - no one would mistake you for a Pacifist I think in an ideal world we would all be pacifists if we had that luxury, but in cases like WW2 we didn't have that luxury. The British Isles were very lucky because - by definition - we are islands separated from the Continent which certainly made us far more difficult for the Germans to invade... not to mention that we Brits have a rather nasty temper should people try

But the dreadful atrocities on mainland Europe? Phew!!!!

Becks, AT LEAST one million US troops came over to fight - was that a million troops that went to the front line? I remember an interview with a guy who was the "token" millionth man. It didn't say how many there were overall, but many more than that - it didn't sound like it stopped there.

Nazi soldiers were just trained, blackmailed and religiously brainwashed to believe anyone who wasn't born German (preferably with blue eyes and blond hair) was an insect. And for some reason (presumably since the Jews are the chosen race by God - I wonder whether it could simply be put down to jealousy about this and the Nazis trying to pretend that Nazis were the new chosen race which left no space for the old one).

P.S. IMHO The numbers of men "in uniform" slaughtered is shocking, but there is something that makes you go more cold when a baby female toddler has her life cut short, or a young family. It was never their war. The people who put on the uniform were mostly proud to do so (think of how many people in the UK lied about their ages (either a little bit older or a little bit younger where they needed to change their age to be recruited) to get in. Whilst any life lost is tragic, many have made it their war and their cause (although of course lots of people were called up against their will too, but if they were young and fit, and they were needed  ).

[Roz]

Apparently 30,000 Americans died flying from the UK in the Second World War.

But of course that doesn't include the Army and Navy!

[savage727]

Hello Roz:

I see you have been looking at the Duxford Web Site!    Yes there were 30,000 American aircrew killed in action who flew from England from 1942 to the end of the war in May 1945.  The wounded number is times 4 the KIA number.  What this means is you did not have good odds at surviving your tour of duty flying with the 8th Air Force in combat operations from England.  The British learned early on in the war that daylight bombing of German targets was almost sucidial without massive fighter protection.  That is why they switched to night attacks but eventually the Germans developed deadly night fighters with radar capability that caused tremendous British losses as well.  

The Americans believed that daylight bombing was the only way to effectively cripple German industry and thus shorten the war.  Night bombing was extremely imprecise except in the bombing of large cities which the British had to resort to because they could not pinpoint a single factory on the ground at night with the technology available back then.

The American view was correct but we placed too much faith that our large 4 engined bombers, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator could fly in massed formations without fighter protection and destroy targets and then return home safely.  Each of those bombers had 10 to 12 heavy machine guns and were grouped in tight box formations for mutual protection.  The American Air Commanders thought these formations could fight their way to and from the target but sadly this was not the case.  Without adequate fighter protection these formations were mauled severely by the German Air Force and Anti-Aircraft defenses at the target.  It was not until the introduction of the P-47 Thunderbolt and later the P-51 Mustang fighters that the bombers had the fighter protection to watch over them for the entire flight to targets throughout Germany.  Until those two fighters were introduced we did not have any fighters that had the range to travel and protect the bombers to and from the target.  The British provided fighter protection with their great Spitfire fighters for our bombers but only until the French Coast as that was the extent of their range.  The Germans simply waited until the British fighters turned for home and then pounced on the bomber formations with devestating results.

I highly recommend watching the movie 12 O'Clock High which was made in 1949 and received two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor - Dean Jagger and Best Sound.  The movie stars Gregory Peck who is one of my favorite actors of all time as General Frank Savage who commands an 8th Air Force B-17 Bomber Group and faces all of the perils I have outlined above.  It is an outstanding movie and will give you a feel for what was going on at the early introduction of American Air Power in England in 1942.  

These aircrew were some of the bravest men who fought in World War II and the British people have honored them by erecting an American Air Museum in England at Duxford to keep their memory and accomplishments alive.  The museum has a number of American bomber and fighter aircraft that fly so people can see them fly.  One of the best Airshows in the world is coming up on May 7 & 8 th at Duxford as they celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.  They are going to have a great number of British and American World War II aircraft flying both days along with the modern jets that the British and American fly.  It should be a sight to see!