How many airmen died in ww2

As war loomed, the U. Many new aircraft designs were rushed into production. Even though there were dozens of aircraft manufacturers in the U. So companies such as GM and Packard that had never produced planes or aircraft engines before were given huge contracts because they had the manufacturing capacity. The resulting retooling and production achievements were indeed impressive, but came at a cost. Many planes were put into use without proper testing, and in many cases even when design flaws were known, there was no time to investigate and take corrective action.

Engine failures and on-board fires were common. The crews knew what they were dealing with. Not surprisingly, more trainees died in Bs than any other plane.

But the war took precedence over safety. The planes continued to fly. With the massive increase in aircraft production came a commensurate increase in aircrew training. From mid August , the U. In , fewer than 1, pilots graduated basic flight training, and in that figure had grown to , Over the course of the war , trainees flunked out or died in training accidents.

A comparison of two years tells the story:. And this was just in the continental U. There were many thousands more wrecks and deaths overseas. Looking at totals for the entire war is even more sobering.

The U. The casualties range from the newly recruited airmen who died while still in training to the Air Marshals; from the Battle of Britain fighter pilots to the two-tour veteran bomber crews; and all those who were killed in accidents while training. Also included are locally recruited airmen in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Introductory notes provide context to the individual records and the appendices include a detailed order of battle; casualty statistics by month, service, theatre and aircraft types; ship losses; service numbers; and places of burial or commemoration.

Being fully searchable, on all the fields of information shown below, allows not only individual airmen to be found with ease, but makes statistical information regarding aircraft, ranks, commands etc.

The results for this type of search emphasise the usefulness of this database. WO Version 2. First World War Campaign Medals. Version 1. Of these, few, if any, were as perilous as flying in an airplane. George Bush served in the Navy from June to September , rising to the rank of lieutenant.

Thousands of U. Bush himself crash-landed during a practice bombing run in Virginia, emerging unscathed despite totaling his plane. The fighting, of course, also took a harsh toll on airmen, who confronted anti-aircraft fire from below and fire from enemy planes in the sky, with only a razor-thin hull to protect them.

Overall, about , U. The material costs of maintaining an air force were likewise astronomical, with the United States losing almost , of its , planes produced during the conflict. The U. Eighth Air Force , which bombed German-occupied Europe from onward, bore a particularly heavy burden.

More than 26, of its men, fully one-third of its total aircrew, died in combat. Usually a pilot who survived was pretty burned out after Navy pilots and crew rescued by the Finback. Kneeling second from the left is George Bush. Yet as bad as it was for the United States, it was even worse for other countries.