“Robert Novell’s Third Dimension Blog”

Good Morning to all, and to all—-Happy Friday. This week I want to pass on the contents of an email I received this week and I think you will find the numbers quite staggering. I am a Vietnam Veteran, and I will have some statistics at the end of the blog, but there is no comparison between the two wars or that which has transpired in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Amazing WWII Aircraft Facts

No matter how one looks at it, these are incredible statistics.  Aside from the figures on aircraft, please consider that on average 6600 American service men Died per Month during WWII – about 220 a day.

Other facts to consider:

1. 276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US.
2. 43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat.
3. 14,000 lost in the continental U.S.
4. The US civilian population maintained a dedicated effort for four years, many working long hours seven days per week, and often also volunteering for other work. WWII was the largest human effort in history.

5. The war began with Germany’s invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939.

6. The war ended with Japan’s surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

7. The world was at war for 2,433 days, and from 1942 to 1945 America lost 170 planes a day.

6. How many is a 1,000 planes?  B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to wingtip would extend 250 miles.

7. 1,000 B-17s carried 2.5 million gallons of high octane fuel and required 10,000 crewmembers.

THE NUMBERS GAME

(1942 to 1945)
The staggering cost of war and The Price of Victory

(Prices in WWII Dollars)

B-17… $204,370

P-40…… $44,892

B-24…. $215,516

P-47…….$85,578

B-25…. $142,194

P-51…….$51,572

B-26…..$192,426

C-47…….$88,574

B-29…..$605,360

PT-17….. $15,052

P-38……. $97,147

AT-6……. $22,952

(300,000 aircraft were produced and delivered)

1. 9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed.

2. 107.8 million hours flown.

3. 459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas.

4. 7.9 million bombs dropped overseas.

5. 2.3 million combat sorties (one sortie = one takeoff/landing).

6. 299,230 aircraft accepted.

7. 808,471 aircraft engines accepted.

8. 799,972 propellers accepted

According to the AAF Statistical Digest, in less than four years (December 1941- August 1945), the US Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and assorted personnel, plus 13,873 airplanes inside the continental United States. These losses were the result of 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months. Think about those numbers – they averaged 1,170 aircraft accidents per month which is nearly 40 a day.  (Less than one accident in four resulted in totaled aircraft, however.)

Almost 1,000 Army planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign destinations, but an eye-watering 43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis) and 20,633 attributed to non-combat causes overseas.

In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate and this meant there were 600 empty beds in England that night.

In 1942-43, it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe.

Pacific theater losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces committed.  The worst B-29 mission against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas.

On average, 6,600 American servicemen died per month during WWII, about 220 a day. By the end of the war, over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat theaters and another 18,000 wounded.  Some 12,000 missing men were declared dead, including a number “liberated” by the Soviets but never returned.  More than 41,000 were captured, half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died in captivity, compared with one-tenth in German hands.

Total combat casualties were pegged at 121,867.

US manpower made up the deficit.  The AAF’s peak strength was reached in 1944 with 2,372,000 personnel, nearly twice the previous year’s figure.

The losses were huge but so were production totals.  From 1941 through 1945 American industry delivered more than 276,000 military aircraft. That number was enough not only for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but for allies as diverse as Britain, Australia, China and Russia.  In fact, from 1943 onward, America produced more planes than Britain and Russia combined, and more than Germany and Japan.

However, our enemies took massive losses. Through much of 1944, the Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of aircrews and 40 planes a month.  And in late 1944 into 1945, nearly half the pilots in Japanese squadrons had flown fewer than 200 hours.  The disparity of two years before had been completely reversed.

Experience Level: Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with an absolute minimum of training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than 1 hour in their assigned aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943 having trained on P-39s.   The group never saw a Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission.

A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type.  Many had fewer than five hours.  Some had one hour.

With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat. The attitude was, “They all have a stick and a throttle.  Go fly em.” When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly transition.  The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, “You can learn to fly 51s on the way to the target.

A future P-47 ace said, “I was sent to England to die.” He was not alone.   Some fighter pilots tucked their wheels in the well on their first combat mission with one previous flight in the aircraft.  Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their trade.  Of Jimmy Doolittle’s 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only five had won their wings before 1941.   All but one of the 16 copilots was less than a year out of flight school.

In WWII flying safety took a back seat to combat.  The AAF’s worst accident rate was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours.   Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188 and the P-38 at 139.  All were Allison powered.

Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive. The B-17 and B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, respectively. A horrific figure considering that from 1980 to 2000 the Air Force’s major mishap rate was less than 2.

The B-29 was even worse at 40; the world’s most sophisticated, most capable and most expensive bomber was too urgently needed to stand down for mere safety reasons. The AAF set a reasonably high standard for B-29 pilots, but the desired figures were seldom attained.

The original cadre of the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of multi-engine time, but there were not enough experienced pilots to meet the criterion.  Only ten percent had overseas experience.  Conversely, when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the Air Force initiated a two-month “safety pause” rather than declare a “stand down”, let alone grounding.

The B-29 was no better for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a complicated, troublesome power-plant, no more than half the mechanics had previous experience with the Duplex Cyclone. But they made it work.

Navigators: Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators.  The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War, and many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving “Uncle Sugar” for a war zone. Yet the huge majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or running out of fuel – A stirring tribute to the AAF’s educational establishments.

Cadet to Colonel: It was possible for a flying cadet at the time of Pearl Harbor to finish the war with eagles on his shoulders.  That was the record of John D. Landers, a 21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1941.  He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours total flight time, including 2½ in P-40s.  He finished the war as a full colonel, commanding an 8th Air Force Group — at age 24. As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became exceptions. By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged at least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training.  At the same time, many captains and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours.

FACT: At its height in mid-1944, the Army Air Forces had 2.6 million people and nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types. Today the US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000 civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft.  The 2009 figures represent about 12 percent of the manpower and 7 percent of the airplanes of the WWII peak.

The numbers were staggering and although I cannot independently verify the statistics used, I can verify that these numbers came from a trusted source.

Now, the stats on Vietnam where I served for 18 months as a enlisted Marine:

Vietnam War Casualty Statistics
Total number of U.S. soldiers deployed to Vietnam	536,100
Total number of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War	58,220
Total number of U.S. soldiers wounded in the Vietnam War	303,644
Total military casualties from both sides	1.475 million
Total wounded from both sides	2.094 million
Total civilian casualties from both sides	4 million
Age of the oldest man killed during the Vietnam War	62
Total number of KIA’s soldiers who were less than 20 years old	11,465
Vietnam Soldier Casualties by Race
Percent of casualties who were Caucasian	86 %
Percent of casualties who were Black	12.5 %
Percent of casualties who were other races	1.2 %
Vietnam War Veteran Statistics
Percentage of Vietnam Vets who say their glad they served	91 %
Percent of Vietnam Vets who said they’d serve again knowing the outcome	74 %
Percent of Vietnam Veterans who’ve been jailed for crimes	0.5 %
Percent of Vietnam Veterans who were discharged under honorable conditions	97 %
Percent of Vietnam Vets who made a successful transition to civilian life	85 %
Percent more income made by Vietnam Vets than non-veterans	18 %
Percent of Vietnam veterans who voluntarily signed up	66 %

                                 Source Document

Join me again next week when I will be telling you about a trip a friend in Colombia made that followed in the footsteps of Alexander Von Humboldt. Until then – have a good weekend, keep family and friends close, and remember to protect the profession and all who will follow in your footsteps.

Robert Novell

April 12, 2013