Some Of Our Bombers Are Missing... ...BUT 50 PER CENT OF THEIR CREWS ARE SAFE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 220, 10 September 1943, Page 4

Some Of Our Bombers Are Missing...

...BUT 50 PER CENT OF THEIR CREWS

ARE SAFE

By

the Air Correspondent of )

the Glasgow "Sunday Post"

* of our bombers are missing." That sting in the tail of Air Ministry communiqués disquiets us. As the strength of our raids has increased, losses have mounted. They might even go higher. But don't let’s get too gloomy. Some 50 per cent of our shot-down crews have escaped with their lives, and are now prisoners-of-war. Since the beginning of the war, I make our bomber losses over Germany, Italy and occupied territories roughly 2500. Yearly totals as follows: TIGR 2 cei ae ene a ee Shy 8 epee er Pyar es ee ees BOGE = ine Siete ages dikee. raids). REDO FRGS (to Agwil) >i. Si = BOO You can reckon the average number of men per machine over the whole period of the war as six. It is seven now, because the smaller bombers are not so largely used. On this basis, 15,000 airmen have failed to come back. But, according to my reckoning, some 7500 will one day do so. The losses represent rather more than the equivalent of an infantry division. Against them we can show widespread devastation in Axis armament plants and the pinning down to defence of huge enemy fighter and A.A, forces. ' The same results for equal sacrifices on land would be hailed as a tremendous victory. ; But we can’t leave sentiment out where the R.A.F. is concerned. When .we read’ that 50 bombers are missing,

a4 ES | our distress that some 350 men have gone overshadows all other considerations, This is natural, but it isn’t war. Trained to Escape The only question should be-"Was it worth it?" And it has been worth it every time. Bomber crews’ chances of escape are poorer than they were in the days of the open cockpit. But they’re a good deal rosier than in the early days of the war. Before any man is sent out in a bomber he’s thoroughly trained in escape technique. He knows exactly what to do when in a tight corner. There are more and better escape hatches in our latest bombers. The Bristol Beaufighter-though not in the heavy bomber class-is probably the best example of design for escape. The entry and escape hatch opens downwards and outwards in the floor. It provides a shielded area of still air in which the crew can drop clear of the machine. Without this, a man drops immediately into a 300 to 400 miles an hour wind. There’s always the danger he’ll be blown against some part of the structure, particularly the tail, and injure himself. Two Choices for the Pilot Our Lancasters, Stirlings and Halifaxes are all fitted with escape hatches in roof and floor for each member of

the crew. The result is they’re able to bale out, no matter at what angle the machine is flying. When an aircraft has been hit so badly there’s no chance of its getting home, the pilot has two choices, He can crash land, or order the men to bale out one by one in an order previously decided upon, and, in some cases, rehearsed. Now and again, there has been a combination of both methods. Part of the crew take to their ’chutes while the skipper and maybe one or two of the -others stay on. Rome Radio Errs This happened during a raid on Turin — and, incidentally, made the Italian Propaganda Ministry look a little foolish. | Our communique had claimed all the British aircraft returned safely. Lately in the day, Rome radio announced: "The British Air "Ministry communique says all the British aircraft came back to their bases. The British have been misinformed, because some members of the ‘crews in the British planes were made prisoner after their planes were brought down." All our aircraft did, in fact, return safely. A Halifax, captained by Wing-Com-mander B. V. Robinson, D.S.O., D.F.C., dropped a heavy load on Turin. Shortly afterwards, fire broke out in the bomb bay. The whole aircraft was filled with smoke and fumes. There was a violent explosion. The fire went on spreading. In front of the Halifax were the Alps. The ground was only a thousand feet below. (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) Wing Commander Robinson gave the "bale out" order. One by one the crew jumped, The skipper was about to follow when the fire died down. He stayed, and brought the machine home. Precious Seconds The order in which the crew bale out varies with different types of bombers. In all cases the skipper is last to leave. In a Stirling the sequence is (1) flight engineer, (2) mid-upper gunner, (3) rear gunner, (4) wireless operator, (5) air bomber, (6) navigator, and (7) pilot. Escape chances vary with the damage a machine has suffered. If the tail has been shot away, the outlook isn’t too rosy. : The tendency is for the aircraft to go down in a vertical, uncontrolled dive, With every second counting, you can imagine the difficulty of clipping on parachutes and crawling to exit hatches. Still, it can be, and has been, done. The same applies in any impending crash in which the ‘pilot has lost control. One of the worst is a spin. The men inside the fuselage have to crawl to the nearest hatch, and open it. Neither is easy when you're being flung about like peas in boiling water. In a "bale-out" the men least to be envied are the skipper and the tail ‘gunner. By the time the others have disappeared, the skipper’s chance may have gone. The tail gunner is O.K. so long as his turret is working. Then all he’s got to do is rotate it until the exit doors face outwards-and fall back into space. But if the turret is jammed in the fore and aft position — and this can easily happen when a machine has been plastered with flak — he’s got to crawl a good 20 feet along the fuselage. Fire is the bomber’s biggest enemy. There are chemical appliances for dealing promptly with it, but if the flames catch, say, a leaky petrol tank, well, seconds are precious indeed!