The rest, three per cent (160), a small but not insignificant number of men, did not or could not finish their tours of duty. A total of 17 per cent (800) were killed in action. Another 20 per cent (1,000) were shot down and captured, serving out the war in prisoner-of-war camps. Of the Eighth Air Force’s renowned 100th Bomb Group and its 4,700 airmen, nearly 60 per cent (2,700) completed their required missions and returned home without fanfare, took off their uniforms and moved on with their lives. Tens of thousands of men served during the Second World War as pilots or crew on Army Air Corps bombers. Yet none of this seemed to diminish the enthusiasm of the young recruits. It dealt openly with how pilots, again from the RFC, turned to nights of heavy drinking to manage the stress of combat. The Dawn Patrol, released that same year, painted a more realistic portrait of the war and what it meant to fly in combat. Famous for its stunningly realistic First World War dogfight sequences, it portrayed a love triangle between two Royal Flying Corps (RFC) pilots and the beautiful Helen, played by blonde bombshell Jean Harlow. One of the earliest films about wartime flying was Howard Hughes’ 1930 production Hell’s Angels. Even in 1941, aviation was still seen as a glamorous, exciting and dangerous adventure.Īnd then there were the movies with Hollywood’s portrayal of the conflicted and tormented wartime flyer. Louis, captured the public’s imagination. Army Air Corps had grown up in the long shadows of World War One aces, the barnstormers and stunt fliers of the 1920s, and daredevils like Charles Lindbergh whose solo flight across the Atlantic in his single-engine monoplane, Spirit of St. WHEN AMERICA entered the Second World War, thousands of young men jumped at the chance to fly for their country. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) “Recognized today as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, during the Second World War, some made light of the condition or viewed it as a sign of weakness.” The hazards of enemy fighters and flak, along with the demands of a gruelling mission schedule, was more than enough to send many bomber crews over the edge. B-24 Liberator “Black Nan” breaks up over Italy, April 10, 1945.
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