| Bomber Command |
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The successes of Bomber Command were purchased at terrible cost. Of the volunteers who flew, almost sixty percent (over 55 000) were killed. Over 10,000 Canadians died serving in Bomber Command. It is a loss rate comparable only to the worst slaughter of the First World War trenches. Of those who were flying at the beginning of the war, only ten percent survived. Even those who began their service after D-Day (June 6, 1944) suffered almost fifty percent losses. |
Canadian pilot and author Murray Peden recalls: "The crews faced formidable odds, odds seldom appreciated outside the Command. At times in the great offensives of 1943 and 1944 the short-term statistics foretold that less than 25 out of each 100 crews would survive their first tour of 30 operations. On a single night Bomber Command lost more aircrew than Fighter Command lost during the Battle of Britain. Yet the crews buckled on their chutes and set out with unshakeable resolution night after night. They fell prey to the hazards of icing, lightning, storm and structural failure, and they perished amidst the bursting shells of the flak batteries. But by far the greater number died in desperately unequal combat under the overwhelming firepower of the tenacious German night fighter defenders."
Yet despite the chilling odds, the flow of volunteers never faltered. The price was known to be enormous, but it was a price which continued to be paid with unquestioning courage. If today it represents a debt which can never be repaid, it is at least a debt which must never be forgotten.
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Total sorties: 392,137 Total aircraft lost: 10,724 |
Tons Dropped: 955,044 Total mines laid: 47,307 |
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Killed on operations Killed in crashes in England Seriously injured Prisoner of War Evaded capture Survived unharmed |
51 9 3 12 1 24 |
