Hi,
recently I saw a well famous TV serie about a Pawn shop. The shop keeper, commenting a bombardier jacket that a woman brought to the shop, said that normally the the members of the crew of a B-17 in Europe fly for 25 combat missions and then their active service is ended.
It’s true?
Another question, normally, what is the average numbers of sorties in a month for a USAF bombardier in Europe during WWII?
Thank you in advance for you answers.
Well it is true about the 25 missions for the most part. In the last 1 or 2 years of the war most of the crews ended up flying more then 25 missions
I believe the number of missions required was a moving target, changing at various times during the war. The film Memphis Belle tells the story of the first USAAAF bomber crew to reach the quota.
Likewise, I believe the number of missions flown monthly varied at different times of the war, and with the planning needs. I believe the book Black Thursday, about the USAAF raid on Schweinfurt may discuss this and other aspects of daily “plane” life of bomber crews. unfortunately, I moved recently, and half my books are still in boxes, so I can’t check for you. I can’t recall the author’s name for sure, but my paperback copy must be at least 40 years old, which might help you track it down.