Damn, those Flak crews easily achieved the dreams of a German Ace: Shooting down an American Bomber. Many thanks for the post.
Thanks for finding this Bobby. The photos are graphic and I can't help thinking about the men who died. What a tragedy.
Found this article in Facebook of all places if you can believe that. Yeah, sometimes I think that maybe those flyboys didn't have it so easy after all when I see pix like these.
Going from frostbite to a fiery death at 25,000 feet would be tough. But I couldn't imagine what it would be like to come under an artillery or naval bombardment. Or to sit through a depth charge attack three hundred feet down in a metal tube filled with stifling 110 degree air . Or to try and cross a beach under machine gun fire. Not many easy ways to die in warfare.
Mcoffee: 300 feet down...things would get cold...quickly...but I agree I think id rather be in a diving aircraft than a stricken sub, hounded by a destroyer...and hearing his mate turn up to relieve them...
Easy? One out of two didn't survive long enough to get to the 30 tour milestone was almost impossible to achieve for the Raf boys.
Wouldn't argue the point. When not flying, their life was much better, just saying the missions were no picnic.
I think this says it all. Infantry, artillery, fliers, naval service. It doesn't matter. The hell of dying in warfare is terrible.
I have to think Lou that dying isn't the worst that can happen. How about all those that live that are so horribly maimed that they lived lives of pain and problems with no hope of having a normal life.