DH 98 Best Bomber WWII

And i whish more did, so to encourage you here's an interesting line. During the War the UK employed Female pilots as A/C delivery officers i beleive they were under contract to the Air Ministry so never got Queens commisions. There was one moment in particular when one of the first "Converted 617 A/C " was delivered prior to the Dams raid by a female pilot. In addition there are many accounts of WAAF's coercing their way onto Bommer Command A/C during active operations. There are even a couple of who dunnits out there still to be properly put to bed which involve WAAF's who are suspected of being killed whilst in A/C over occupied europe.
Good Hunting

 

Exactly Martin . You have it right there . LOL

 

Yes true, spot on.

And i think the WAAF test flight the brand new aircrafts before handing the aircrafts to there male counterparts. If got bad grammer and spelling sorry,i always had bad grammer and bad spelling. Cheers

 

Further to women ferry pilots,

I read somewhere many years ago that women ferried many/most of the heavy bombers across the Atlantic to the ETO.
I have never been able to find an internet site that covers this, does anyone know of it?


John.

 

Interesting article on the RCAF Womens service in WW 2....Sorry for the thread drift.

RCAF Women's Division, WWII

Canadian Women Enlisted in the Air Force in World War Two

© Susanna McLeod
Jan 31, 2008



Though not permitted as pilots, over 17,000 women joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during WW2 in jobs ranging from clerical duties to driver to airframe maintenance


“We serve that men may fly.” The promotional poster words encouraged young Canadian women, aged 21 to 41 to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. Notice, though, that the women were not joining to be piloting the planes, they were enlisting to be support.
The Canadian government committed to train thousands of new airmen in 1941, from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, to enhance the air services required in WWII. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan began on a shoestring, with not nearly enough men to staff the few training centres available. Following the British model, women were called to join, first as the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. (CWAAF)
British Women Officers

The first group of women was to be trained in Toronto’s Havergal College as Air Force officers and NCOs. The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force already firmly established in Britain, Wing Officer L. M. Crowther and Squadron Officer E. C. Bather arrived to organize the CWAAF, plus several Canadian women were recruited to initiate the new division. Head of the Ottawa Red Cross Motor Transport Group, Kathleen Walker signed on as the first policy officer of CWAAF. In 1942, she was promoted to Senior Officer of the RCAF Women’s Division. Carefully choosing 150 women for the senior posts, the military insisted that “good family background and connections” were essential for the first female officers, said Jean Bruce in her book, Back the Attack, along with good health and education. After training, the new officers and NCOs were posted across the country to train the squadrons of airwomen required for the newly-open jobs.
In the beginning of CWAAC in 1941, only eight trades were available to women:
Clerk
Cook
Equipment Assistant
Fabric Worker
Hospital Assistant
Motor Transport Driver
Telephone Operator
General.Duty
A year later, over 50 trades opened to the women and the age was extended to 45. Initial basic training included endless drills on the Parade Square, learning the techniques of marching and saluting. It was not easy. “New recruits,” noted Mary Ziegler in We Serve That Men May Fly, seemed unsure of which was their left or right foot and could not seem to react instantly to the words of command barked at them.” Some women were devastated by the harsh learning process.
Canadian Airwomen Were Accepted

In February 1942, the women were no longer called CWAACs. The group was integrated into the Royal Canadian Air Force as the RCAF Women’s Division. They were Airwomen and they were appreciated. Air Marshal L. S. Breadner, Chief of the Air Staff in October 1942 said in Back the Attack, “You are a novelty to the Service no longer, and soon we shall wonder how we got along without you.”
The airwomen were posted at RCAF bases from coast to coast across Canada and also sent overseas to Europe. One woman travelling on the ship Aquitania to England said in Back the Attack, “There was no convoy, and we were chased all over the Atlantic, down to the Azores and practically to Iceland” by enemy boats.
Over 17,000 Women Joined

By the end of WWII, 17,038 women had enlisted in the RCAF Women’s Division. The vista of trades available had expanded to 65 and encompassed photography and meteorology to airframe maintenance, parachute packers to aero engine mechanics and teachers of wireless operators/air gunners. Their participation as full support was a resounding success, allowing more Airmen to do their duty at the front. Though some women were already experienced pilots in their own right, they were not allowed to take part as Air Force flyers. No women were trained or permitted to participate as pilots.
On July 13, 1945, according to Veterans Affairs Canada, three Airwomen of the RCAF WD and eleven Airmen were killed in the unfortunate crash of an aircraft during a mission to familiarize the flight crew with British Columbia airfields.
The Women’s Division was disbanded after the War on December 11, 1946, noted Juno Beach Centre. Women were allowed re-entry back into the RCAF in 1951. Permitted as military pilots in the RCAF in 1980, Canada was the first western country to sit women as licenced pilots in the seats of fighter jets in 1988. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan schools trained the tremendous number of 131,552 airmen from 1941 to 1945, cited RCAF.com.
Books:
Back the Attack! Canadian Women During the Second World War – At Home and Abroad, by Jean Bruce, published by Macmillan of Canada, Toronto Ontario, 1985

 

I'm not too sure about this, but certainly large numbers of B-17s were flown across the Atlantic by freshly-trained combat crews ( many memoirs attest to this ). They were disappointed to subsequently lose 'their' new aircraft and be appointed to an older airframe on arrival with their Groups.

( Of course, the B-17 crews reckoned that the B-24 was the packing crate in which the Fort was flown over the Atlantic - and that opens up a whole new argument ! )

 

I know about lady pilote's testing Aircraft but
Did any lady pilote ever crossing the atlantic with a bomber actcidently get involved with German fighter's during there crossing?

 

Agree, and bringing up the #2 slot as a (very) close second ...

 

Just another snippet to tantilize.

Apr. 8th 1943
Scampton Airfield


F/L H.B.“Mickey” Martin and Wg. Cdr. Guy Gibson standing out on the hardstanding are watching as the first of the Type 464 provisioning Lancasters arrive. These are the A/C which will be flown on the upcoming Dams raid. The Bomb doors have been removed and there is a strange caliper device hanging from the belly. The plane lands and taxi's to the hardstanding


F/L H.B.“Mickey” Martin
“God is that a Lanc.or isn’t it? What a monstrosity.”

Wg. Cdr. Guy Gibson
“Like a Pregnant duck. “
he replies

The plane rumbles into the dispersal area as the two watch and are a little surprised as a female pilot exits the plane.

The above incident is in the famous Dambusters Book By Paul Brickhill. Another book which talks of the more personal side of having both sexes serving so closely is:

Chased By the Sun: Courageous Australians In Bomber Command In WWII.
Hank Nelson
ABC Books 2002
ISBN. 0733310702

P.139 Window instead of rice at RAF weddings.

Widow the anti radar device which was strips of black backed Alfoil.

P.174 Fay “Blondie” Gillam
A Inteligence WAAF who aparently followed F/L H.B.“Mickey” Martin from his old posting to Scampton and it is rumoured had a "fling" with in flight during the lead up to the Dams Raid.

Yes there were many flying roles that many unknown women held and performed admirably.

 

I misstated. My father-in-law's experiences were in a B-24.

 

Za Rod exceptional photo do you know the context, were these shuttle pilots, or a staged photo perhaps. Either way great photo.

 

The local Airfield here is Archerfield which during the War housed and shuttled many different A/C including the A-26. Today a ghost can still be seen there. The Gentelman who owns the Warbirds Flights company which sometimes operates from this field owns and regularly flies his own private A-26 its a site to behold to watch this beauty rise of the macadam. During my pilots training i had the pleasure of taxing behind him as we lined up for takeoff. This crew also regularly fly a P-51 another hair raiser to watch and hear.

 

Please by all means I just said that since you stated with such certainty that british tanks were awefull. I could have used other examples to prove that British tank designs were just as good as anybody else's (except the Germans!!!!). Take the Queen of the Desert for instance.


No hard feelings I hope.


Cheers...

 

The British Lancaster bomber was the best of world war 2. It dropped more payload than any other bomber of the war.

 

That is a very absolute statement to make without some data to back it up.
Do you mean in total or each mission? Do you have a specific target area in mind? what can you possibly mean by 'best'? - all aircraft have strengths and weaknesses which made them better or less good for certain operations.

 

I could make the argument that the Dauntless Dive Bomber was the most effective 'bomber' since 3 squadrons (50 aircracft) changed the course of the Pacific war at Midway.

 

or the enola gay for 'most effective'?

or IIRC the Sturmovik for 'most tanks killed'

 

Thats the rub of best ever when you compare a whole class, rather than a specific type. There are simply too many variables to reach any consencess

 

The only possible way to come close to a valid 'best-worst' table IMO would be a statistical one, however the figures are not entirely accurate or available;

Take the cost of each plane in money, materials, manufacturing effort and 'special' items, and compare it to the total damage done by that type of aircraft in the same terms per fuselage (almost impossible to quantify). Then you would have to throw in an 'aircrew lost per unit of damage' factor adjusted for ease or otherwise of new aircrew training.

add in an 'x' factor of enemy 'perception' of the aircraft, friendly morale gained by having it, and crew 'liking' of the class. You'd need an 'in service' factor based on ability to be modified/improved, number of aircraft lost through non-enemy causes, amount of fuel/maintenance, airfield construction effort required etc. Ability to adapt to different missions/weapons/climates.

If those sort of items could be numerically assessed for each major contender (and I'm sure I've missed a few important factors out), you might have a comparison that means something.

IMO if you could do that, the Mosquito would probably win, but that's pure guesswork. It was also a great looking plane

my guess for 2nd place would be the Petlyakov-2