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Thread: Museum of Army Flying

  1. #1

    Default Museum of Army Flying

    I went up to the museum of army flying in Hampshire recently to see their new memorial. As I walked around to the entrance of the memorial I was quite taken aback by how many RFC personal died during WW1. Although I knew it was a lot it was very humbling to see their names laid out in a 360 forma like that.

    A quick google - 1 in 5 of the 22,000! pilots who completed training died.A survey of 283 Sopwith Camel pilots who entered combat in early 1918 revealed that 46 were killed in action, 65 were wounded in action, 89 went missing in action, 60 were sent home for further training and only 23 remained at the front. Of the missing, statistically at least 30 would have died with the rest being captured, bringing total deaths out of 283 to 75–80, or over a quarter.

    German fighter pilots had the most dangerous life of all, since they didn’t fly tours the way British pilots did, but, being outnumbered, pretty much had to stay at the front until they were killed, wounded or had a mental breakdown.
    Of 2,894 pilots who flew in the jastas, 1,241 became combat casualties: 618 killed in action, 52 died of wounds, 140 taken prisoner, and 431 wounded. Losses from accidents are less certain, but a ballpark figure is 74 killed and 32 injured in air accidents. So that makes 744 deaths out of 2,894, or just over a quarter, which happens to be a similar proportion to the sample of Camel pilots.

    Bear in mind that most pilots at any time were not serving in combat but were on home defence and training duties, so that most aircrew deaths occurred outside the combat zone, in accidents.

    Also bear in mind that survival rates depended on when pilots entered service. When you look at Richthoven’s contemporaries, or, say, Ball’s on the other side, a frightening proportion did not survive the war, but these guys were in action in 1916, which meant they had a lot of flying to get through. Air force strengths increased dramatically in 1918, so most of those who flew in the war served only in the last 10 months, and their survival rate was high because they had less exposure to combat.


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    Last edited by Rabscallion; 04-17-2018 at 08:30.

  2. #2

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    Very interesting facts Rob. That looks like a very nice museum to visit. Thank you for sharing. Rep coming.

  3. #3

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    I believe you are the first to post pictures of this new subject of interest Rob, and yes when we started publishing the Sniper's Times it brought home to us the real cost of what lay behind our game.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  4. #4

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    I believe I read somewhere yesterday that they have received Ł1.5m lottery funding for expansion.
    Run for your life - there are stupid people everywhere!

  5. #5

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    In the book 'Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero,' the author notes Bishop was judged ready to solo after just three hours flying time, and received his wings after less than 20 hours. He then writes:
    "Such limited preparation seems preposterous today, and perhaps it explains why fatal crashes were an everyday occurrence at British flight schools. Indeed, while 6,000 aviators were killed in combat with the German Air Force between 1914 and 1918, a shocking 8,000 more were destined to die in England while they learned how to fly."
    Horrific & shocking numbers lost in training.

    "He is wise who watches"

  6. #6

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    Thank you for the good report and photographs, Rob. That like like an interesting museum to visit.

  7. #7

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    I’m embarrassed to say that whilst I have been to Middle Wallop a number of times (for the kite festival that used to be held there), I’ve never visited the museum. I suspect that is something I should rectify at some point.

    Thanks for the reminder of its existence Rob.

    - Neil.



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