Guys how long was a service time for a crew member of USAF in England 1942-45?
Was it limited by a number missions? Were shore leaves mandatory? If they wanted to serve longer, would they have to take some time off?
8th USAF crew rotation
Guys how long was a service time for a crew member of USAF in England 1942-45?
Was it limited by a number missions? Were shore leaves mandatory? If they wanted to serve longer, would they have to take some time off?
I guess i have found the answer.
https://www.afhra.af.mil/Portals/16/...-30-151431-133
early on it was 25 missions for flight crews. later on when air superiority was progressively established they upped it to 35, then 50. for ground crew it was "for the duration".
Very sadly, so many brave young men were lost before they completed their tours. May they rest in peace.
I am working on a brand new rulebook for this solitaire game:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/...-bombing-reich
It is a bucket-of-dice type of a game, just like Queen of the Skies, but here you are flying a whole squadron of B-17s. The original rulebook was pretty horrible and Lock N Load asked me to rewrite it. Plus i am about to add some more realistic rules to it, one of which is the crew rotation.
And did you read Donald Miller Masters of the Air? Superb book about US bombers
Thanks for recommanding it. I'll check it out.
queen of the skies is another great game by avalon hill. Always thought it was 25 n home!!!!
Originally Posted by camel crew
still got my copy!
so have I. good solo game. Those head on attacks that ripped through the plane were viscious. Did you make names up for the crew? I did
Hmmm... The "50 Mission Curve" or as I've found on the Interweb trying to find any reference, the "50 Mission Crush" cap. This was an officer's forage cap, or peaked cap, that was worn during bomber missions, and because of the headsets, was curved down around the sides instead of being a rounded, flat-topped hat. The hat's shape became formed by the continuous wear during many missions, and was considered "out of dress" as it wasn't a neat and "polished" appearance when not in an airplane. However, for those that had flown more than 25 missions (Not sure about this, but there is the title which suggests that the hat was worn on a very big number of missions), it was condoned as a badge of honour.
It was also very frowned upon by veterans who saw younger plane captains who "artificially" curved their caps to prematurely give themselves more status.
So, somewhere along the way, during WWII, some pilots/officers were flying more than 25 missions.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
yep. kept track of kills and even awarded "medals" to the crews lol. sort of turned it into roll playing lite lol.
Hmmm... The "50 Mission Curve" or as I've found on the Interweb trying to find any reference, the "50 Mission Crush" cap. This was an officer's forage cap, or peaked cap, that was worn during bomber missions, and because of the headsets, was curved down around the sides instead of being a rounded, flat-topped hat. The hat's shape became formed by the continuous wear during many missions, and was considered "out of dress" as it wasn't a neat and "polished" appearance when not in an airplane. However, for those that had flown more than 25 missions (Not sure about this, but there is the title which suggests that the hat was worn on a very big number of missions), it was condoned as a badge of honour.
It was also very frowned upon by veterans who saw younger plane captains who "artificially" curved their caps to prematurely give themselves more status.
So, somewhere along the way, during WWII, some pilots/officers were flying more than 25 missions.
and sadly to this day because 50 mission crushers command a good price many a ground pounders service cap is permanently modified by overeager collectors by cutting out the hat stay.
I'm not an expert, but, cutting out the stay isn't what happened to the hat. The hat stay was 'worn in' to give the bent-side shape. So, any hat that is marketed with stays cut out, but the material unmarked by headset wear would be an obvious fake. I've actually seen some of these online, not understanding what they were, looking for the photo above. Note that the stay appears to be in my example, just bent by the headset.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Think that's the point Phil was making - overeager collectors cheat and cut out the stay to create the fake.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
sorry mike, wasnt trying to imply yours was cut. no way for me to tell that without looking inside and seeing if its got a cut retaining loop in front at the top of the badge holder. manufacturers bowed to the inevitable and started making them without the stay as not only pilots like the "50 mission crush" look and many officers adopted the look. one was even marketed under the name "flight ace". yours is a nice looking example btw.
yep, exactly dave. i understand wanting one, but it makes me sad that they modify the originality of them.
The image was just for illustration, stolen from an ad on the Internet. I don't own a historic 50-mission cap.
Early in my military career, my dress uniform forage cap was stuffed in my gear locker when I was on ship. That was when I first heard the experssion, when I showed up as gangway party, and had unstowed my hat. The Petty Officer in charge wasn't impressed with the shape of my hat, I suppose.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Picked this up today.
Coffee Table size - 320 pages - lots of photos.
And the price was right.
Me want
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