What percent of ww2 bomber pilots were killed in action?

Answer 1

Overall, not that many. The worst time and place to be a bomber pilot (or crewman) was in early 1943 in England as a member of the 8th Air Force, engaged in the strategic bombing of Europe (which in 1943 meant almost entirely raids on occupied France). This was before belly "drop tanks" became common and long range fighter escort planes were in theater, so the bombers had to penetrate enemy air space unescorted and suffered heavy losses. The US had begun its daylight strategic bombing in Europr in August 1942 with a tiny force. A "tour of duty" meant completing 25 missions, and the crew of the B-17 "Memphis Belle" was the first to do so in May 1943, and at that time this was truly defying the odds and walking on water. But by late 1943 early-1944 there were hundreds more US bombers on the raids, the escort fighters could now go much deeper, and the German Air Force was suffering from attrition, so it got much less deadly for US bomber pilots in Europe as time went on. Overall, there were 16 million Americans in uniform in WWII, and 2 million of these served in the 8th AF bombing Europe from England. Of that 2 million, only 27,000 were killed in action. Of course, only a small percentage of that 2 million was combat crews. Bomber pilots in other commands could also face tough missions, but in general the "big leagues" were the 8th AF in England. There was also the 9th AF in England, flying medium bombers on tactical missions, and the 12th AF in Italy flying heavy bombers on strategic raids into southern Germany. There were the 14th and 20 AFs in the Pacific bombing Japan. By FAR, far and away, the most deadly job in WWII was being a foot soldier, a rifleman in a rifle platoon on the front lines. The vast majority of US KIA were riflemen. And being a rifle platoon leader was the deadliest job of all. The US WWII military (and its still true today) had a massive "logistical tail" with dozens of men behind the lines for every one in combat. There were never very many riflemen, sometimes nowhere near enough, and in some units the average position had to be replaced ten times.