AS the 60th anniversary celebrations of the victory of Fighter Command draw to a close we should not forget the sacrifice of Bomber Command.
While the Battle Of Britain lasted a few months, Bomber Command operated for the whole of the war; the first operation taking place on September 3 and 4, 1939 and the last on May 2 and 3, 1945. In this period Bomber Command flew 1,481 night operations and 1,089 daylight ones consisting of 307,253 night and 80,163 day sorties.
There were 2,369 aircrew involved in the Battle Of Britain of which 446 were killed; a loss rate of 18 per cent. On the other hand Bomber Command had about 120,000 aircrew of which 55,500 were killed; a loss rate of 45 per cent. In fact on one night March 30 and 31, 1944, Bomber Command lost more aircrew than Fighter Command did during the whole of the Battle Of Britain.
No one date signifies Bomber Command's struggle so perhaps as we pass the old airfields nation wide, we remember those boys who, in Herbert Colby's poem The Lost, 'Do not sing and laughed not long'.
Mike Usherwood,
Mendip Close,
Huntington, York.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article