Originally it was 25 missions, so this must have been later in the war when the German Air Force had been decimated. I believe as the war went on, the flying became less dangerous because of the lack of German fighters,;so they started to increase the number of missions required. My father’s B-17 was shot down over Munster Germany. He spent 18 months in a German prison camp, which was later liberated by Patton’s forces. No group of combatants suffered more losses than B-17 personnel ; ground or air. Something like only one out of four finished the required missions to go home; they were either wounded, killed, captured, or experienced mental breakdowns.
J Short over 12 years ago
Originally it was 25 missions, so this must have been later in the war when the German Air Force had been decimated. I believe as the war went on, the flying became less dangerous because of the lack of German fighters,;so they started to increase the number of missions required. My father’s B-17 was shot down over Munster Germany. He spent 18 months in a German prison camp, which was later liberated by Patton’s forces. No group of combatants suffered more losses than B-17 personnel ; ground or air. Something like only one out of four finished the required missions to go home; they were either wounded, killed, captured, or experienced mental breakdowns.