calling WWII air war boffins

[winterbadger]

gr_c17 and I were talking a few weeks ago about WWII aircrews (while playing Down in Flames, of course). I had thought that, at least to begin with, only officers were pilots in most WWII air forces, but that that stricture had been loosened when supplies of officers ran low. Bryan had thought that at least some sergeants were pilots; he also thought he recalled that the 8th Air Force had at one point decided to make all its enlisted aircrew up to sergeants because they had ascertained that the German luft stalags treated sergeants differently from (better than) other enlisted personnel.

How many errors or misconceptions were we guilty of? percyprune? vikingcat?

Comments

[vikingcat.livejournal.com]

I know there were NCO pilots in the RAF and the Finnish and Polish AFs, also the French AF I believe. There were also enlisted pilots in the USN at least durng the prewar years. See on USAAF sergeant pilots: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/ep/ep-3.htm and http://www.afa.org/magazine/1990/0390third.html

USAAF bomber gunners in Europe were indeed all sergeants in order to improve their treatment if captured by the Germans; I assume this was true in other theaters in order to be consistent, though I've never heard it mentioned one way or another.

[gr-c17.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. I was unaware of the F/O rank.

So, granddad's story was true. Now I need to find the pay rates for RCAF Sgt. Pilots vs. train conductor's.

[vikingcat.livejournal.com]

If they earned as much a train conductors I will be very surprised indeed.

[winterbadger]

Apparently they didn't, which was why his grandad turned around and came back. And then for some reason, conductors became "essential occupations", so he didn't get drafted either whent eh US joined in the war.