Today, most people have no idea how massive the effort was for the USA during World War II. Here are some numbers showing how the American people rallied to the war effort, and how the US won the war.
This statement from the article: On average 6600 American service men died per MONTH, during WWII
(about 220 a day). And according to Hillary Clinton we are afraid of losing one aircraft in Libya should a
No-fly zone be established [but much too late for that now].
Most Americans who were not adults during WWII have no understanding of the magnitude of it. This listing
Of some of the aircraft facts gives a bit of insight to it.
276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US .
43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat.
14,000 lost in the continental U.S.
The US civilian population maintained a dedicated effort for four years, many working long hours seven days
Per week and often also volunteering for other work. WWII was the largest human effort in history.
Statistics from Flight Journal magazine.
THE COST of DOING BUSINESS
—- The staggering cost of war.
THE PRICE OF VICTORY (cost of an aircraft in WWII dollars)
B-17 $204,370. P-40 $44,892.
B-24 $215,516. P-47 $85,578.
B-25 $142,194. P-51 $51,572.
B-26 $192,426. C-47 $88,574.
B-29 $605,360. PT-17 $15,052.
P-38 $97,147. AT-6 $22,952.
PLANES A DAY WORLDWIDE
From Germany’s invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 and ending with Japan ’s surrender Sept. 2, 1945 — 2,433 days.
From 1942 onward, America averaged 170 planes lost a day.
How many is a 1,000 planes? B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to wingtip would extend 250 miles. 1,000 B-17s
Carried 2.5 million gallons of high octane fuel and required 10,000 airmen to fly and fight them.
THE NUMBERS GAME
9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed, 1942-1945.
107.8 million hours flown, 1943-1945.
459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas, 1942-1945.
7.9 million bombs dropped overseas, 1943-1945.
2.3 million combat sorties, 1941-1945 (one sortie = one takeoff).
299,230 aircraft accepted, 1940-1945.
808,471 aircraft engines accepted, 1940-1945.
799,972 propellers accepted, 1940-1945.
WWII MOST-PRODUCED COMBAT AIRCRAFT
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik 36,183
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&zw)
Yakolev Yak-1,-3,-7, -9 31,000+
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.2&disp=emb&zw)
Messerschmitt Bf-109 30,480
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.3&disp=emb&zw)
Focke-Wulf Fw-190 29,001
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.4&disp=emb&zw)
Supermarine Spitfire/Seafire 20,351
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.5&disp=emb&zw)
Convair B-24/PB4Y Liberator/Privateer 18,482
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.6&disp=emb&zw)
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 15,686
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.7&disp=emb&zw)
North American P-51 Mustang 15,875
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.8&disp=emb&zw)
Junkers Ju-88 15,000
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.9&disp=emb&zw)
Hawker Hurricane 14,533
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.10&disp=emb&zw)
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 13,738
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.11&disp=emb&zw)
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 12,731
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.12&disp=emb&zw)
Vought F4U Corsair 12,571
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.13&disp=emb&zw)
Grumman F6F Hellcat 12,275
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.14&disp=emb&zw)
Petlyakov Pe-2 11,400
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.15&disp=emb&zw)
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 10,037
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.16&disp=emb&zw)
Mitsubishi A6M Zero 10,449
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.17&disp=emb&zw)
North American B-25 Mitchell 9,984
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.18&disp=emb&zw)
Lavochkin LaGG-5 9,920
Note: The LaGG-5 was produced with both water-cooled (top) and air-cooled (bottom) engines.
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.20&disp=emb&zw)
Grumman TBM Avenger 9,837
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.21&disp=emb&zw)
Bell P-39 Airacobra 9,584
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.22&disp=emb&zw)
Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar 5,919
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.23&disp=emb&zw)
DeHavilland Mosquito 7,780
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.24&disp=emb&zw)
Avro Lancaster 7,377
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.25&disp=emb&zw)
Heinkel He-111 6,508
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.26&disp=emb&zw)
Handley-Page Halifax 6,176
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.27&disp=emb&zw)
Messerschmitt Bf-110 6,150
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.28&disp=emb&zw)
Lavochkin LaGG-7 5,753
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.29&disp=emb&zw)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress 3,970
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.30&disp=emb&zw)
Short Stirling 2,383
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=709aec3ab6&view=att&th=1317769b2705beb4&attid=0.1.31&disp=emb&zw)
According to the AAF Statistical Digest, in less than four years (December 1941- August 1945), the US Army
Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and assorted personnel plus 13,873 airplanes — inside the continental
United States. They were the result of 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months.
Think about those numbers. They average 1,170 aircraft accidents per month—- nearly 40 a day. (Less than
one accident in four resulted in totaled aircraft, however.)
It gets worse…..
Almost 1,000 Army planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign climes. But an eye-watering 43,581
aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis) and 20,633
attributed to non-combat causes overseas.
In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate and meant
600 empty bunks in England . In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission
tour in Europe .
Pacific theatre losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces committed. The worst B-29 mission,
against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas .
On average, 6,600 American servicemen died per month during WWII, about 220 a day. By the end of the war,
over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat theatres and another 18,000 wounded. Some 12,000 missing men were
declared dead, including a number “liberated” by the Soviets but never returned. More than 41,000 were captured,
half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died in captivity, compared with one-tenth in German hands. Total combat
casualties were pegged at 121,867.
US manpower made up the deficit. The AAF’s peak strength was reached in 1944 with 2,372,000 personnel, nearly
twice the previous year’s figure.
The losses were huge—but so were production totals. From 1941 through 1945, American industry delivered more
than 276,000 military aircraft. That number was enough not only for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but for allies
as diverse as Britain , Australia , China and Russia . In fact, from 1943 onward, America produced more planes than
Britain and Russia combined. And more than Germany and Japan together 1941-45.
However, our enemies took massive losses. Through much of 1944, the Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled
hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of aircrews and 40 planes a month. And in late 1944 into 1945, nearly
half the pilots in Japanese squadrons had flown fewer than 200 hours. The disparity of two years before had
been completely reversed.
Experience Level:
Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of training. Some fighter pilots entered
combat in 1942 with less than one hour in their assigned aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943 having trained on
P-39s. The group never saw a Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission.
A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type. Many had fewer than five hours. Some had one hour.
With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat. The attitude was, “They all have a stick