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The US 8th Air Force operated the B-17s from England. VIII Bomber Command had three "divisions"; the 1st and 3rd operated B-17s, and the 2nd operated B-24s. Each division had a number of Bombardment Groups (Heavy) assigned to it. The 1st Bomb Division had 13 Groups operating B-17s; the 2nd Division had 16 Groups operating B-24s; and the 3rd Division had 13 Groups operating B-17s. Thus, ultimately, there were over 40 Heavy Bombardment Groups operating from southeast England. Each Group had its own airfield. Each group had four squadrons, and each had its own ground echelon - of mechanics, armorers, sheet metal repairmen and so on, and at each airfield these ground crews labored mightily, sometimes days on end with little rest, to repair damaged bombers for the next raid. Each airfield (housing a group) had its own hangers and repair facilities. In addition the 8th AF operated a vast repair and supply depot at Burtonwood, on the west coast of England. By the end of the war 18,000 men were stationed at Burtonwood, which was the largest airfield in Europe, doing repairs and modifications for the 8th, 9th and 15th US Air Forces. New crews flew their B-17s across the Atlantic, via Bangor Maine, Gander Newfoundland, "Bluie 8" on Greenland and Prestwick Scotland, then to Burtonwood where the latest modifications inspired by operations in the theater of war would me made, such as armor plate, additional guns, etc. Then the new crew would be assigned to an old, tired "war weary" aircraft to begin their missions, and their shiny new airplane taken away and given to an experienced crew.
See related links below for a Wikipedia article which lists the various Bombardment Groups (Heavy) of the WWII 8th AF along with the airfield from which they operated, and for a link to an article on Burtonwood.
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Was the B-52 bomber used in the Vietnam War?
All US jet fighters such as the F100 Super Sabre, F102 Delta Dagger, F104 Starfighter, F8 Crusader, F4 Phantom were ultimately used as fighter BOMBERS. The F101 Voodoo was used primarily as a reconnaissance jet. The A7 Corsair was designed, built, and deployed in the 1960's directly into combat in Vietnam. The F105 Thunderchief was designed as a fighter/bomber, the largest single engine jet bomber in the US inventory and the only such jet that could carry an atomic weapon completely concealed within it's fuselage. Only 833 F105's were built and nearly 400 of them were lost in the war, consequently the F4 Phantom took over much of the Thud's duties. Traditional US jet bombers used in Vietnam were: B57 Canberra (twin jet engines); the A6 Intruder, US Navy all weather medium bomber; and the B52 Stratofortress heavy bomber (eight jet engines). The US Navy A4 Skyhawk and the USAF F100 Super Sabre saw extensive action in the war which is reflected in their losses: 362 A4's were lost, and 242 Super Sabre's were lost in the war. The propeller driven single engine A1 Skyraider also saw alot of action, 266 were lost in the war. Probably the most un-sung jet fighter (bomber) was the F100 Super Sabre; it fought from 1962 until 1971. Conducting bombing missions in Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. The F100 has unfortunately been heavily overshadowed by the F4 Phantom...as have been most of the other US jet fighter bombers.
What was the most widely used bomber in World War 2?
For Bombers:AnswerThe B-17 was most effective. Answer-> B-17 was a four-engine American bomber used i.e. when bombing Germany. Why the heck should that plane have been the most effective??? Why not then the british equivalent Lancaster-bomber, even able to bomb at high precision during night??? The problem is what you mean by effective... do you mean the most adequate for its purpose? Or the overall (whole WW2) most deadly airplane? None of the bombers can be called most effective... as they were effective bombers (especially the dive-bombers like the Stuka), but they all (even the slow B-17!) relayed on cover by escorting fighters. And don't forget... bombers were mainly used against civilians... so what's effective in bombing civilians (whole cities)? One of the most deadly (or probably the most deadly at all) airplanes of WW2 was the single engine (propeller) German fighter Messerschmitt Bf-109. It was a performing and well developed airplane... but the main cause why it should have been the most deadly one is that it was produced more than any other war-plane (till today) - more than 30'000 times. It was used during the whole war - even before that, when the Germans used it in Spain (civil war). There were many many different improved versions of it. The Focke-Wulf was the only other fighter that was used in a considerable amount besides the Bf-109. The biggest part of those famous German fighter pilots used the Messerschmitt... the best 100 aces scored together more than 15'000 air-victories... beside all the other pilots! Some destruction of 70'000 allied planes is attributed (assumption) to the Luftwaffe... and quite a few to this model!But everything is relative... there were very good allied planes, too. And probably Germans had others good models as well. It would be silly to choose one of them as "the best ever"... this can't be done.VicFor Fighters:Answer: P51 D MustangThe mustang was faster more maneuverable than anything the axis powers had, I t was built and designed by North American Aviation. The Mustang was the fighter that could go the longest distance with out refueling in the war. It was faster than any thing the axis had until the ME-262 and the ME-163 came out. The mustang went toe to toe with the FW-190 and the BF-109/Me-109. I t was used right up to the start of the Korean war that's when it was decommissioned
How many American airmen died in World War 2?
:About 1/4 of 1%. Racism was still pervasive throughout the army even though black troops had proved themselves in previous wars. It's amazing how a black man would even want to serve a country that for the most part thought him a dog. But those that did serve (and over a millions of them did) deserve high praise. For Those that died....it was not in vein, all though it must have seemed like it back then.Some of the answers below seem like they were answered by bigots who share traces of the racism of those times. People of color need to make a big deal out of what little representation they had in that war because if they did not they would be forgotten! No Soldier, Sailor , Airmen or Marine ever should be forgotten. The 761st Tank Battalion were not just a footnote like it was stated below by some bigot. They were heroes just like all the other tankers..but even more so because they had to fight their country first to be allowed to serve. They helped Patton smash through France and Belgium and come to the aid of the 100% white 101st airborne and 82nd Airborne. They Tuskeegee airmen were some of the hand picked best young man the colored race had to offer. Highly trained and strictly disciplined they become widely known for never having one of their escorted planes shot down by another plane. The 92nd and 93rd Inf Division fought in the hell that was Italy. This theatre didn't share the glory and praise that France received and was a knock down and slugout fight. But those men were more than footnotes as well. Other less known units saw fighting as well as described below. The point I'm getting at is these men served just as well as other soldiers and had they been allowed to serve on a wider scale.. they would have. And most certainly more would have died. It's sad that it took this racist country hundreds of years to fully realise that a black man can catch a bullet just as good as a white one. Extremely SAD.ANSWER: so Total all US in WW2 = 16 Million of those 1.2 Million were Blacks-- Total dead from WW2 =310,979 of those 708 = black or . 25 % ( 1/4 of 1 % )According to Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, during World War Two 1.2 million African Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces and 708 were killed in combat.I do not know how many Blacks soldiers died in WW II, but my father (who is Black) was a 1st Sgt and fought in France and Germany in '44 and '45, his name was Eddie W. Hill. Several of his men (Black soldiers) were killed. My uncle Fred Whitmore was in the US Marines in 44/45 and was awarded the Silver Star in the Pacific as a Black marine (which was no easy feat). You see Black men did die and excel in WW II on the ground and fought to die for their country. But its sad that people, like some of those below feel that one has to be a certain color to have died for their country. Sad and un AmericanFrom my research this question does not seem answerable. I could only find out the total number of African Americans who served in WW2: one million and fifty four thousand, of which one hundred and twenty five thousand served overseas. I contacted Howard University, if they respond I will post their answer.Not many, since most were not assigned to combat units. All combat Army and Marine units were segregated until 1949 (after WWII).Many African-American losses would have been black stewards on Navy vessels that were sunk and maybe a few shot down of the "Tuskegee Airman" unit promoted by Eleanor Roosevelt as a pet project.Info published in the Portsmouth Herald on May 23, 2004, F1 page 1: 16.1 Million US Armed Services served in WWII 1 Million Black Troops served in WWII (6.2%) 292,000 US military killed in battle in WWII 114,000 Other WWII US deaths in war (accidents, illness, etc) 142,000 Black Troops killed These numbers indicate that a very large percentage of those that died in WWII were Black (35%-49% depending on how you work the numbers)Instead of believing some newspaper article that is of dubious merit, why not THINK about this for a minute. WE all know that the US military in WW2 was SEGREGATED, and the VAST majority of the blacks in uniform were LABOURERS in US Army construction battalions, who built rear area camps and roads, far from any combat action. Those men didn't ever go thru a infantry basic course, as the only thing that they would be carrying was a shovel or a pick axe. The USMC had exactly ZERO blacks in it as did the USAF, except for ONE or TWO fighter units ( with 20 pilots each ), so forget about those millions of USMC or USAF members, right ? The USN ONLY allowed blacks to serve in 3 jobs, cooks, messmen or laundry workers, so forget about any large number of blacks in the USN , either.So what do we have left? A couple of black tank destroyer units, that were a part of Patton's 3rd Army, numbering maybe 1,500 in total. There were NO black paratroops who fought in Europe or in the Pacific, and the 82nd and the 101st airborne divs were 100 percent white men, ever see a black guy in WW2 in a parachute company ? There WAS one and only one black parachute regiment in ww2, the 555 nd PIR , also know as the Triple Nickles, BUT they bever went to Europe, and spent the war fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Never fired a shot in anger.So where the hell does the guy above here come up with over 140,000 dead US black troops in WW2. It simply didn't happen, as the points that I have cited show. I have been reading WW2 history for over 40 years, and I think I have it right.ANSWER :One has to be wary of those who claim they 'read a lot of WW2 books' and think they know everything - the fact is these folks don't know details and real facts. One comment here implies that only '1500' blacks at most served in combat roles with Patton.To that let's deal with facts.The largest US combat infantry division serving in Europe was the 92nd 'Negro' Infantry Division. They fought as soldiers against the tough Nazi veterans facing them there.The 93rd 'Negro' infantry division fought in the Pacific - they were quasi-Marines and mostly relegated to clearing out bypassed Japanese positions.Blacks also had combat roles in more than a just a few segregated combat units. They were in segregated tank battalions, tank destroyer units, field artillery battalions -> all of which fought in the Battle of the Bulge and through to Germany. The 761st Black tank battalion being the most famed and well known amongst them. Anyone fully aware of ALL the black combat units serving in NW Europe knows that the idea of '1500' black combat roles is a highly underestimated guess.It should be noted that segregation barriers were being broken down by the end of 1944 due to lack of replacements available in white units in NW Europe. So gradually, white battalions were being integrated first with all-black companies, and then some white companies taking in all-black platoons.These were black soldiers who fought the Nazis into Germany. Take care to remember their sacrifice and their other fight to even get the opportunity to fight in spite of racist barriers put in their way just over 'skin colour'.By 1948, a presidential executive order removed racist segregation policies in the US forces.Also- do not forget that besides the number of segregated but crucial engineer, transport [ vital supply line of the 'Red Ball Express' participation and / 666th quartermaster truck coy. in the Arnhem Campaign on 'Hell's Highway' ], construction units [ Alaskan highway participation ] that blacks served the USA in during WW2, there were also;-Paratroopers [ 555th battalion ] used as air-dropped firefighters on the West Coast to douse forest fires made by Japanese incendiary air-balloon weapons.Created partly by Roosevelt's reform-minded wife's advice.-Navy and sub crews.-Barrage Balloon units which landed at Omaha on D-day in the first wave of assaults. [ 320th 'colored' Barrage Balloon company ]-Coast guard, Anti aircraft units-Black women served in the famous female CORPs of WW2 as well- in the WAVES, WACs, SPARs.-Forgive me if I have left other types of units out from my list.And of course my answer here does not talk of blacks serving in British and Canadian non segregated units in WW2, not the Commonwealth blacks who fought in the Battle of Britain and in the RAF, nor the 160,000 + black Commonwealth Africans fighting in the Far East - amongst which were several FIGHTING black African divisions.ANSWER:Well, I'm not sure how much truth is in the newspaper... However, it is important to note that blacks were on the front line during WWII. When the war first started, the response above is correct, they worked as mainly laborers. Yet, as the war progressed the military needed more men to take the front line and soon opened it up to both black and white soldiers. This expert same from an article I recently found in National Geographic:"Black soldiers were generally restricted from combat, but the realities of war would soon blur the lines of race. One major breakthrough came during the Battle of the Bulge, in late 1944, says Ambrose.General Dwight D. Eisenhower, faced with Hitler's advancing army on the Western Front, temporarily desegregated the army, calling for urgent assistance on the front lines. More than 2,000 black soldiers volunteered to fight.Similarly, demands in Italy called the Tuskegee Airmen to action. In 1944 they began flying with white pilots in the European theatre, successfully running bombing missions and becoming the only U.S. unit to sink a German destroyer.African-American women also fought to serve in the war effort as nurses. Despite early protests that black nurses treating white soldiers would not be appropriate, the War Department relented, and the first group of African-American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps arrived in England in 1944."I don't believe you should take what one publisher says for 100% fact, however with a little research it is fair to concur that yes black soldiers did fight on the front line, and did indeed die for this county, as well as their white peers did.Please don't forget about the men whom fought in Italy too. Also there WERE SOME Black Marines. Mostly they played transportation or support roles. But there is an account of a black unit I believe either on Saipain or Tarawa being given a chance at combat. I don't think it went well cause least 9 of them got killed.Back to the main question though. How many blacks died in WW2? The best thing to do is to look up the black unit histories and see if you can pull up a casualty list. the units most heavily involved in combat were the 761st, Tuskegee Airmen, and some artillery units that fought during the Battle of the Bulge., The 92nd and 93rd fought in the Po Valley in Italy. I'm sure that's a start at least.African-Americans saw some pretty intense combat in WW2, so the casualties has to be at least in the hundreds if not the low thousands of deaths. Plus accidents..its gotta be at least 1 or 2 thousand deaths.. minimum.. just my guess.Please note contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen; 99th, 100th, 302, 301 airborne, Benjamin O Davis, commander. These fellas flew P51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts against German Luftwaffe fighters which tried awfully hard to shoot down allied b17s, 24s, 26s over Germany. The Tuskegee Airmen flew 1578 missions with 900 plus pilots, and lost 82 (66 in combat). They were very capable pilots whose efforts to cover US bomber crews were noted by German and American aircrew vets after the war. Visit the Tuskegee website and look around. Hats off to them.My father served and was wounded in Germany during WWII. Have you people ever heard of a unit called the Red Ball Express. This transportation unit of truck driver, which was predominantly black, which was set up to supply the rapidly advancing US forces took heavy casualties. They drove many times behind German line to get the needed supplies to Patton's army to continue the war effort. As a 26 year veteran that spent 3 years in Germany, I have uncovered many facts about black soldiers that you never heard of or seen in history books or seen on videos. SAD
What was the contribution of Andy Rooney in World War 2?
Flying with crews of B17s and living to tell it.
Where did the spent machine bullets go on b17s World War 2?
On a B17 bomber the spent shell casings (brass) fell on the floor. Everything was scarce and rationed during WWII so I assume the brass was reused.
What jobs did women have to do in World War 2?
They worked in factories. Building everything...ships, guns, tanks, planes, artillery, etc.very good question... the women did many things such as make funds to the army, navy, air force, and marines. also they worked at factories and made the weapons and vehicles. this includes ammo, machine guns, M1 Garand (rifle) and B17s (bomber)without them we would be losthope this helps!-mack (yes I'm a boy XD)
Who made air crafts for d day?
The RAF and USAAF and Royal Canadian Airforce used many Spitfires, P51s, Typhoons, Marauders, Lancasters, B17s, and B24s on the early morning of D-Day. These aircraft were all made by American and British aircraft companies.
What kind of military aircraft had the 50 caliber machine gun mounted on or in them?
After 1941, it was SOP for all US airplanes to be armed with .50s. The P47 Thunderbolt had eight fifties; four in each wing. Mustangs, Corsairs, Hellcats, Wildcats, B17s, B25s, B29s, all were armed with fifties. Even the Korean War F86 Sabre jet had fifties. By the time of the Vietnam War, the .50 had given way to the 20mm cannon on US aircraft; Except the B52 in Vietnam, the B52 tailgunner had a quad .50. Those two USAF tailgunners were the last bomber "tailgunners' to shoot down enemy aircraft (two NVAF MiG21's) with machine guns in combat.
Why did the US use B29s instead of B17s to strike Japan?
Even later models B-17s, such as the B-17E and B-17F, which had additional fuel tanks called "Tokyo tanks" in the outer wingtips, lacked the range for the round trip to Japan and back from the island bases available, or from those in China. After Iwo Jima and Okinawa were captured airbases on them were within B-17 range of Japan, but by that time the 20th AF B-29s had been doing a very thorough job of it for months from the Marianas. The B-29 could also carry a much larger bombload than the B-17. The B-17 was a design from the mid 1930s, and lacked a pressurized interior, and was really outdated by the end of the war. The only heavy bomber retained after the war was the B-29.
Was the B-52 bomber used in the Vietnam War?
All US jet fighters such as the F100 Super Sabre, F102 Delta Dagger, F104 Starfighter, F8 Crusader, F4 Phantom were ultimately used as fighter BOMBERS. The F101 Voodoo was used primarily as a reconnaissance jet. The A7 Corsair was designed, built, and deployed in the 1960's directly into combat in Vietnam. The F105 Thunderchief was designed as a fighter/bomber, the largest single engine jet bomber in the US inventory and the only such jet that could carry an atomic weapon completely concealed within it's fuselage. Only 833 F105's were built and nearly 400 of them were lost in the war, consequently the F4 Phantom took over much of the Thud's duties. Traditional US jet bombers used in Vietnam were: B57 Canberra (twin jet engines); the A6 Intruder, US Navy all weather medium bomber; and the B52 Stratofortress heavy bomber (eight jet engines). The US Navy A4 Skyhawk and the USAF F100 Super Sabre saw extensive action in the war which is reflected in their losses: 362 A4's were lost, and 242 Super Sabre's were lost in the war. The propeller driven single engine A1 Skyraider also saw alot of action, 266 were lost in the war. Probably the most un-sung jet fighter (bomber) was the F100 Super Sabre; it fought from 1962 until 1971. Conducting bombing missions in Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. The F100 has unfortunately been heavily overshadowed by the F4 Phantom...as have been most of the other US jet fighter bombers.
Did America get a warning before the bombing of pearl harbor?
There are more legends about Pearl Harbor than any other event of WWII. None have a shred of evidence, nor even make logical sense. The idea that the Japanese government would have informed Hawaiians of Japanese descent that they were about to attack Pearl Harbor would make no sense, and be an incredibly stupid thing to do. There were absolutely no warnings voiced by them to any US authorities. There were, however, several "war warning" messages sent to Pearl Harbor by the War Dept. However, they were not specific as to targets, since the War Dept had no specific knowledge. The thinking was that Dutch East Indies and the Phillippines would be the most likely targets, the East Indies because of its raw materials, and the Phillippines because they stood in the way. Pearl Harbor was not considered a likely target because it was so far from Japan and it would be difficult for an enemy task force to go undetected for the long passage, and because the anchorage at Pearl was shallow, too shallow for torpedos dropped from a plane. However, the Japanese had managed to develop a torpedo that would work in shallow water a few months before the attack, and bad weather made it unlikely they would be spotted. All in all, Pearl Harbor received plenty enough warning to not be caught off guard as it was. The radar picked up the incoming Japanese planes and this was reported to the officer on watch at the central station: "many planes." Unfortunately, that very morning, a flight of B17s was due in, from the same direction and the officer assumed that they were the planes the radar was picking up, and told the radar operator not to worry about it. His big mistake was in not asking the operator what he meant by "many planes," since there were only a dozen or so B17s coming in. The operator's mistake was in reporting "many planes" rather than saying 60 to 70, which is what he saw on the screen. Also, unfortunately, the egoistic US Army Signal Corps had rejected the offer of IFF (identification, friend or foe) radar from the British. How much difference the extra 20-30 minutes of warning would have made would be a subject for lengthy debate, but it would be safe to say that the first attack wave would probably have faced the same fairly hot reception that greeted the second wave thirty minutes or so later, since more defending fighters could have gotten into the air and more ships would have had their AAA guns firing. Far and away the definitive book on Pearl Harbor is "At Dawn We Slept" by Gordon Prange, who spent 38 years researching the event. i've been told that the Japanese government did declare the war on USA before attacking Pearl Harbour. But the message could not be decoded by the Japanese officials in the USA fast enough - and so the war was started before Japan could make the official notice.
What was the most widely used bomber in World War 2?
For Bombers:AnswerThe B-17 was most effective. Answer-> B-17 was a four-engine American bomber used i.e. when bombing Germany. Why the heck should that plane have been the most effective??? Why not then the british equivalent Lancaster-bomber, even able to bomb at high precision during night??? The problem is what you mean by effective... do you mean the most adequate for its purpose? Or the overall (whole WW2) most deadly airplane? None of the bombers can be called most effective... as they were effective bombers (especially the dive-bombers like the Stuka), but they all (even the slow B-17!) relayed on cover by escorting fighters. And don't forget... bombers were mainly used against civilians... so what's effective in bombing civilians (whole cities)? One of the most deadly (or probably the most deadly at all) airplanes of WW2 was the single engine (propeller) German fighter Messerschmitt Bf-109. It was a performing and well developed airplane... but the main cause why it should have been the most deadly one is that it was produced more than any other war-plane (till today) - more than 30'000 times. It was used during the whole war - even before that, when the Germans used it in Spain (civil war). There were many many different improved versions of it. The Focke-Wulf was the only other fighter that was used in a considerable amount besides the Bf-109. The biggest part of those famous German fighter pilots used the Messerschmitt... the best 100 aces scored together more than 15'000 air-victories... beside all the other pilots! Some destruction of 70'000 allied planes is attributed (assumption) to the Luftwaffe... and quite a few to this model!But everything is relative... there were very good allied planes, too. And probably Germans had others good models as well. It would be silly to choose one of them as "the best ever"... this can't be done.VicFor Fighters:Answer: P51 D MustangThe mustang was faster more maneuverable than anything the axis powers had, I t was built and designed by North American Aviation. The Mustang was the fighter that could go the longest distance with out refueling in the war. It was faster than any thing the axis had until the ME-262 and the ME-163 came out. The mustang went toe to toe with the FW-190 and the BF-109/Me-109. I t was used right up to the start of the Korean war that's when it was decommissioned
What was life like in Britain in the years immediately after World War Two?
The basic characterising word would be "Austerity" Rationing was not brought to and end by the war finishing, and some items remained on ration until 1954. The railways and industries were worn out and consumer goods were hard to come by as much that was produced had to be exported, in a drive to pay off war debts and stabilise the economy. The BBC2 "People's war" site may be of help: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A2082584 for example, looking at Christmas 1945. The Festival of Britain in 1951 has been noted as a mark of the recovery of spirit and colour in post-war Britain, but there was argument at the time as to whether it was a frivolous waste of scarce resources better dedicated to rebuilding damaged cities.
How many American airmen died in World War 2?
:About 1/4 of 1%. Racism was still pervasive throughout the army even though black troops had proved themselves in previous wars. It's amazing how a black man would even want to serve a country that for the most part thought him a dog. But those that did serve (and over a millions of them did) deserve high praise. For Those that died....it was not in vein, all though it must have seemed like it back then.Some of the answers below seem like they were answered by bigots who share traces of the racism of those times. People of color need to make a big deal out of what little representation they had in that war because if they did not they would be forgotten! No Soldier, Sailor , Airmen or Marine ever should be forgotten. The 761st Tank Battalion were not just a footnote like it was stated below by some bigot. They were heroes just like all the other tankers..but even more so because they had to fight their country first to be allowed to serve. They helped Patton smash through France and Belgium and come to the aid of the 100% white 101st airborne and 82nd Airborne. They Tuskeegee airmen were some of the hand picked best young man the colored race had to offer. Highly trained and strictly disciplined they become widely known for never having one of their escorted planes shot down by another plane. The 92nd and 93rd Inf Division fought in the hell that was Italy. This theatre didn't share the glory and praise that France received and was a knock down and slugout fight. But those men were more than footnotes as well. Other less known units saw fighting as well as described below. The point I'm getting at is these men served just as well as other soldiers and had they been allowed to serve on a wider scale.. they would have. And most certainly more would have died. It's sad that it took this racist country hundreds of years to fully realise that a black man can catch a bullet just as good as a white one. Extremely SAD.ANSWER: so Total all US in WW2 = 16 Million of those 1.2 Million were Blacks-- Total dead from WW2 =310,979 of those 708 = black or . 25 % ( 1/4 of 1 % )According to Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, during World War Two 1.2 million African Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces and 708 were killed in combat.I do not know how many Blacks soldiers died in WW II, but my father (who is Black) was a 1st Sgt and fought in France and Germany in '44 and '45, his name was Eddie W. Hill. Several of his men (Black soldiers) were killed. My uncle Fred Whitmore was in the US Marines in 44/45 and was awarded the Silver Star in the Pacific as a Black marine (which was no easy feat). You see Black men did die and excel in WW II on the ground and fought to die for their country. But its sad that people, like some of those below feel that one has to be a certain color to have died for their country. Sad and un AmericanFrom my research this question does not seem answerable. I could only find out the total number of African Americans who served in WW2: one million and fifty four thousand, of which one hundred and twenty five thousand served overseas. I contacted Howard University, if they respond I will post their answer.Not many, since most were not assigned to combat units. All combat Army and Marine units were segregated until 1949 (after WWII).Many African-American losses would have been black stewards on Navy vessels that were sunk and maybe a few shot down of the "Tuskegee Airman" unit promoted by Eleanor Roosevelt as a pet project.Info published in the Portsmouth Herald on May 23, 2004, F1 page 1: 16.1 Million US Armed Services served in WWII 1 Million Black Troops served in WWII (6.2%) 292,000 US military killed in battle in WWII 114,000 Other WWII US deaths in war (accidents, illness, etc) 142,000 Black Troops killed These numbers indicate that a very large percentage of those that died in WWII were Black (35%-49% depending on how you work the numbers)Instead of believing some newspaper article that is of dubious merit, why not THINK about this for a minute. WE all know that the US military in WW2 was SEGREGATED, and the VAST majority of the blacks in uniform were LABOURERS in US Army construction battalions, who built rear area camps and roads, far from any combat action. Those men didn't ever go thru a infantry basic course, as the only thing that they would be carrying was a shovel or a pick axe. The USMC had exactly ZERO blacks in it as did the USAF, except for ONE or TWO fighter units ( with 20 pilots each ), so forget about those millions of USMC or USAF members, right ? The USN ONLY allowed blacks to serve in 3 jobs, cooks, messmen or laundry workers, so forget about any large number of blacks in the USN , either.So what do we have left? A couple of black tank destroyer units, that were a part of Patton's 3rd Army, numbering maybe 1,500 in total. There were NO black paratroops who fought in Europe or in the Pacific, and the 82nd and the 101st airborne divs were 100 percent white men, ever see a black guy in WW2 in a parachute company ? There WAS one and only one black parachute regiment in ww2, the 555 nd PIR , also know as the Triple Nickles, BUT they bever went to Europe, and spent the war fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Never fired a shot in anger.So where the hell does the guy above here come up with over 140,000 dead US black troops in WW2. It simply didn't happen, as the points that I have cited show. I have been reading WW2 history for over 40 years, and I think I have it right.ANSWER :One has to be wary of those who claim they 'read a lot of WW2 books' and think they know everything - the fact is these folks don't know details and real facts. One comment here implies that only '1500' blacks at most served in combat roles with Patton.To that let's deal with facts.The largest US combat infantry division serving in Europe was the 92nd 'Negro' Infantry Division. They fought as soldiers against the tough Nazi veterans facing them there.The 93rd 'Negro' infantry division fought in the Pacific - they were quasi-Marines and mostly relegated to clearing out bypassed Japanese positions.Blacks also had combat roles in more than a just a few segregated combat units. They were in segregated tank battalions, tank destroyer units, field artillery battalions -> all of which fought in the Battle of the Bulge and through to Germany. The 761st Black tank battalion being the most famed and well known amongst them. Anyone fully aware of ALL the black combat units serving in NW Europe knows that the idea of '1500' black combat roles is a highly underestimated guess.It should be noted that segregation barriers were being broken down by the end of 1944 due to lack of replacements available in white units in NW Europe. So gradually, white battalions were being integrated first with all-black companies, and then some white companies taking in all-black platoons.These were black soldiers who fought the Nazis into Germany. Take care to remember their sacrifice and their other fight to even get the opportunity to fight in spite of racist barriers put in their way just over 'skin colour'.By 1948, a presidential executive order removed racist segregation policies in the US forces.Also- do not forget that besides the number of segregated but crucial engineer, transport [ vital supply line of the 'Red Ball Express' participation and / 666th quartermaster truck coy. in the Arnhem Campaign on 'Hell's Highway' ], construction units [ Alaskan highway participation ] that blacks served the USA in during WW2, there were also;-Paratroopers [ 555th battalion ] used as air-dropped firefighters on the West Coast to douse forest fires made by Japanese incendiary air-balloon weapons.Created partly by Roosevelt's reform-minded wife's advice.-Navy and sub crews.-Barrage Balloon units which landed at Omaha on D-day in the first wave of assaults. [ 320th 'colored' Barrage Balloon company ]-Coast guard, Anti aircraft units-Black women served in the famous female CORPs of WW2 as well- in the WAVES, WACs, SPARs.-Forgive me if I have left other types of units out from my list.And of course my answer here does not talk of blacks serving in British and Canadian non segregated units in WW2, not the Commonwealth blacks who fought in the Battle of Britain and in the RAF, nor the 160,000 + black Commonwealth Africans fighting in the Far East - amongst which were several FIGHTING black African divisions.ANSWER:Well, I'm not sure how much truth is in the newspaper... However, it is important to note that blacks were on the front line during WWII. When the war first started, the response above is correct, they worked as mainly laborers. Yet, as the war progressed the military needed more men to take the front line and soon opened it up to both black and white soldiers. This expert same from an article I recently found in National Geographic:"Black soldiers were generally restricted from combat, but the realities of war would soon blur the lines of race. One major breakthrough came during the Battle of the Bulge, in late 1944, says Ambrose.General Dwight D. Eisenhower, faced with Hitler's advancing army on the Western Front, temporarily desegregated the army, calling for urgent assistance on the front lines. More than 2,000 black soldiers volunteered to fight.Similarly, demands in Italy called the Tuskegee Airmen to action. In 1944 they began flying with white pilots in the European theatre, successfully running bombing missions and becoming the only U.S. unit to sink a German destroyer.African-American women also fought to serve in the war effort as nurses. Despite early protests that black nurses treating white soldiers would not be appropriate, the War Department relented, and the first group of African-American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps arrived in England in 1944."I don't believe you should take what one publisher says for 100% fact, however with a little research it is fair to concur that yes black soldiers did fight on the front line, and did indeed die for this county, as well as their white peers did.Please don't forget about the men whom fought in Italy too. Also there WERE SOME Black Marines. Mostly they played transportation or support roles. But there is an account of a black unit I believe either on Saipain or Tarawa being given a chance at combat. I don't think it went well cause least 9 of them got killed.Back to the main question though. How many blacks died in WW2? The best thing to do is to look up the black unit histories and see if you can pull up a casualty list. the units most heavily involved in combat were the 761st, Tuskegee Airmen, and some artillery units that fought during the Battle of the Bulge., The 92nd and 93rd fought in the Po Valley in Italy. I'm sure that's a start at least.African-Americans saw some pretty intense combat in WW2, so the casualties has to be at least in the hundreds if not the low thousands of deaths. Plus accidents..its gotta be at least 1 or 2 thousand deaths.. minimum.. just my guess.Please note contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen; 99th, 100th, 302, 301 airborne, Benjamin O Davis, commander. These fellas flew P51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts against German Luftwaffe fighters which tried awfully hard to shoot down allied b17s, 24s, 26s over Germany. The Tuskegee Airmen flew 1578 missions with 900 plus pilots, and lost 82 (66 in combat). They were very capable pilots whose efforts to cover US bomber crews were noted by German and American aircrew vets after the war. Visit the Tuskegee website and look around. Hats off to them.My father served and was wounded in Germany during WWII. Have you people ever heard of a unit called the Red Ball Express. This transportation unit of truck driver, which was predominantly black, which was set up to supply the rapidly advancing US forces took heavy casualties. They drove many times behind German line to get the needed supplies to Patton's army to continue the war effort. As a 26 year veteran that spent 3 years in Germany, I have uncovered many facts about black soldiers that you never heard of or seen in history books or seen on videos. SAD
How many African soldiers died in World War 2?
:About 1/4 of 1%. Racism was still pervasive throughout the army even though black troops had proved themselves in previous wars. It's amazing how a black man would even want to serve a country that for the most part thought him a dog. But those that did serve (and over a millions of them did) deserve high praise. For Those that died....it was not in vein, all though it must have seemed like it back then.Some of the answers below seem like they were answered by bigots who share traces of the racism of those times. People of color need to make a big deal out of what little representation they had in that war because if they did not they would be forgotten! No Soldier, Sailor , Airmen or Marine ever should be forgotten. The 761st Tank Battalion were not just a footnote like it was stated below by some bigot. They were heroes just like all the other tankers..but even more so because they had to fight their country first to be allowed to serve. They helped Patton smash through France and Belgium and come to the aid of the 100% white 101st airborne and 82nd Airborne. They Tuskeegee airmen were some of the hand picked best young man the colored race had to offer. Highly trained and strictly disciplined they become widely known for never having one of their escorted planes shot down by another plane. The 92nd and 93rd Inf Division fought in the hell that was Italy. This theatre didn't share the glory and praise that France received and was a knock down and slugout fight. But those men were more than footnotes as well. Other less known units saw fighting as well as described below. The point I'm getting at is these men served just as well as other soldiers and had they been allowed to serve on a wider scale.. they would have. And most certainly more would have died. It's sad that it took this racist country hundreds of years to fully realise that a black man can catch a bullet just as good as a white one. Extremely SAD.ANSWER: so Total all US in WW2 = 16 Million of those 1.2 Million were Blacks-- Total dead from WW2 =310,979 of those 708 = black or . 25 % ( 1/4 of 1 % )According to Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, during World War Two 1.2 million African Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces and 708 were killed in combat.I do not know how many Blacks soldiers died in WW II, but my father (who is Black) was a 1st Sgt and fought in France and Germany in '44 and '45, his name was Eddie W. Hill. Several of his men (Black soldiers) were killed. My uncle Fred Whitmore was in the US Marines in 44/45 and was awarded the Silver Star in the Pacific as a Black marine (which was no easy feat). You see Black men did die and excel in WW II on the ground and fought to die for their country. But its sad that people, like some of those below feel that one has to be a certain color to have died for their country. Sad and un AmericanFrom my research this question does not seem answerable. I could only find out the total number of African Americans who served in WW2: one million and fifty four thousand, of which one hundred and twenty five thousand served overseas. I contacted Howard University, if they respond I will post their answer.Not many, since most were not assigned to combat units. All combat Army and Marine units were segregated until 1949 (after WWII).Many African-American losses would have been black stewards on Navy vessels that were sunk and maybe a few shot down of the "Tuskegee Airman" unit promoted by Eleanor Roosevelt as a pet project.Info published in the Portsmouth Herald on May 23, 2004, F1 page 1: 16.1 Million US Armed Services served in WWII 1 Million Black Troops served in WWII (6.2%) 292,000 US Military killed in battle in WWII 114,000 Other WWII US deaths in war (accidents, illness, etc) 142,000 Black Troops killed These numbers indicate that a very large percentage of those that died in WWII were Black (35%-49% depending on how you work the numbers)Instead of believing some newspaper article that is of dubious merit, why not THINK about this for a minute. WE all know that the US military in WW2 was SEGREGATED, and the VAST majority of the blacks in uniform were LABOURERS in US Army construction battalions, who built rear area camps and roads, far from any combat action. Those men didn't ever go thru a infantry basic course, as the only thing that they would be carrying was a shovel or a pick axe. The USMC had exactly ZERO blacks in it as did the USAF, except for ONE or TWO fighter units ( with 20 pilots each ), so forget about those millions of USMC or USAF members, right ? The USN ONLY allowed blacks to serve in 3 jobs, cooks, messmen or laundry workers, so forget about any large number of blacks in the USN , either.So what do we have left? A couple of black tank destroyer units, that were a part of Patton's 3rd Army, numbering maybe 1,500 in total. There were NO black paratroops who fought in Europe or in the Pacific, and the 82nd and the 101st airborne divs were 100 percent white men, ever see a black guy in WW2 in a parachute company ? There WAS one and only one black parachute regiment in ww2, the 555 nd PIR , also know as the Triple Nickles, BUT they bever went to Europe, and spent the war fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Never fired a shot in anger.So where the hell does the guy above here come up with over 140,000 dead US black troops in WW2. It simply didn't happen, as the points that I have cited show. I have been reading WW2 history for over 40 years, and I think I have it right.ANSWER :One has to be wary of those who claim they 'read a lot of WW2 books' and think they know everything - the fact is these folks don't know details and real facts. One comment here implies that only '1500' blacks at most served in combat roles with Patton.To that let's deal with facts.The largest US combat infantry division serving in Europe was the 92nd 'Negro' Infantry Division. They fought as soldiers against the tough Nazi veterans facing them there.The 93rd 'Negro' infantry division fought in the Pacific - they were quasi-Marines and mostly relegated to clearing out bypassed Japanese positions.Blacks also had combat roles in more than a just a few segregated combat units. They were in segregated tank battalions, tank destroyer units, field artillery battalions -> all of which fought in the Battle of the Bulge and through to Germany. The 761st Black tank battalion being the most famed and well known amongst them. Anyone fully aware of ALL the black combat units serving in NW Europe knows that the idea of '1500' black combat roles is a highly underestimated guess.It should be noted that segregation barriers were being broken down by the end of 1944 due to lack of replacements available in white units in NW Europe. So gradually, white battalions were being integrated first with all-black companies, and then some white companies taking in all-black platoons.These were black soldiers who fought the Nazis into Germany. Take care to remember their sacrifice and their other fight to even get the opportunity to fight in spite of racist barriers put in their way just over 'skin colour'.By 1948, a presidential executive order removed racist segregation policies in the US forces.Also- do not forget that besides the number of segregated but crucial engineer, transport [ vital supply line of the 'Red Ball Express' participation and / 666th quartermaster truck coy. in the Arnhem Campaign on 'Hell's Highway' ], construction units [ Alaskan highway participation ] that blacks served the USA in during WW2, there were also;-Paratroopers [ 555th battalion ] used as air-dropped firefighters on the West Coast to douse forest fires made by Japanese incendiary air-balloon weapons.Created partly by Roosevelt's reform-minded wife's advice.-Navy and sub crews.-Barrage Balloon units which landed at Omaha on D-day in the first wave of assaults. [ 320th 'colored' Barrage Balloon company ]-Coast guard, Anti aircraft units-Black women served in the famous female CORPs of WW2 as well- in the WAVES, WACs, SPARs.-Forgive me if I have left other types of units out from my list.And of course my answer here does not talk of blacks serving in British and Canadian non segregated units in WW2, not the Commonwealth blacks who fought in the Battle of Britain and in the RAF, nor the 160,000 + black Commonwealth Africans fighting in the Far East - amongst which were several FIGHTING black African divisions.ANSWER:Well, I'm not sure how much truth is in the newspaper... However, it is important to note that blacks were on the front line during WWII. When the war first started, the response above is correct, they worked as mainly laborers. Yet, as the war progressed the military needed more men to take the front line and soon opened it up to both black and white soldiers. This expert same from an article I recently found in National Geographic:"Black soldiers were generally restricted from combat, but the realities of war would soon blur the lines of race. One major breakthrough came during the Battle of the Bulge, in late 1944, says Ambrose.General Dwight D. Eisenhower, faced with Hitler's advancing army on the Western Front, temporarily desegregated the army, calling for urgent assistance on the front lines. More than 2,000 black soldiers volunteered to fight.Similarly, demands in Italy called the Tuskegee Airmen to action. In 1944 they began flying with white pilots in the European theatre, successfully running bombing missions and becoming the only U.S. unit to sink a German destroyer.African-American women also fought to serve in the war effort as nurses. Despite early protests that black nurses treating white soldiers would not be appropriate, the War Department relented, and the first group of African-American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps arrived in England in 1944."I don't believe you should take what one publisher says for 100% fact, however with a little research it is fair to concur that yes black soldiers did fight on the front line, and did indeed die for this county, as well as their white peers did.Please don't forget about the men whom fought in Italy too. Also there WERE SOME Black Marines. Mostly they played transportation or support roles. But there is an account of a black unit I believe either on Saipain or Tarawa being given a chance at combat. I don't think it went well cause least 9 of them got killed.Back to the main question though. How many blacks died in WW2? The best thing to do is to look up the black unit histories and see if you can pull up a casualty list. the units most heavily involved in combat were the 761st, Tuskegee Airmen, and some artillery units that fought during the Battle of the Bulge., The 92nd and 93rd fought in the Po Valley in Italy. I'm sure that's a start at least.African-Americans saw some pretty intense combat in WW2, so the casualties has to be at least in the hundreds if not the low thousands of deaths. Plus accidents..its gotta be at least 1 or 2 thousand deaths.. minimum.. just my guess.Please note contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen; 99th, 100th, 302, 301 airborne, Benjamin O Davis, commander. These fellas flew P51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts against German Luftwaffe fighters which tried awfully hard to shoot down allied b17s, 24s, 26s over Germany. The Tuskegee Airmen flew 1578 missions with 900 plus pilots, and lost 82 (66 in combat). They were very capable pilots whose efforts to cover US bomber crews were noted by German and American aircrew vets after the war. Visit the Tuskegee website and look around. Hats off to them.My father served and was wounded in Germany during WWII. Have you people ever heard of a unit called the Red Ball Express. This transportation unit of truck driver, which was predominantly black, which was set up to supply the rapidly advancing US forces took heavy casualties. They drove many times behind German line to get the needed supplies to Patton's army to continue the war effort. As a 26 year veteran that spent 3 years in Germany, I have uncovered many facts about black soldiers that you never heard of or seen in history books or seen on videos. SAD
