w***@aol.com
2013-07-08 04:17:24 UTC
The July 2013 issue of "The Journal of Military History" has an
interesting article on a somewhat offbeat WWII topic. It's by
Dr. Wight E. Means, an Assistant Professor of History at
the Military Academy at West Point.
Called the "Catch 22 Effect: The lasting stigma of Wartime
Cowardice in the U.S. Army Air Forces," the article describes
how, during 1943-1944 when U.S. bombers were sent deep into
Europe out of the range of fighter escorts, that bombing
tours for flight crews were set at 25 missions, the number
estimated by bomber command to be the point based on
current losses at which the flight crews might expect only
a 50-50 chance of survival.
Crews were instructed that if they had battle damage
or equipment failure at a point where they could not reasonably
expect to return to base, they should try for landing in a neutral
country, Switzerland or Sweden, being the most likely.
During the Spring of 1944 the tempo of Allied strategic
bombing increased sharply and the number of battle-damaged
U.S. bombers diverting to the aforementioned two neutral
countries totaled 440. Of that number, 166 landed in Switzerland
alone and over the entire war 1517 U.S. airmen were interned
by that country.
As a result, and caused primarily by a U.S. consul in Switzerland
who interviewed some of the interned crew members, rumors began
to circulate in the Air Force that not all such landings were necessary
but were made because of bad morale caused by the number of
missions being flown causing the belief among crews that each mission
had a heavy chance of being the crew's last.
To summarize, the rumors reached General Arnold who ordered
thorough investigations. No evidence of crews having diverted to a
neutral country to "get out of combat" and no evidence of bad morale in
bomber crews was found.
Nevertheless, and this is the main point of the article, the stigma of
such alleged wartime "cowardice" although fading in time after the war.
was re-awakened by a British TV documentary in 1989 called "Whispers in
the Air." This documentary was run in the U.S. on the Discovery
channel, and this author claims it resulted in tainting the judgement of
scholars, military historians, and media representative who should have
done better research and known better. It even adversely affected the
policy of rhe U.S. Veterans Administration in the treatment of some USAAF
veterans who had been interned in neutral countries during the war and
were rightfully entitled to POW medical status which the VA refused to give
them.
This an interesting read containing voluminous supporting footnotes
and much more detail on the subject than I covered here, including how
the novel "Catch 22," a popular work of fiction written after the war, became
a vehicle in perpetuating the phony rumors inasmuch as it's theme involved an
air force officer looking for a way to get out of combat by being interned
in a neutral country.
WJH
interesting article on a somewhat offbeat WWII topic. It's by
Dr. Wight E. Means, an Assistant Professor of History at
the Military Academy at West Point.
Called the "Catch 22 Effect: The lasting stigma of Wartime
Cowardice in the U.S. Army Air Forces," the article describes
how, during 1943-1944 when U.S. bombers were sent deep into
Europe out of the range of fighter escorts, that bombing
tours for flight crews were set at 25 missions, the number
estimated by bomber command to be the point based on
current losses at which the flight crews might expect only
a 50-50 chance of survival.
Crews were instructed that if they had battle damage
or equipment failure at a point where they could not reasonably
expect to return to base, they should try for landing in a neutral
country, Switzerland or Sweden, being the most likely.
During the Spring of 1944 the tempo of Allied strategic
bombing increased sharply and the number of battle-damaged
U.S. bombers diverting to the aforementioned two neutral
countries totaled 440. Of that number, 166 landed in Switzerland
alone and over the entire war 1517 U.S. airmen were interned
by that country.
As a result, and caused primarily by a U.S. consul in Switzerland
who interviewed some of the interned crew members, rumors began
to circulate in the Air Force that not all such landings were necessary
but were made because of bad morale caused by the number of
missions being flown causing the belief among crews that each mission
had a heavy chance of being the crew's last.
To summarize, the rumors reached General Arnold who ordered
thorough investigations. No evidence of crews having diverted to a
neutral country to "get out of combat" and no evidence of bad morale in
bomber crews was found.
Nevertheless, and this is the main point of the article, the stigma of
such alleged wartime "cowardice" although fading in time after the war.
was re-awakened by a British TV documentary in 1989 called "Whispers in
the Air." This documentary was run in the U.S. on the Discovery
channel, and this author claims it resulted in tainting the judgement of
scholars, military historians, and media representative who should have
done better research and known better. It even adversely affected the
policy of rhe U.S. Veterans Administration in the treatment of some USAAF
veterans who had been interned in neutral countries during the war and
were rightfully entitled to POW medical status which the VA refused to give
them.
This an interesting read containing voluminous supporting footnotes
and much more detail on the subject than I covered here, including how
the novel "Catch 22," a popular work of fiction written after the war, became
a vehicle in perpetuating the phony rumors inasmuch as it's theme involved an
air force officer looking for a way to get out of combat by being interned
in a neutral country.
WJH