Thread: Combat Fatigue
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Old 24th July 2009, 23:25
Adriano Baumgartner Adriano Baumgartner is offline
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Re: Combat Fatigue

Hello Sylvester!
I saw your thread a long time ago, but was unable to answer soon. This is a very interesting thread, NOT very often discussed with attention.
Well, I can add information from the last book I read, a couple of weeks ago: Band of Brothers by Stephen E Ambrose, pg.203:
" There is a limit to how long a man can function effectively in this topsy-turvy world. For some, mental breakdown comes early, Army psichiatrists found that in Normandy, between 10 to 20 percent of the men in Rifle companies suffered some form of mental disorder during the first week, or either had fled or had to be taken out of line....Most men were ineffective after 180 or even 140 days. The general consensus was that a man reached its peak of effectiveness in 90 days of combat, and that after that his efficiency of combat began to fall off and that he became steadily less valuable thereafter until he was completely useles".
You do mention Rudel, who was a very keen sportist ( there are photos of him running his 10km regularly and practicing other sports, Athletics ). I have read a lot of "war diaries", but never read either a RAF or a USAAF airman telling that he used his spare time to make sports. Rather, they used their spare time to visit girlfriends and family.
I can speak for myself. I am regularly fit and used to run everyday some 10km. When I entered the Company I am flying for, I did the "Sea survival course" and suffered from hipothermia after staying only two hours and half on a pool, making exercices! We also are used to make flights by night, after staying some time on "briefings" since 1600 up to 2200. So, we did not sleep well the afternoons. We then leave Hotel by 0100 and only return back often at 0900 or 1000! So, after 5 or 6 continue flights like that you are totally fatigued and do need a rest to sleep. I often wonder myself the PR airmen, who used to fly alone more than 04 hours; or the LW airmen that used to fly ( Rudel do mentions that on his book ) 5 or 7 missions each day...each time facing a landing with damaged airplanes!...
This is a very interesting subject that do lack more information on books. We do not find out much about it regularly...I do hope to have contributed to make this thread more interesting...am reading a book about Michael Wittmann and they too..they fought without much rest or "stops" to go home and relax a bit...
Yours
Adriano
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