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Originally Posted by drgondog
Paul - Don C does include casualties in Table B "Reich defense force missions against the 8th AF" and Table D for the 15th AF.
Some more food for thought. The Defense of Reich sorties against US escort for March, April and May, 1944 was 40,422...
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Bill, got that, thank you for reminding me. I am not quite sure that crewmembers of twin-engined aircraft are counted in the overall casualty totals. They are definitely reported for individual days, as you will be aware.
The Luftwaffe sortie numbers did increase very sharply, as you have recounted. The context was that Allied sortie rates were increasing even faster, with some 115,000 in March-May 1944, of which 34,000 were by USAAF fighters (data from Ted Hooton's 2010 book
Luftwaffe: A Study in Air Power). I'll send you an email with more detailed information and some thoughts on the subject.
Regards,
Paul