"No, there's no glamour in being a fighter pilot"

[Christer Bergström]

Thought I'd share a very interesting article by a former Australian fighter pilot (of No. 3 RAAF Sqn) which I found on the web:

Perhaps you think that the life of a fighter-pilot was somewhat glamorous, but believe the words of one who knows. There's no glamour in this role in warfare. No, none whatsoever. You do not know what it means to live for days, weeks, months, and even years with the fear of violent death gnawing at your very guts.

You do not know the hell of aerial battle. The approach, the meeting, the seething mass of twisting turning aircraft. You haven't seen those numerous dots appear, to grow and grow in seconds and become a mass of spitting, twisting, deadly death. You haven't seen your comrades die in ones and two's, watched them plummet earthwards, balls of molten fire and mangled bodies. You haven't watched and watched in vain for that small parachute to blossom forth from the doomed machine before it strikes.

You haven't watched the vicious deadly nose of an enemy aircraft spewing a hail of leaden death, each with your name engraved, nor have you frantically kicked and skidded while passing through this stream of death; heard the thud of explosive 20-millimetre cannon shell and machine gun bullets tearing the metal of your aircraft asunder.

You haven't glanced below to gauge the tide of battle and counted those giant black pillars of smoke rising from crimson bases of fire and blood, those funeral pyres of friend and foe alike, and known some to be your friends, and thanked God that it was they and not you - then fought on to victory and landed back at base and grieved those empty dispersal bays.

You're on the ground. Rocks larger than footballs are tossed aloft like pebbles. If one lands on you, you're crushed to pulp. Your plane slows down and stops. Out and away despite shouts of Minefield. That pouring hissing fuel on the hot exhaust stubs frightens you more than mines.

You breathe again, then hum a lift to the camp, and to look like a man, ask if you'd catch the formation if you took off in another aircraft, conscious as hell of the shaking hand, the ashen face and a voice which can't hide a tremor.

You are once more a human being and not the frenzied creature, more animal than man, who rejoiced in his own continued existence, while watching his dearest friends die in agony and frantic despair but a few minutes before. You have done this again and again and once more gone back for more believing that it must be your turn next.

No, there's no glamour in being a fighter pilot.

http://www.3squadron.org.au/bg%20caldwell.htm

(Edited/shortened the original text slightly)

[Artist]

I have met many fighter pilots that have told me that it was the greatest time of thier lives. But most of them are aces. Some fighter pilots fly to shoot, some fly to get shot at.

[George Hopp]

I think you will find the opinion of the Australian of 3 Sqn to be echoed in "The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann. He wrote his comments in reaction to the criticisms of the French of France who had complained about how difficult things had been for them as opposed to the easy life of pilots like him.

[Christer Bergström]

I have met many fighter pilots that have told me that it was the greatest time of thier lives.

I agree. That doesn't necessarily contradict the account by the Australian pilot veteran. Many look (looked) back on those days with ambivalence. But very few would like to be there again. That at least is the impression I've got from the pilot veterans I have met.

Life expectancy often was shorter in air units than in ground units. If we compare some units which took part in Operation Barbarossa, we will find the following figures for one ground unit and one air unit:

18th German Pz Div:
Manpower on 22 June 1941: 17,174
Soldiers killed or missing 22 June 1941 - 31 Dec 1941: 1489

JG 51:
Pilots on strength on 22 June 1941: 139
Pilots killed or missing 22 June 1941 - 31 Dec 1941: 33

In 18th Pz Division's case, the losses equal 8.7 % of the original strength when the campaign started.

In JG 51's case, the losses equal 24 % of the original strength when the campaign started.

In other words, life expectancy was three times longer for a soldier in the 18th Panzerdivision than for a fighter pilot in JG 51 during Operation Barbarossa.

With his perspective restricted to ground units, Omer Bartov writes regarding the Grossdeutschland Division and the casualties it sustained during the war:

"The GD Division sustained extremely high casualties during the war. . . we reach the astonishing total of 34,700 casualties, of whom 973 were officers; that is, over 192 percent of the establishment figure." (Bartov, "The Eastern Front 1941 - 45", p. 15.)

That maybe is extremely high if we compare with other ground units, but for a Luftwaffe air units, such a loss rate would be considered as low. In fact, JG 51 had more than 600 of its pilots killed or missing during the war - which equals more than 400 percent "of the establishment figure".

In response to Artist's remark about aces "But most of them are aces. Some fighter pilots fly to shoot, some fly to get shot at." implied that the author of the remarks was not an ace.

The quotation originally posted by Bergstom is from Bobby Gibbes. In fact, O18235 (260714) Wing Commander Robert Henry Maxwell (Bobby) Gibbes OAM DSO DFC and bar was one of Australia's most successful and highly decorated aces of World War II, active with 3 Sqn RAAF in the Western Desert and with 80 Wing at Morotai in the South West Pacific theatre and at Darwin.

Gibbes' personal tally was 10 and one-quarter aircraft destroyed, and he was twice shot down.
The 3 Sqn RAAF site is here
http://www.3squadron.org.au/

The index to the sites stories section, including the original of Bergstroms extract and other Gibbes references is here
http://www.3squadron.org.au/indexpages/story.htm

See also Australian War Memorial
www.awm.gov.au
Honours and Awards Database
http://www.awm.gov.au/database/honours.asp
3 Squadron history
http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11023.asp
Gibbes brief service bio
http://www.awm.gov.au/units/people_60047.asp

[Artist]

Sorry I did no t mean to offend, I was just stating that almost all fighter pilots I have talked to may have had a different outlook because they were aces, and are now famous because of that fact. The thought that some pilots fly to shoot, some fly to get shot at, actualy is not mine. It is the thoughts of a very famous RAF ace, who I used to correspond with before he past away. He stated that between missions during the BOB you could tell the difference because the shooters would be more interested in the rearming, and camera film. The ones going out to get shot at where checking their chutes, and other survival gear.

Artist, no offence was taken. It was worth setting out Gibbes' record for clarity. Thank you for amplifying the source of your remark.

[Boandlgramer]

although i never was a fighter pilot.
everything has to do with war, i´ll take these words,
by Arthur Wellesley , Duke of Wellington :
Next to a Battle lost, the sadest Thing is a Battle won.

[JeffK]

Originally Posted by Boandlgramer

although i never was a fighter pilot.
everything has to do with war, i´ll take these words,
by Arthur Wellesley , Duke of Wellington :
Next to a Battle lost, the sadest Thing is a Battle won.

No, the saddest thing is flying a Battle!