Question about total RAF losses in World War Two

[Paul Thompson]

Hello,

Having tried to find the figures for total RAF losses during World War Two, I've discovered that this information does not seem to be publicly available. This is very strange, for I imagined that if such data is available even for the VVS, the RAF equivalent should be readily accessible. I wonder whether these figures have been published long ago in some post-war publication that has been neglected since. Can anyone throw light upon this problem?

The only figures that I have found are those for 'losses', sorted by aircraft type and often also sub-type, from Terry Hancock's "Directory of Britain's Military Aircraft". However, this source provides no explanation as to the provenance or precise meaning of these numbers, making it rather flawed. For this reason, I have an additional question to the one above. Can any forum member explain where Mr. Hancock's numbers come from and what sort of losses they refer to?

Regards,

Paul Thompson