SB2C aerial victories - Pilot names?

[Frank Olynyk]

I can only document Parker's gunner as being Ross for his first claim. His gunner is not mentioned in the ACA report for his 2nd and 3rd claims. It is highly likely that it was Ross, but not proven.

With regard to notable Helldiver pilots, I am prejudiced, but I think of William Hugh Harris, Jr. One claim in the SB2C-1 in 1943 with VB-17, and 4 more in the Corsair with VBF-83 off the Essex in 1945. Unfortunately KIA on Aug 10, 1945 when the 1000 pound bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely while en route to the target.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[twocee]

There were many notable Helldiver pilots, such as Christofferson in VB17, Lewis and Downing in VB14, or Carmody in VB8, all great pilots and strike leaders. As I say again, the Helldiver was a bomber, and so whether they shot down any enemy aircraft was of little relevance.

[knusel]

Good morning Frank & George,

is it possible to determine which Helldiver pilot sunk the most tonnage or is it impossible because sinking ships with a dive bomber is always teamwork ?

Cheers,

Michael

[twocee]

Yes, I think it would be impossible to establish which pilot sank most tonnage because, as you say, the great majority of shipping attacks were by combined VB/VT strike groups. Also bear in mind that most VT attacks on shipping used bombs rather than torpedoes, so both VB and VT would be dropping bombs on the same ships.

[knusel]

Hello twocee,

is it known who flew the most combat missions in the Helldiver ?

Kind regards,

Michael

[twocee]

No idea, I'm afraid.

[knusel]

Good morning twocee,

the main reason why aces usually overshadow bomber pilots is that the former's successes can be expressed in numbers.
Possible methods of assessing a bomber pilot's achievements are comparing number of missions flown or tonnage sunk. Hans-Georg Bättcher and Werner Baumbach are the top German bomber pilots by these criteria, respectively.
I wonder if it is possible to determine the top Allied bomber pilots...

Have a nice weekend,

Michael