Analysing survival rates among Luftwaffe air crew in 'Steinbock' and other operations

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Simon,

As far as I remember (and memory can play tricks) there is nothing compared with what you are doing, on LW books that I may have read. I may be wrong or missed something.

If memory is not faulty, I believe that Middlebrook did insert something about age or average on some of his works.

Your study is interesting because it shows that "probably" most of the airmen involved were "fresh from Training schools" or only recently "operational" (18,19, 20 years old). Of course, there were some veterans amongst them, specially the Staffelkapitän and Gruppenkommandeure and others.

MAYBE if you could pick up one of those youngsters and follow up his career, maybe we would have more clues (or not) about this probability/theme.

You are doing a fantastic work there. Keep going!

A.