Bomber Command Parachute Use

[Jim Oxley]

As far as I'm aware (and please correct me if I'm wrong) in RAF Heavies only the pilot actually wore his parachute (he sat on it). For the remainder of the crew parachutes were stored on clips at various places around the aircraft. In the event of the aircraft being shot down crews had to first grab their parachute, attach it and only then could they safely jump! No wonder losses were so high in bomber Command.

Anyone know the reason for this? Was space so restricted in Lancasters and Halifaxes that crews could not fit into their spaces with parachutes on? Did that also apply to Wellington crews?

As that wasn't the case on USAAF bomber's, (crew's not only wore their parachute [except I think the belly gunner] but also the very bulky flak suits) why the difference.

[RodM]

Hi Jim,

yes, officially the observer-type parachutes were expected to be stowed in fixed positions, although some crew members choose to wear them attached to the harness on ocasion (e.g. more than a few navigators, for example, donned them while over the target).

Not all pilots wore pilot-type (seat) parachutes, some wore observer-type (chest) parachutes. Also, some rear gunners wore pilot-type parachutes instead of observer-type.

I presume that the reason the observer-type was designed was to aid crew members in moving about the aircraft (especially the smaller, twin-engined bombers from early in the war), remembering that the observer was originally expected to navigate and drop bombs.

One senario where lives were undoubtedly lost without attached parachutes was when an aircraft exploded or broke up in the air. There are numerous accounts of pilots who survived but for the grace of their pilot-type parachute, after their aircraft had exploded and they'd been ejected into thin air. One can only imagine the number of aircrew who may've found themselves in a similar position without an attached parachute (there is one recorded instance where this happened to a crew member but they were lucky enough to find that their unattached parachute pack was falling with them, and they were able to reach out and grab it).

For the rear and mid-upper gunners in Bomber Command, the observer-type parachute could not be worn in the turret - there wasn't room. The pilot-type parachute was only a realistic option for rear gunners, since they could evacuate the aircraft directly from the turret. I don't think that the pilot-type parachute would have have been easy to move around in. Navigators could've worn the observer-type attached, as could the WOps, but any movement around the aircraft would've been difficult.

Cheers

Rod

[dogsbodymk1]

Having been lucky enough to get inside a couple of Lancasters, I can assure you, there's not much room to move around. I can't imagine what it must have been like, in the dark, in a moving aircraft, possibly twisting and turning to avoid an attacking nightfighter.