Flak Hit Statistics For World War II Heavy Bombers

In this video, you'll find out the percentages of where Allied bombers got hit the most. Also, where the crewmen of these planes were most likely to be hit.

This is based on research released by the 8th Air Force in 1944.

CORRECTION: As some comments state, the Germans didn't use proximity fuses against the Allies. A company named Rheinmetall however did develop proximity fuses in late 1944 and successfully tested them, but they were never used in battle.
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[johnw]

Germany didn't have proximity fuses in WWII. Their development of proximity fuses was halted in 1940. They used timed fuses. The fuses were set based on the approximate height of the aircraft.

[GingerMafia]

My grandpa was a radio operator in the Pacific during WW2. My grandmother gave all us grandkids a book of his journal entries from the war, and he found it incredible that he never got hit.

[mikequinn]

A friend’s father was a Bomber Command pilot in WW2 and flew for an Australian airline for decades afterwards. On a visit to the UK, in the 1970s, he called into a pub he regularly frequented during the war and got chatting to a German tourist. That German had been in charge of a flak battery in Bremen. Upon comparing dates they realised that both had experienced the same worst night of the war. Needless to say they remained in touch and the best of friends for the remainder of their lives.

[pizzahut]

My grandfather was so lucky....being a b-17 pilot he flew 119 missions and was never injured once.

[williamcameron]

I would rather be in an allied bomber than a German U-boat ...

[vaziz]

Once the proximity fuse was mentioned as a German device, it casts doubt on all the other stats and statements.

[politenessman]

The Germans did not have proximity fuzes in WW2

[massimookissed]

Yes.., but there were *two* waist gunners, so their hit rate was 10.8% *each.* Doubling the number of waist gunners doubles the chance that *a* waist gunner gets hit.

[mjk]

Well my father was one of the lucky ones (B-17 Pilot/Aircraft Commander 15th AF 463rd BG 772nd BS) with 50 combat missions.
Not a scratch on him though one of his Ball Turret Gunners got hit (wounded) with shrapnel.

[LikeUntoBuddha]

The Germans did not have radar proximity fuzes in WW2. Only the USA did.

[SiggyCloud]

I remember there being a saying Hell is a mile above Germany for a reason XD

[stevenkramer]

"Hell in the air"
Lovely!
-From Dresden, on the ground.

[Jay-Niner]

Ball turret gunners had the safest position?! I never would have guessed!

But the labelling of the aircraft positions is a bit off...

[charleswilliams]

Ok, I don't want to shit on your parade to much - but I'm pretty sure Germans didn't have Proximity fuzes. Those were mainly in the hands of the allies and even then, saw limited service.

[lakemanson]

RIP my great friend, Earl Joswick of the 95th Bomb Group (H) Association. He was shot down over France during a secret bombing mission, and was able to make landfall behind enemy lines. All his crew mates were killed by the Germans; but they captured him and forced him on the great Death March back to Berlin. During this entire march, he had a blown out knee and ankle. This is the story he told me when I was young, and he ended it with saying he was eventually rescued by Allied forces, and he was able to find his way back to a friendly airbase on his own.

[slapstick]

The Germans didn't use proximity fuses.

[jonathanhansen]

Another thing to remember is those flights took forever to complete. 10 to 12 hours from Britain to Germany and back in unheated, unpressurized, crates (B17’s, B24’s). Flying only 150 to 175 MPH at about 20, 000 Feet where the temperature was -40 to -60 Fahrenheit. If you were wounded by shrapnel, it might be 5 or 6 hours before you got proper medical treatment.

[octowuss]

Nice animation and great stats. However, the Germans never deployed a working proximity fuse during WW2. The Americans did though (based on a British design given to them as part of the Tizard mission). The VT fuse had a huge effect on the war effort relative to the old fixed time fuse. It was about seven times more effective against Kamikaze attacks, shot down huge numbers of V1 missiles, and decimated German divisions during the Battle of the Bulge. Thankfully, the Germans didn't have anything like it.

[MegtaBubble]

If it was hell in the air, what was it for the bombed cities?

[gglen]

My Dad had an Uncle who was a rear turret gunner in a Lancaster. Like so many of them, he never came home. No remains to bury, no ashes to scatter. Nothing remained, just what was in his foot locker that day. He used to drive up from London to Ardrossan in his MG and take my dad for rides.