Last night, a clip about this memorial came up on my facebook feed. A sobering reminder
of what was lost.
The "Counting the Cost" memorial, located at the American Air Museum in Duxford, England, is a 52-panel glass sculpture commemorating over 7,000 US aircraft lost during WWII operations from UK bases. The etched panels line the entrance ramp, visually representing the immense scale of losses with silhouettes of bombers and fighters.
Location: Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford, near Cambridge, UK.
Significance: Honors over 30,000 US airmen who died while flying from UK bases during World War II.
Design: The 52 glass panels are divided into two segments (43 on the left, 9 on the right) and feature engraved silhouettes of aircraft, acting as a "missing in action" memorial.
Details: The panels include engravings representing the USAAF 8th Air Force (6,346 lost) and 9th Air Force (692 lost).
I have been there, and it is an impressive memorial. More impressive in person.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of war is seldom remembered properly.
ReplyDeleteIf we did more often war wouldn't be so popular.
It was 20 years between "The GREAT WAR" aka WW1 and start of WW2. So many people REMEMBERED the cost that FDR had to create a "They ATTACKED US" to get support for the war effort in Europe.
Today it seems our "Greatest Ally Ever" (spit) can simply buy and extort America into fighting wars for them.
yeah. and good old FDR did everything he could to start it too. we used to call what he did "acts of war" too.
Deleteone reason why Russia doesn't take the bait over the bullshit we do is that they remember the great war where so many died in WW2. their kids KNOW what happened and the cost of it all to end it too.
Russia lost what close to 20 million or more during WW2 ? I also heard it was like 1 in 7 of them.
in the first year alone, they lost 3.5 to 5 million people. that tends to leave a mark.
Insisting that ALL political leaders are on the front lines of any war would go a long way in ending hostilities towards other countries.
Delete"Russia lost what close to 20 million or more during WW2 ?'
DeleteThe number varies with app, 50 million being the count and amount on the high side number. It is hard to say since the Russians lied and manipulated actual accounts (we did when it benefited us). The Russians had several huge battles that produced massive casualties for both sides, but particularly theirs. By Western Allies count, the Russians possibly lost over a million soldiers taking Berlin as an example. At the siege of Volgograd, and estimated a half-million civilians perished and the Russian army lost app. 1.1 million. Stalingrad and Kursk were bumper harvests for the Grim Reaper, etc. The Communist/Stalin machine killed an estimated twenty million of their own people prior to WW2. As most know, WW2 in general was the apex meat grinder of wars. The allies were not immune to huge losses either, but nowhere near the Soviet/German inflictions. The number of Marine casualties in the Pacific were greater than the those of the "Mighty 8th". I say this not to diminish the sacrifices of those men, but for scope. I sickens me to see the state of England, France and the other countries we sent American men/boys to "liberate" from the Axis. I wonder what those young men that "fought to free Europe and SAVE the world" would think about he affairs of today.
One of my uncles was shot down in 1943 on a mission with the 8th Air Force, 95th Bomb Group. Although wounded, he manged to get out of the aircraft and spent the remainder of the war as a guest of the Lutwaffe.
ReplyDeleteNemo
Glad your uncle survived. My dad was a pilot with this group--
Deletehttps://447bg.com/
He flew 35 missions over Europe. All he ever said was, "We came home on three engines more than once".
You mean the SS, Nemo. Luftwaffe did not run prison camps.
DeleteStammlager Luftwaffe/Stalag Luft camps were operated by Luftwaffe personnel for the purpose of holding/imprisoning Allied air crews/pilots. HO-O-O-O-GAN! (some will get it)
DeleteRespectfully disagree, Igor. Each branch ran camps for its opposite. The Luftwaffe's camps were named Stalag Luft I, II, III, etc.
DeleteWhat! Are you telling me Hogans Heroes was a fake!
Deletethe SS ran the death camps. the Luftwaffe ran the camps that held allied Pows that landed and lived after getting shot down. but the SS did try to control all of the camps but never got to do that.
DeleteAnd now they won't let us use DG in our fight to preserve civilization.
ReplyDeleteDG ?
DeleteDiego Garcia
DeleteDiego Garcia. Blame the communist Starmer for that. It's not what the British people want.
DeleteDiego Garcia
DeleteWe should just go take DG away from Starmer. After all, we paid for the bulk of the infrastructure that's there.
DeleteNemo
Been stationed there for 8 months. We need to tell GB to go pound sand. Whatta they gonna do, take it away from us?
DeleteOne of the world's great air museums.
ReplyDeletehad a bomber vet who was my eye doctor back when I was a kid. really nice guy too. had some pictures of planes and
ReplyDeleteother stuff on his walls. he told me about the damn cold. of being scared to death up there. and watching planes going down. main thing I remember about him was saying it okay to be scared to death as long as you still did you JOB. he told me, "everyone gets scared, it what you do while scared that matters" him and my Dad seem to get along alright. but then again, Dad was a vet as well. what I didn't know was that my Dad had 2 navy crosses for valor
and 16 or more "battle stars" until he was buried . yeah. Dad is buried in Arlington. the Navy did Dad right. they put Mom up for the night. had 2 commanders to work with us even. real class act. and funny part is that Dad always called "the fucking navy" I told that to one of the commanders and he just laughed. he told me, "well, with all of his medals , he could call whatever he wanted too and NO one was going to give him any shit for it"
a whole lot of guys gave a lot more than anyone had any right to ask them to do. and to them, it was a job that needed to get done. it a damn shame that the kids today are not taught about how much their grandfathers went thru and did to get the world we live in now. back when I was going to school, a lot of our teachers where WW2 vets.
we lost a lot by not having more vets become teachers. now we have blue haired freaks teaching kids and we wonder how why the kids today are so damn stupid and don't know anything ?
kids need to know their history. what their parents and grandparents went thru and did to get here today.
most kids have no idea of just how bad it was. it not some damn video game where you can reset everything and start over. it way past time we started to teach history again to the kids. they need it and we all would be better off if we did .
Sir, this Soldier salutes your Father. I talk about my beloved Army the same way he talked about the Navy, and I would not trade a minute of it. Though a combat vet, I have no where near the medals your Father does. One thing that many people do not realize is that while there are many unpleasant ways to die in the Army, the Navy and the USAF take it to another level. Burning, crushed, trapped, drowning, falling from a great height and having time to think about it are all BAD ways to go; and then there are the 'ordinary' things like getting shot or blow up. I pray every day for ALL of my military Brothers and Sisters, no matter which Branch they served in. Yes, we joke, but at the end of the day, it say "U.S." at the beginning of our name tapes.
DeleteHad a college professor who was in the Bataan Death March. Didn’t know until the day of the anniversary he paused instruction and told the story, probably in a manor not as gory as the truth. We all sat there in silence. It’s still somber to this day for me recalling it.
DeleteI had the "privilege" of talking to Bataan Death March survivor. The tale was horrific. He told after a long march to the coast they were allied soldiers were put into the holds of boats. They were starved or water, barley having any during their voyage (3 days, I think). He told of watching some of the stronger prisoners slashing arteries of some the weaker ones and drinking their blood. He told many horrible things and of the cruelty of the enemy. He said that on the march, if anyone faltered or lagged behind, the Japs bayoneted them or chopped off their heads with a sword.
Deletewonder what the Brits will do when the Muzzies blow that up? which they will do....
ReplyDeleteI came here to ask how long before some YOB came along and took a hammer to it.
DeleteI was there several years ago. Did you know that Major Alton Glen Millers name is there. Saw it. And, also Joseph Kennedy Jr. also. Very moving.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest factors to winning the war was the ability of the U.S. to out produce the enemy. The number of ships and planes we built after Dec 7, 1941 was more that Japan and Germany lost during the entire war. Today, after decades of off shoring machining and production, we may not be able to do that again.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. At its peak, the Wiilow Run plant was rolling a B-24 off the line right at one every hour.
Deletethank you ! this is one of the biggest things about WW2. this country built more stuff than any other country did. and the clowns and fools down in DC still think we can turn it on again like we did back then.
DeleteNO. we can not. we no longer have the factories. or the semi skilled work force. or even the people with the skills to do anything even close to back then ! back then, we had factories, small shops. farms and people had gardens that grew their own food. all of that is long gone. and it going to take years before we can get back to that level again. if we ever do.
Yep, currently reading The Battle of Midway by Craig Symonds. He speaks to that early on.
DeleteSince most of our manufacturing is over seas now no way we could repeat that.
Chris,
DeleteIf you haven’t already read “Shattered Sword” about the Battle of Midway, I’d recommend it. Along with the usual historical timeline, the author goes into the Japanese orders affected their actions, and the differences in Japanese versus American carrier capabilities and doctrine. A lot of research went into the book, especially uncovering what was happening on the other side.
William Klein Jr.
ReplyDelete7038 Aircraft lost, just those flying out of England. That's over half the TOTAL number of our all of our current inventory!
ReplyDeleteGod bless and keep those souls we lost.
Current total U.S. Military Aircraft (approx):
Total Inventory: -13,032–13,209
US Air Force (USAF): 5,000–5,500+ aircraft
US Navy (USN): -3,700+ aircraft
US Army: -4,400+ aircraft (largely helicopters)
US Marine Corps (USMC): -1,000+ aircraft
Combat Aircraft: 2,750
"Fallen Fortress" is a very good book about local country boy (Cornell Shaddix) who became a B-17 pilot, was shot down over Belgium, broke his ankle after a rough parachute landing, hid by the Belgian underground for two months before being smuggled to the French underground. Ended up walking back to a American line that was advancing just after D-Day. Flew more missions till wars end and ferried refugees, etc. He tells a story of having to pass through a German checkpoint and was worried about his forged papers, etc. He said that, "just like in a Hollywood movie, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen approached the checkpoint and her skirt blew up above her thighs and I walked right through".
ReplyDeleteThank you Irish and Jeffery, memories are forever, my father was a prisoner of hitlers henchmen, died at 56, I know his starvation at an early age caused his early death later in life.
ReplyDeleteThank GOD for Donald Trump and the true Americans that support this great country, fk the enemy within.....
My dad was 8th. He had stories.
ReplyDeleteGovernments cooperate to kill off their alpha males and bankrupt the middle class, so no alpha males are left to object to their predation. Is this the week the government hyperinflates the dollar?
ReplyDeleteThe panels there are deeply moving to those who understand what the represent. A trip nearby to the Cambridge American Cemetery at Madingley really brings home the cost. Some of the history and facts that American youth are not taught today. The art, chapel and wall of the names of the missing are dramatic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial
ReplyDeleteIf you Google how many airplane accidents there in the contential United States, you will find:
ReplyDeleteAccording to the US Army Air Forces (AAF) Statistical Digest, there were 52,651 aircraft accidents in the continental United States during World War II, from December 1941 to August 1945. These accidents resulted in 6,039 fatalities and the loss of 13,873 airplanes.
Nearly 40 accidents a day.
Several family stories, including the bomber pilot that went to Canada because he was tired of the US sitting out the war. He was shot down 3 times. Ended the war as a POW. He told his daughter how the National Socialists tortured a little girl to death and forced him to watch.
If you want to have your mind completely blown, visit one of the WW1 cemetaries in France or Belgium.
ReplyDeleteMasters of the Air on Apple was a good series on this period. One squadron only had one plane return from a mission. It's wild that Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart served in the bomber force.
ReplyDeleteAnd THAT is just one reason why they were part of the "Greatest Generation".
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, the Pyrrhic victory. Consolidate power into a single entity and eat it from within. Yes they were are forefathers, hopefully future generations will be more aware of what they are fighting for.
ReplyDeleteMc
Visit Duxford if. you can. The tickets are expensive but there's some fantastic stuff there: get up close and personal with an SR71.
ReplyDelete