Sweatin’ Out the Mission

For every USAAF heavy bomber with ten crew members on board, it required a further thirty ground support personnel to maintain, service and get each aircraft into the air. A multitude of additional staff were also required to operate the British airfields inhabited by the USAAF during the Second World War. Figures suggest that as many as 70 per cent of USAAF service personnel who were stationed in Britain during the war were ground based. Whereas those combat crews that were fortunate enough to complete their required number of missions were swiftly returned home, the vast majority of ground personnel remained in Britain for the duration. It was these servicemen and women who formed the strongest links with the British people and their work ranged from recording the weather, servicing the transport, guarding the bases, cooking the meals, administering to the spiritual needs of the men and even dealing with colleagues’ remains after unsuccessful missions. Any air-crew member will agree they could not have done their job without the personnel on the ground. After the war, however, these people melted back into civilian life, subsequently receiving little recognition for their efforts.