[Epapazian]

There were a lot of downright risky jobs for WWII airmen, Here are my top ten picks for the least desirable situations to be in. Anyone else care to comment?


1) Kamikaze pilot:anytime/anywhere. 2) ME-323 "gigant" crew flying from Sicily to Tunis, Spring 1943. 3) ME-163 pilot trying to land his plane: Germany 1945. 4)I-16 pilot: Russia, June 1941. 5) F-2A pilot: Battle of Midway, June 1942. 6)B-17 tail gunner: Europe 1944. 7)B-17 ball turret gunner: Europe 1944. 8)BF-110c or JU-87B crew: BOB, 1940. 9)JU-52 crew flying in supplies: Stalingrad, January 1942. 10) IL-2M rear gunner: Russia 1943-45.

[Cavtanker]

Don't forget about the C-47 pilots flying the Hump in the CBI theater!

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by Cavtanker

Don't forget about the C-47 pilots flying the Hump in the CBI theater!

And a glider pilot trying to land the craft at night on June 5th, 1944 near Normady.

[Shawn 507]

Originally Posted by mikeb1958

And a glider pilot trying to land the craft at night on June 5th, 1944 near Normady.

NEAR being the operative word. Atleast the glider landings ( those not cracked up on landing ) massed more people in one area than the Paratroop drop. But then the PIRs were at the mercy of the pilots.
I admire the previous suggestions, but to be a Naval Aviator bailing out over the Big Big Blue Pacific scares me more than anything else. Way to easy to disappear. I'll take a fight over/on dry land anyday.

[tank nut]

The poor guy who was in the ball turret on b-17's . if they got stuck in there they were done for.

[Migmauler]

A Japanese pilot during the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by Migmauler

A Japanese pilot during the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

Or a Kamikaze pilot that chickend-out for the crash-dive after the saki wore off with no where to go....

[Cruver Collecter]

How about the poor crew of a Vickers Vildebeest III out of Singapore engaging Japanese landing force with two Oscars on your tail. Just as bad would be the crews of Dutch Glenn Martin WH-3s engaging enemy shipping off of Malaya and getting bounced by Zeros.

[Folgore]

Originally Posted by tank nut

The poor guy who was in the ball turret on b-17's . if they got stuck in there they were done for.

I agree: Not a happy place to be. However, I have read that ball turret gunners had lower rates of injury, compared with other B-17 crew members, because being squished into that little turret minimized their exposure to jagged bits of metal whizzing by. I guess that's the silver lining...

[Rush104]

Here's one that would make my list- being a crewman on one of the B-25's involved in the Doolittle Raid...