How cold did it get in WW2 bombers? WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES:

Quora.com ^ | Aug 12,2022 | Profile photo for Pete Feigal Pete Feigal · Follow Former Pro Military Artist for 25 Years

[ropin71]

Yes, officially my uncle, but he was killed many years before I was born. All of my Uncle’s I have known, so I just phrased it differently.

[JerseyDvl]

Historical bookmark.

[Auntie Dem]

My 5th grade teacher was a blood-n-guts sergeant in Korea. One story he told was about being in a foxhole on Porkchop Hill. They had bushes covering their foxhole while thousands of Chinese troops walked within inches of their heads. They just had to sit there silently until they passed, to do otherwise would have been suicide. He had a bunch of stories I can’t recall now as it’s been about 62 years, but I remember Porkchop Hill.

[Zuriel]

Ping to #40

My only uncle was also, but out of England. My mother was 14, and standing in the front yard when Army dropped off his MIA telegram. The real bad news came weeks later.

[CodeJockey]

Great article, great thread. Thanks for posting.

[DaxtonBrown]

My dad was in 460th Bomb Group. 1/12th died in action. 1/12th were POWs. Those were comparably light losses, but heavy by today’s standards. we miss all those brave young men.

[daniel1212]

Thanks. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bockscar

[Zuriel]

My f-i-l was in the 8th, 446th group, 705th sqd.

My uncle I never met was in the 8th, 392nd group, 576th sqd.

[daniel1212]

"Great article, great thread. Thanks for posting."

It is good to be reminded of what vets could go thru. Quora could use more conservatives though.

[daniel1212]

"My mother’s only brother, a 24 tail-gunner perished over Germany on his first mission. In my father in law’s later years, upon seeing our government become more corrupt (he had kissenger, pappy bush, and puppet clintoon pegged), one day said to me in a somber voice, “Son, I fear your uncle and many others died for nothing”."

God shows mercy and grace, but warns against receiving it in vain due to spiritual and moral declension. The more blessed, the more accountable.

[daniel1212]

"Air crewmen must’ve thought Christmas had come early when the B-29 arrived because from that point on all bombers were pressurized. Just like the modern airliner, the crew rode inside a sealed and climate-controlled “pressure vessel,” and maintaining the integrity of the pressure vessel meant that all the defensive guns had to be controlled remotely, not by an airman in a heated suit and standing in an open window."

But the article also states,

(Above: As the first US bomber to have a pressurized cabin (and it wasn’t sealed well, frankly,) was the B-29, crews risked all sorts of oxygen depredation issues: hypoxia, altitude and decompression sickness, and barotrauma and that risk was high and dangerous, and all the bomber crews got was an oxygen mask…that often didn't work, or froze up. See those flak vests developed in ‘43? 32 easy pounds.