CASUALTIES

Bomber Command was the most dangerous service in the war. A Lancaster crewman, at the peak of operations, had only a 30 per cent chance of completing a full tour of 30 sorties. Of the 125,000 men who served in the Command, 56,000 were killed, 8,400 seriously wounded and 10,000 taken prisoner. Of the 7,377 Lancasters that went into service, 45 per cent or 3,349 were lost. Yet there was remarkably little cowardice. Fewer than 1 per cent of all those who flew in Bomber Command were found guilty of ‘Lack of Moral Fibre’.