The most dangerous job in WWII?

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BillHermann
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#61

Post by BillHermann » 18 Mar 2012, 10:12

As above recon! Their job is to get noticed and shot at and report if they survive. Former recon

tonyh
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#62

Post by tonyh » 18 Mar 2012, 19:08

The "Tommy Cooker" is a reference to the older model of Shermans, that didn't employ wet stowage for their rounds. It is true that a lot of them would "brew up" when hit. They were also nicknamed "Ronsons" by llied tankers. However, later in the war, they were no more dangerous than other tanks.

As far as the most dangerous job is concerned, statistically, I'd say the U-boat crews had it it quite tough.


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waldzee
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#63

Post by waldzee » 18 Mar 2012, 20:26

ChristopherPerrien wrote:Leaders of the major Axis powers. 3 in , 3 out.
:D :lol: :P , but not quite:
1. Franco died in his Bed ( 1976) as did Phillipe Petain & Micklas Horthy

So we are now at 50 %..... :milsmile:

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Ironmachine
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#64

Post by Ironmachine » 18 Mar 2012, 21:38

waldzee wrote:
ChristopherPerrien wrote:Leaders of the major Axis powers. 3 in , 3 out.
:D :lol: :P , but not quite:
1. Franco died in his Bed ( 1976) as did Phillipe Petain & Micklas Horthy

So we are now at 50 %..... :milsmile:
Well, I would not qualify Spain as a "major" Axis power... :lol:
Still, even if in his bed, Franco died at his post, so he is not really decreasing the percentage. :lol:
And what's more, he didn't die during WWII, so with regards to this thread his job was not so dangerous. :wink:
Last edited by Ironmachine on 19 Mar 2012, 09:03, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#65

Post by Ironmachine » 19 Mar 2012, 09:08

BillHermann wrote:As above recon! Their job is to get noticed and shot at and report if they survive
Well, IMHO their job is reporting what they see. The part about being "noticed and shot at" is just optional, and should be avoided at all if possible. :)

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AVV
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#66

Post by AVV » 19 Mar 2012, 11:19

Hello!
Ironmachine wrote:The part about being "noticed and shot at" is just optional, and should be avoided at all if possible.
Yes, pilots of Soviet fighters who were on recce missions, were forbidden to engage in airfight with enemy, even if they outnumbered it or were in favorable situation for attack.

Best regards, Aleks

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#67

Post by ChristopherPerrien » 19 Mar 2012, 19:35

AVV wrote:Hello!
Ironmachine wrote:The part about being "noticed and shot at" is just optional, and should be avoided at all if possible.
Yes, pilots of Soviet fighters who were on recce missions, were forbidden to engage in airfight with enemy, even if they outnumbered it or were in favorable situation for attack.

Best regards, Aleks
Yes, well the whole point of "recon" is to gain intelligence, not to fight the enemy. Engaging the enemy, delays vital intelligence and may lead to gained intelligence losing its "real-time value" or being destroyed.

Scouting in war has always been a "dangerous job", but properly done, by professionals, it may not be as dangerous as some people may think.

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#68

Post by waldzee » 21 Mar 2012, 07:23

Ironmachine wrote:
waldzee wrote:
ChristopherPerrien wrote:Leaders of the major Axis powers. 3 in , 3 out.
:D :lol: :P , but not quite:
1. Franco died in his Bed ( 1976) as did Phillipe Petain & Micklas Horthy

So we are now at 50 %..... :milsmile:
Well, I would not qualify Spain as a "major" Axis power... :lol:
Still, even if in his bed, Franco died at his post, so he is not really decreasing the percentage. :lol:
And what's more, he didn't die during WWII, so with regards to this thread his job was not so dangerous. :wink:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Antonescu was shot at the stake, Tojo was hung, BorisIII was poisoned by the GEstapo... three out of nine ain't bad...

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#69

Post by ChristopherPerrien » 21 Mar 2012, 19:13

waldzee wrote:
Ironmachine wrote:
waldzee wrote:
ChristopherPerrien wrote:Leaders of the major Axis powers. 3 in , 3 out.
:D :lol: :P , but not quite:
1. Franco died in his Bed ( 1976) as did Phillipe Petain & Micklas Horthy

So we are now at 50 %..... :milsmile:
Well, I would not qualify Spain as a "major" Axis power... :lol:
Still, even if in his bed, Franco died at his post, so he is not really decreasing the percentage. :lol:
And what's more, he didn't die during WWII, so with regards to this thread his job was not so dangerous. :wink:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Antonescu was shot at the stake, Tojo was hung, BorisIII was poisoned by the GEstapo... three out of nine ain't bad...
The major axis powers were , Germany, Japan , Italy. 3/3
If y'all happen to forget Italy and Mussolini, I can sorta of understand.

Tojo did get hung, but I suppose Hirohito did make it , so maybe Japan might get a pass. 2/3?

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BillHermann
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#70

Post by BillHermann » 22 Mar 2012, 00:17

Still too many hollywood buffs here thinking of Recce being what you see in the movies. Yes indeed they are there to report what they see. But often they have to get in harms way to find what they are looking for. Recce is not just a buch of guys in green bushes sneaking across the battlefeild with binoculars but have multiples roles and one of them is playing decoy, driving ahead in a vihicle to get shot at, showing themselves to intice the enemy to attack if the enemy is hidden. Adding to the fact that we are discussing WW2 and there was not the thermal imaging, satellites and technology it was even more dangerous. This is one of the most dangerous roles statistically speaking.

Hence the reason why robots are doing Recce in many armies now.

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#71

Post by JonS » 22 Mar 2012, 05:49

BillHermann wrote:This is one of the most dangerous roles statistically speaking.
Oh, hang on. You have statistics to back up your statements? Well, that's completely different then.

Will you be sharing these statistics you speak of?

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'ow abut us blhistis?

#72

Post by waldzee » 22 Mar 2012, 06:26

An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-files shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"

Kipling- :milsmile: ( AKA medics/corpsmen)

Edit: 'Blhisti" was , according to a Mennonite friend , his fathe'rs fellow medics inturnal slang. As 'Conchies', they got scant respect- until after the Dieppe raid - when it was realised that they took heavier beach casualties than anyone else...

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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#73

Post by David Thompson » 22 Mar 2012, 21:34

Two posts by JonS, containing personal remarks about another poster, were removed by this moderator along with a now unnecessary reply - DT.

ChristopherPerrien
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Re: The most dangerous job in WWII?

#74

Post by ChristopherPerrien » 22 Mar 2012, 22:40

David Thompson wrote:Two posts by JonS, containing personal remarks about another poster, were removed by this moderator along with a now unnecessary reply - DT.
Gee whiz, David, you could have waited till I had chance to read them. :P

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Re: 'ow abut us blhistis?

#75

Post by ChristopherPerrien » 22 Mar 2012, 22:48

waldzee wrote:An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-files shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"

Kipling- :milsmile: ( AKA medics/corpsmen)

Edit: 'Blhisti" was , according to a Mennonite friend , his fathe'rs fellow medics inturnal slang. As 'Conchies', they got scant respect- until after the Dieppe raid - when it was realised that they took heavier beach casualties than anyone else...
I think we need to eliminate any (Kamikaze missions, last stands- such as the British at Singapore, or the Americans at Wake or PI, or the Japanese of myriad islands, or Russian penal battalions,Dieppe landing force, etc.etc.) which all took almost or close to 100% casualties, and stick with strictly MOS's in general and how much they lost as a percentage, throughout the war.

U-boat and US submarine crews rank in this respect, perhaps Soviet infantry and tank formations do too, as maybe do US day bombing crew also. There are so many others, generally I know of many that took 50-75% overall. We are looking for the best of these brave/unlucky/foolish blokes who just happened to end up in the wrong job for WWII.
Happens every war :milsmile: :milsmile:

We need some "Hard figures" with sources connected. Otherwise this topic will just keep stumbling along as it does.

Chris

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