Fred Preller, webmaster of the 384th Bomb Group’s web site, has provided me with a few statistics about the group.  Keep in mind these numbers are approximate.  This data reflects the count as of October 8, 2014.  The numbers are subject to change as duplicates and other errors are discovered in the data.

384th Bomb Group Personnel

• 7,121 personnel are listed in the 384th’s database at http://www.384thbombgroup.com/.
• 4,380 were combat crewmembers – those recorded with one or more combat missions.
• 2,741 were non-combat personnel at Grafton Underwood (GU), where the 384th was stationed during WWII (derived from subtracting the 4,380 combat personnel from the 7,121 total personnel).

384th Bomb Group Combat Crews

• 446 crews have been identified from Special Orders, Squadron Histories, and other non-combat mission documents.
• 4,214 crewmembers have been identified in the 446 crew assignments.
• 166 combat crewmembers who had no permanent crew assignment participated in at least one mission (derived from subtracting 4,214 assigned crewmembers from 4,380 total combat crewmembers).

Of the 7,121 384th Bombardment Group Personnel listed in the 384thbombgroup.com database,

• 1,456 completed their tour (CT).
• 225 flew at least one combat mission, but had not attained a full combat tour of 35 missions by war’s end (FCMEW).
• 134 transferred out of the 384th (TR).
• 116 evaded capture and returned to allied control after having been shot down in enemy territory (EV).
• 4 were wounded in non-combat service, as a result of a non-flying, non-combat cause, seriously enough to end service with the 384th (WNC).
• 32 were wounded in action, seriously enough to end service with the 384th (WIA).
• 52 were interned, held by a neutral power in Switzerland or Sweden.  There were a variety of circumstances and experiences to having been interned, ranging from unimaginably bad to country club-like (INT).
• 884 became prisoners of war (POW).
• 19 were killed in service, as a result of a non-flying, non-combat cause (KIS).
• 24 were killed in a flying accident that was not related to combat operations (KIFA).
• 497 were killed while participating in combat activity, also known as killed in action (KIA).
• The remaining 3,678 are undetermined.  Efforts are ongoing to reduce this number.

The 384th Combat Crews’ Grim Statistics

Keep in mind, these are approximations derived from the available data.  Of the 4,380 combat crewmembers,

• 20% (1 in 5) became POWs or Internees
• 12% (1 in 8) were killed in action or in a flying accident

Thank you to Fred Preller, 384th Bomb Group Webmaster, for providing the above data and allowing me to share it and the grim statistics on The Arrowhead Club.

Fred also reminded me that…

The 384th was special to the personnel who were assigned to it, but in all other respects it was typical of heavy bomb groups of the 8th AF.  Some groups were there longer, some shorter.  Some had greater casualties, some fewer.  Some earned greater honors, some fewer.  And so on…  This information is not intended to glorify the 384th, but only to convey the conditions and hazards of all the bomb groups in the 8th AF, and to a degree, all combat units worldwide, as they fought to defend our Freedoms.

Well put, Fred.

© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014