War Behind the Wire: Life and Escape from Stalag 17B (Essay‪)‬

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The air war over Europe saw an unprecedented number of casualties, primarily attributed to the emergence of new technology in both aviation and anti-air capabilities. Many attacks by the U.S. Army Air Corps used the massive B-17 and B-24 bombers, which each carried up to ten crewmembers. A single raid on a fortified position sometimes resulted in the loss of dozens of aircraft and hundreds of airmen: by the end of the war, the Axis powers had shot down 32,730 U.S. airmen over Europe. (1)