ANSWER 3: “One should note that eleven RCAF Bomber Command squadrons had been formed prior to the official paper establishment of 6 Group in October 1942. However, the last six of those units were barely in existence prior to the group’s official stand-up for operations in January 1943. In all, there were 4203 known fatal 6 Group casualties during the 28 months of its operations. If a Canadianization rate of 75 percent is applied to this number for the duration of the group’s existence, an estimated 3152 of 6 Group’s 4203 fatalities were Canadian. Subtracting this number and the 1900 fatal RCAF Bomber Command casualties prior to 1 January 1943 from the 9919 total wartime figure, it is estimated that 4867 RCAF aircrew in RAF bombing squadrons forfeited their lives from 1 January 1943 until the cessation of all hostilities in August 1945. In the summer of 1944, there were approximately 10,200 RCAF aircrew in all RCAF squadrons overseas, and 16,000 RCAF aircrew in all RAF squadrons overseas. These numbers represent 38.5 percent and 61.5 percent respectively of the totals of RCAF aircrew serving overseas, and the Bomber Command subset of these numbers would closely mirror this ratio. And the Canadian 6 Group losses of 3152 represent 39.2 percent of the known losses for the period, whereas the estimated 4867 RCAF aircrew fatalities in RAF units during the time-frame represent 60.8 percent of the estimated totals. Again, these numbers are logical when spanning a period when losses would be expected to be relatively equal throughout the Command.”

Source:

No Prouder Place,

pg. 458 (Bashow)