The 'Drop Tank' thread got me thinking about something i've wondered about for a while now. Given the amount of aerial combat over Europe, what are some of the after-effects of it? Planes crashing into populated areas after being knocked out in the skies, millions of rounds of ammunition fired, shell casings, shrapnel from Ack-Ack guns, etc. Is there any sort of documentation on injuries/deaths on the ground from any of these things? Do collectors w/ metal detectors every find aircraft ammunition scattered in fields? Where do the pieces of destroyed planes end up on the ground?
Interesting question. I do remember reading about flak injuries to the local populace. I do not recall hearing about planes crashing into houses but I would assume that over the cities it did. The better question is what about human waste from the bombers? The Germans collected parts of shot down planes for material and they even used some parts as spares when they could not get the proper parts. Someone out there surely knows more than I on this.
Don't have a clue as to the whole war, but the only civilians killed in Honalulu died as a result of American anti-aircraft shells missing their targets and falling into the city. I would assume that the same happended in the ETO especially where the population density was so much greater.
I saw a website several years ago that had pictures of bombers in Europe that crashed into homes, businesses and other civic structures, like bridges, schools and whatnot. There were a lot of pics Unfortunately, I did not mark the page, so.... So, to answer your question, I've never seen an enumeration of injuries. I have read a book years ago of a boy in Germany in a small town or village. It mentioned his mother calling him in as the bombers went over, so that he would not get hit by falling debris, such as bullets, shell casings or aircraft pieces. I wish I could remember the book.
while in france last april, i found a british 20mm shell casing, in a freshly ploughed field (on the surface)......had a chat with a local farmer in broken english, he said it was quite common in that area
