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New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (Vol. II)

Appendix II — STRENGTHS AND CASUALTIES

page 455

Appendix II
STRENGTHS AND CASUALTIES

[The figures given below for the RAF are taken from a British Government White Paper entitled ‘Strengths and Casualties of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom’, issued in June 1946. The figures for the Commonwealth Air Forces were obtained from their respective Air Departments.]

Royal Air Force

The strength of the RAF was 118,000 at the beginning of the war; this was raised steadily to reach a peak of 1,012,000 in the middle of 1944.

By the end of the war a total of 1,404,000 had served in the RAF. Of these, approximately 218,000 were aircrew and 1,186,000 were ground staff, the latter including 219,000 members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

Casualties in the RAF amounted to 112,296, including 76,346 killed or missing. The casualties to aircrew alone were 65,727 killed or missing and 16,292 wounded.

The above figures do not include members of the Dominion Air Forces serving under their own Commands or placed at the disposal of the RAF. There were approximately 180,000 such men, casualties among whom amounted to 31,784 killed or missing, including 14,600 Canadian, 7021 Australian, 1850 South African, and 2960 New Zealand Air Force personnel.

New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (RNZAF attached and New Zealanders in RAF)

Strength Casualties
Killed PW Total
To Dec 1940 1,650 203 40 243
Dec 1941 3,980 586 123 709
Dec 1942 5,085 1,497 312 1,809
Dec 1943 8,466 2,319 460 2,779
Dec 1944 10,375 3,052 540 3,592
May 1945 10,950 3,285 548 3,833