page_title: RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II
section_title: Aircrew and superstition
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II / Aircrew and superstition
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Lancaster skipper, Flying Officer T Blackham of No. 50 Squadron, keeps a firm hold on the crew's lucky mascot, as he is helped into his flying jacket by his flight engineer, Sergeant C Walton, at Skellingthorpe, 19 February 1944. Other members of the crew are, from left to right: Pilot Officer D Jones (navigator), Sergeant H Ridd (mid-upper gunner), Sergeant S Smith (bomb aimer) and Sergeant S Wilkins (wireless operator).
context_page_description: The aircrews of RAF Bomber Command during World War II operated a fleet of bomber aircraft carried strategic bombing operations from September 1939 to May 1945, on behalf of the Allied powers. The crews were men from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and occupied Europe, especially Poland, France, Czechoslovakia and Norway, as well as other foreign volunteers. While the majority of Bomber Command personnel were members of the RAF, many belonged to other air forces – especially the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Under Article XV of the 1939 Air Training Agreement, squadrons belonging officially to the RCAF, RAAF, and RNZAF were formed, equipped and financed by the RAF, for service in Europe. While it was intended that RCAF, RAAF, and RNZAF personnel would serve only with their respective "Article XV squadrons", in practice many were posted to units of the RAF or other air forces. Likewise many RAF personnel served in Article XV squadrons.
  A total of 126 squadrons served with Bomber Command.
context_section_description: Many biographies and auto-biographies of aircrew record that, facing a very limited life expectancy, airmen frequently adopted mascots and superstitions, holding to a belief that if they adhered to a particular custom or carried a specific talisman with them, then they would "get home in time for breakfast".  Amongst those frequently mentioned are having a family photograph attached to their crew position inside the bomber, carrying a rabbit's foot or teddy bear, wearing a particular scarf around the neck, urinating on the tail wheel of the aircraft before takeoff, or always donning their flying kit on the same sequence. Such rituals were taken extremely seriously.   Having to fly in an unfamiliar bomber was highly unpopular; if a crew had a particular aircraft regularly assigned to them, many considered it unlucky to have to fly in another if their own was unserviceable.
  Either flying as a "spare bod" to cover for sickness in another crew or having a "spare bod" fly in their own crew was not popular. Many crews were extremely tightly knit and would not consider being unable to fly as a complete crew; if a crew member was not fully healthy, quite often he would still fly in order to keep the crew together, believing that their absence might cause the loss of their crew on that night. The fear was not groundless, as a newly arrived airman from a training unit might be used as a temporary replacement for their highly experienced crewman, and a momentary hesitation in calling for evasive action in a pending night-fighter attack did result in bombers being lost.
caption: A bomber crew prepare for ops and check their lucky mascot.
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