WW2 Jobs with the lowest survival rates

During the second world war, people didn’t really have the best understanding of technology and in the attempt to defeat their enemies, many countries invented things that weren’t exactly safe for the operator. Some of these jobs put the person doing them in more danger than the average soldier on the ground, and often for little to no useful effect at all. Here are some of those jobs and just how dangerous they can be.

Torpedo pilot

– 20% to 40% survival chance per mission

The single most effective weapon against enemy ships was the torpedo, but because they had their own propeller and fuel supply, this meant their range was limited and planes carrying the weapon would have to get dangerously close to the enemy ship for an effective shot. It seems several countries came up with the same idea to give their torpedoes increased range and accuracy, and this idea involved convincing someone to physically steer the torpedo as it was flying towards the enemy ship.

The picture above is the German version of this idea and was called the “Neger”. The pilot would sit in capsule on the top torpedo which didn’t contain any explosives, and drive directly towards an enemy ship. When he was in range, the lower torpedo would be activated and propel forwards to make impact while the pilot steered clear of the explosion, but this tactic didn’t seem to work very often and the pilot would either get caught in the explosion or would be unable to release the torpedo after activating, leading to many unplanned suicide charges. Some versions were even worse and just had seats on top, with the pilot simply having to bail off and swim when it was lined up with an enemy ship.

British Bomber crew 

46% chance of death

The American air force dropped the most bombs over France during the D-Day invasion, but it was the British who engaged in the longest bombing campaign of Nazi territory. The English Channel protected the UK from ground invasion and was enough of a deterrent to stop them from trying, but the distance between Nazi occupied France and the British mainland is just over 20 miles at its closest point. This meant that air raids on the enemy were the fastest and most direct way to cause them damage without a full scale invasion, leading to thousands of British bombing missions.

The most dangerous position in a bomber crew was by far a ball turret gunner. Apart from the fact that their oxygen lines could freeze in the cold temperatures of high altitude, they were also the number 1 target for enemy fighters. The guns on the ball turrets were two 50.cal machine guns and posed great risk to enemy fighters, so they were the first thing that would be targeted on the plane. The turrets are sealed from the rest of the plane, so they can spin round and people would often get stuck in them, something especially unpleasant for the gunner underneath the plane when the landing gear failed.

Field radio teams and wire layers

50% death chance

In order for the front lines to keep in contact with command, they would set up radio bases to relay messages, but this involved physically laying wire for the messages to travel along. The problem with this job is that the wires would often run through areas that were not exactly safe, and some poor soldier would have to walk or crawl through these areas with a spool of telephone wire in their back.

Priority targets for enemy snipers were officers followed closely by any soldier of importance, which normally meant the ones that were setting up communications. If you weren’t laying wire or sitting in a small bunker on the front lines with a telephone, you would be in amongst a squad with a large field radio on your back so the commander can use it to send messages. Doing this job not only meant you’d often be right in the middle of the action, but you’d also be a high priority target for any enemy soldier that saw you.

Kamikaze pilot

100% chance of death

Even though this wasn’t a position you could be in on the allied forces, it was still technically the job with the lowest survival rate of the whole war, mostly because the whole point of it was to die during a mission. The Japanese chose death as a much better option than surrender, and dying for your country was considered one of the most honorable ways to die, leading to no shortage of people signing up for the job.

The word kamikaze means “Divine wind” in Japanese and was the name given to the pilots who chose to die for their country. Their planes would be loaded with explosives and then flown directly into an enemy ship which provided a massive increase in how accurate their explosives were, but getting so close to a ship loaded with guns was difficult to say the least and many were shot down before they had the chance to make impact.