Originally Posted by
JDNSW
I am pretty certain Bomber Command had a higher casualty rate than any other allied command, although individual squadrons may have had higher losses. Although I have not seen any figures on recon units, I suspect they were (relatively) not all that high, despite being unarmed - they usually flew very fast planes making them difficult targets for airborne interception, and while they often had to photograph heavily defended targets, again speed made them hard to hit.
The lack of armament would have made them generally a bit more slippery than their armed equivalents, and because of their small number, they would have been given special care in a number of aspects, from ensuring as near perfect maintenance as possible, to ensuring the pilots could navigate (lots of single pilot aircraft from all sides lost in WW2 because they got lost!).
