A military pilot is one of the most expensive military specialists in the most literal sense. During the Second World War, the German command was seriously concerned about the potential depletion of valuable military personnel. With the experience of the First World War behind them, the Germans found an unusual solution to the problem.
It really helped.
From the very beginning of the Battle of Britain, the German command was worried about the upcoming losses among the Luftwaffe pilots. Many of them were doomed to die not directly in battle, but because of a crash at sea and the inability to survive for a long time in the waters of the English Channel. An elegant way out of this problem was found by the German ace of the First World War, Ernst Udet, who proposed supplementing the standard pilot rescue system, consisting of search brigades, with special rescue buoys.
Clipping from a newspaper.
The special buoys were designed to provide a rescue shelter for 2-4 pilots. These structures were installed directly in the strait. Each buoy was attached to the bottom with a rope and an anchor, while having a small drift margin in case of a storm. The upper part of the shelter was painted in bright colors. Also, red crosses were applied to the central tower on a white background (the symbol of the international “Red Cross”).
It was a great solution.
It was assumed that in the event of a plane crash, the pilots could try to fall closer to the buoy, and then try to swim to the shelter. Once in the shelter, the pilots had to raise a special balloon, which would let the scouts and search ships know that there were people on board the structure. In addition, flare pistols with flares were provided for signaling.
Everything was necessary.
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Inside the buoy there was a well-protected room, which, thanks to its impressive reserves, allowed a group of 4 people to survive for about a week. There were supplies of food, fresh water, and medicines on board in case the pilot needed medical assistance.
Of course, each buoy was equipped with berths, a cooking plate, and an electric generator. In case of emergency, there was a supply of kerosene and lamps. To the Luftwaffe command, such a buoy seemed quite a successful solution in terms of retaining valuable personnel. As you know, training for pilots is a rather lengthy and expensive process.