GregP
Major
There are a few files available out on the web in PDF format that have the complete USAAF victory award list, but the files have PDF restrictions and/or passwords on them so you can't copy the data. I have had a copy of one file for a couple of years and it finally occurred to me several days ago to try a crack utility to attempt to lift the restrictions on the PDF file, at least so you can copy the data to another application.
Lo and behold, it worked. So … I copied the data into Word and proceeded to do some copy-and-replace in order to insert a decent field separator, and I got the entire list into Microsoft Excel. About an hour ago I finihsed the process of making sure it is consistent with the original document.
It has name, rank, unit, echelon, service number, date, theater of operations, and credits awarded. They are missing about 35 service numbers and a few odd dates, but it is otherwise complete. Only one name is "unknown" from over 13,000 records. Unfortunately, the aircraft type the pilot was flying and the aircraft type(s) of the victim(s) are not included ... just credits. So, you can see, for instance, that the guy was in the 328th Fighter Squadron, in the ETO, on a particular date, and got some number of credits for that date … but you don't know what he was flying or what he shot down. The Theaters are broken out as ETO, MTO, Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, CBI, Alaska, and Iceland.
Using these data, if someone happens to know when certain units flew what type of aircraft, it should be possible to reconstruct the probable aircraft … give or take a few errors during a type transition, such as going from P-38's to P-51's. However, the errors should be relatively small compared with the overall list since all but a handful of the dates are shown (missing 12 dates from over 13,000 records). We could even list the aircraft as "Probable A/C" to show it is an assumption and not a matter of record.
The file has 13,321 individual records that account for 15,868.27 victories for USAAF service in WW2. The file is 792 kb in size and I think I would like to upload it if that is allowed. I see I can insert a link, image, or video, but am not seeing a way to upload an Excel file (in .xlsx format, but can easily save to .xls … might get slightly bigger).
Anyone interested? Is there a way to upload the file?
Lo and behold, it worked. So … I copied the data into Word and proceeded to do some copy-and-replace in order to insert a decent field separator, and I got the entire list into Microsoft Excel. About an hour ago I finihsed the process of making sure it is consistent with the original document.
It has name, rank, unit, echelon, service number, date, theater of operations, and credits awarded. They are missing about 35 service numbers and a few odd dates, but it is otherwise complete. Only one name is "unknown" from over 13,000 records. Unfortunately, the aircraft type the pilot was flying and the aircraft type(s) of the victim(s) are not included ... just credits. So, you can see, for instance, that the guy was in the 328th Fighter Squadron, in the ETO, on a particular date, and got some number of credits for that date … but you don't know what he was flying or what he shot down. The Theaters are broken out as ETO, MTO, Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, CBI, Alaska, and Iceland.
Using these data, if someone happens to know when certain units flew what type of aircraft, it should be possible to reconstruct the probable aircraft … give or take a few errors during a type transition, such as going from P-38's to P-51's. However, the errors should be relatively small compared with the overall list since all but a handful of the dates are shown (missing 12 dates from over 13,000 records). We could even list the aircraft as "Probable A/C" to show it is an assumption and not a matter of record.
The file has 13,321 individual records that account for 15,868.27 victories for USAAF service in WW2. The file is 792 kb in size and I think I would like to upload it if that is allowed. I see I can insert a link, image, or video, but am not seeing a way to upload an Excel file (in .xlsx format, but can easily save to .xls … might get slightly bigger).
Anyone interested? Is there a way to upload the file?
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