I was looking through the document Army Battle Casualties and Non-Battle deaths in WWII - Final Report 7 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. Prepared by the statistical and accounting branch office of the adjutant general.
In this I noticed that Non Battle deaths were broken down into four categories Accident Aircraft, Accident Not Aircraft, Disease, and Other.
Accident aircraft, and disease are mostly self explanatory. But seeing as nearly 1/5 of all deaths were non battle I was wondering what were some of the more common causes of a Non-Battle death. I'm aware that there were plenty of traffic accidents and training mishaps but in my mind the near 30,000 deaths listed as Accident Not Aircraft seems high to just be that. Also I was wondering what rationale was used for the 4th group, the "Other" Non-Battle death. They have 9,286 Non-Battle deaths listed as Other. Homicides and Suicides are also included in DNB but that does not seem to line up with the suicide rates for Americans during WW2 that I can find online. If anyone can shed some light on some of the causes or on the rationale used to index these deaths it would be greatly appreciated.
The 1975 volume Medical Statistics in World War II (PDF) by the U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office contains extensive data about battle and nonbattle casualties and deaths, such as categories, service time lost (severity). location on the body (if applicable), time, and theater of occurrence. Part I (Chapters I-IV) provides textual analysis of certain parts, definitions, and methodology, while the rest of the book is dedicated to tables and charts. In regards to aircraft accidents:
Deaths from aircraft accidents [when compared to vehicle accidents] were markedly higher (all data for U.S. Army in World War II include U.S. Army Air Corps) and numbered 26,414. In fact, the nonbattle admission rate for aircraft accidents for male officer personnel in World War II was 9.44 per 1,000 male officer average strength per year and was the leading cause of admission for these men. The annual nonbattle injury death rate was also highest for male officers; 84 percent of their deaths resulted from aircraft accidents
The table 36b.--Number of nonbattle deaths, by diagnosis for area of admission, rank, and sex, US Army, 1942-1945 (pages 696-697) is probably the closest one that could answer this question in the most concise manner. It lists the numbers of nonbattle deaths among male and female officers and enlisted personnel, occurring both in the United States and overseas, with either the immediate cause of death (i.e., pneumonia or appendicitis), or the circumstances under which it occurred, with the actual cause of death not listed (i.e., just "homicide" or "aircraft accident"). I have ordered the causes of death by their number.
| Cause | Number of deaths |
|---|---|
| Aircraft accidents | 26,414 |
| Traumatisms, other | 21,862 |
| Vehicle accidents | 12,594 |
| Crushing | 10,836 |
| Firearms and ammunition | 9,828 |
| Agents, other | 8,171 |
| Wounds | 8,054 |
| Fractures, simple | 6,107 |
| Fractures, compound | 4,222 |
| Burns | 3,733 |
| Suicide | 2,495 |
| Diseases of coronary arteries | 1,535 |
| Amputations, traumatic | 1,387 |
| Homicide | 1,308 |
| Chemicals, drugs, and toxins (incl. gases, etc.) | 1,158 |
| Falls, jumps | 1,070 |
| Athletics and sports | 994 |
| Tears, avulsions, divisions, and separations | 729 |
| Digestive system, other diseases of | 679 |
| Pneumonia, unclassified | 635 |
| Fire | 619 |
| Miscellaneous diseases and congenital malformations, other | 594 |
| Diseases of peripheral vessels | 575 |
| Appendicitis | 540 |
| Tools and instruments | 495 |
| Myocardial disease | 448 |
| Respiratory system, other diseases of | 307 |
| Effects of exposure to heat (except burns) | 236 |
| Endocardial disease | 235 |
| Peptic ulcer of stomach or duodenum | 210 |
| Pneumonia, primary atypical | 169 |
| Urinary system, other diseases | 163 |
| Nephritis, chronic or unspecified | 160 |
| Diseases of pulmonary arteries and aorta | 135 |
| Excessive heat (incl. sunburn) | 117 |
| Functional cardiac disorders | 112 |
| Hepatitis (not amebic) | 96 |
| Nephritis, acute | 86 |
| Gastritis and enteritis | 80 |
| Diseases of the bones and organs of movement | 69 |
| Pleuritis | 67 |
| Diseases of skin and cellular tissues | 59 |
| Allergy and drug reactions, other diseases of | 57 |
| Dislocations and derangements | 48 |
| Sinusitis | 48 |
| Pyelonephritis | 44 |
| Excessive cold | 40 |
| Fever of unknown origin | 26 |
| Other effects of cold | 23 |
| Tonsillitis, chronic | 20 |
| Tonsillitis, acute | 14 |
| Asthma, bronchial | 13 |
| Cholangitis | 11 |
| Bronchitis, acute | 10 |
| Upper respiratory infections, acute | 9 |
| Trench foot and immersion, foot or hand | 6 |
| Diseases of male genital system | 5 |
| Bites and stings | 4 |
| Bronchitis, chronic | 4 |
| Diseases of female genital system | 4 |
| Diseases of lymphatic system | 3 |
| Ill-fitting clothing | 3 |
| Frostbite | 2 |
| Arthritis | 1 |
| Diarrhea, cause unspecified | 1 |
| Sprains and strains | 1 |
| Dermatitis, actinic (sunburn) | |
| Hay fever |
Source:
Reister, Frank A. Medical Department, United States Army: Medical Statistics in World War II. Edited by Frank A. Reister. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army, 1975.