To be factually accurate, about 126,000 airmen flew operationally for Bomber Command, around 55,000 of them died.
Churchill made the decision, quite early in the war, to minimise casualties within the British forces by using technology instead of men to fight the war. He believed, despite his 'we will fight them on the beaches' rhetoric that the British people could not take casualties on the scale of the Great War so did his best to prevent that.
A 'normal' nights work for Bomber Command put around 4,000 aircrew into combat, less than half the fighting strength of an infantry division of that time. Churchill was successful in preserving British (and commonwealth) lives, something he gets little credit for.
In those days our servicemen could join up and fight against something tangible, a force intent on the destruction of the country. Today our country is at even greater risk of destruction, but most simply do not see that.