[franciscop]

Without any cause listed dying at 50-51 is not rare at all and should not be assumed to be related to a particular cause. In fact, life expectancy of those born on 1940 was 60.8 years, making it within 10 year of the average, something totally normal IMHO (it's like today, with a 78-year life expectancy, someone dying at 68 years old, totally not surprising).

[TylerE]

Life expectancy is a tricky stat. One of those cases where mean vs median vs mode is really important. Especially when talking about a period anchored in a global conflict with vast civilian casualties.